Erna Snellman – Academic Research at the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at Tampere University Hospital and University of Tampere
findings( 5) and mortality in DH( 2) and the effects and health benefits of a gluten-free diet and dapsone medication. Camilla Pasternack’ s PhD focuses on quality of life( 6, 7) and bone complications of DH. Elli Turjanmaa’ s PhD will focus on skin manifestations beyond DH in coeliac disease and non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. In addition, some of the long-term goals of the research group are to discover peripheral blood cell markers predicting the development of gluten tolerance in DH, and to establish novel serum-based diagnostic methods for DH. The study group works closely with other researchers of the Celiac Disease Research Center, and undertakes national and international collaborations.
Wound Center at Tampere University Hospital
Tampere University Hospital harbours Finland’ s first wound centre. A special ward for treating wound patients was established in 2012, and an out-patient clinic in 2016( Fig. 2). The wound centre has a patient-oriented, multi-professional orientation in treating patients with chronic wounds, with the goal of reducing wound-related morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, Finland’ s first register for wound patients has been designed and engineered in Tampere University Hospital, and its pilot usage started in autumn 2017. Previous wound-related research has focused, for example, on the incidence of vasculitic ulcers( 8), but new projects are underway and have become feasible through utilization of the wound register.
Photodermatology Research Group
Photodermatology research is an important field of research at Tampere University Hospital / University of Tampere. The group leader is Professor Erna Snellman, and the other members are Emeritus Professor Timo Reunala, senior scientist Meri Lauha( Alahouhala), MD, PhD; residents of dermatology and allergology Toni Karppinen, MD, PhD; PhD student and dermatology resident Anna Toledo( Jussila), MD; PhD student, dermatology resident Veera Nikkola, MD; and, as a new member, medical student Annina Raita. We have established collaboration with senior scientist Lasse Ylianttila, and director Riikka Pastila, PhD, from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority( STUK), Finland, with dermatopathologist Riitta Huotari-Orava, MD, from the University of Tampere; psychiatrist Professor Timo Partonen from the National Institute for Health and Welfare( THL), Helsinki, Finland, head of department Mari Grönroos, MD, PhD, from Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Lahti, docent Piia Karisola from the Medicum, University of Helsinki, and Senior Scientist Kaisa Lakkala from the Finnish Meteorological Institute( FMI).
Since 2010, 3 doctoral dissertations have been published on photodermatology targeting heliotherapy, narrow-band ultraviolet B( UV-B) therapy and vitamin D, by doctors Vähävihu, Alahouhala and Karppinen( 9 – 11). More recently, 2 doctoral students have studied UV radiation-induced neuroendocrine changes in the skin, suggesting that exposure to narrow-band UV-B radiation increases the expression of beta-endorphin in the skin( 12). As-yet unpublished results of Anna Toledo( Jussila) suggest such an effect also on mood in healthy individuals, and that sunbathing could develop into an addiction. However, the mechanism of action awaits further elucidation. Currently, it is not known whether ultraviolet radiation influences the activity of brown adipose tissue, albeit the key circadian clock components( i. e. cryptochromes) in the skin are known to absorb 340 – 400 nm wavelengths, and our earlier experimental study indicated that cryptochromes also play a role in narrow-band UV-B( 309 – 313 nm) induced erythema in the human skin in vivo( 13), as shown by doctoral student Veera Nikkola.
Fig. 2. The wound centre outpatient clinic at Tampere University Hospital is multidisciplinary. Plastic surgeon, Associate Professor Ilkka Kaartinen( left); nurse Annemari Vuorenpää, specialized in wound care( middle); dermatologist, Associate Professor Teea Salmi( right).
Exposure to UV radiation relates closely to skin cancers, and studying skin cancer is one of the targets of our Photodermatology Research Group. In 2015, dermatologist and present dermatopa-
14 Dermato-Venereology in the Nordic Countries
Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018, Vol. 23, No. 1