Janne Hukkanen

Janne Hukkanen is a Professor of Internal Medicine since 2019. After MD/PhD studies, he was a post-doctoral fellow in USA studying the clinical pharmacology of nicotine and learning to plan and perform investigator-initiated clinical drug studies. Subsequently, he has been involved in several investigator- and industry-initiated clinical trials in the fields of diabetes, obesity and lipid disorders as well as investigator-initiated life-style modification trials.

The current research interests center on two topics: the metabolic actions of xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptor PXR, and the development digital web-based health behavior change support system for subjects with obesity and metabolic syndrome. His group has shown that the activation of PXR leads to postprandial hyperglycemia, as well as hypertension and increased cholesterol synthesis in healthy volunteers. The aim is to show with translational approach combining epidemiological, clinical and preclinical research that PXR links the chemical environment and metabolic disturbations. In addition, the current research centers on the role of PXR-regulated 4β-hydroxycholesterol as an LXR agonist (PXR-4βHC-LXR circuit) on the physiological functions such as obesity-induced hypertension.

His group is a partner in an EU Horizon 2020-funded project "CoroPrevention" aiming to develop interventions to improve the prognosis of the coronary heart disease. His group is also a partner in Horizon EU-funded project "NEMESIS" aiming to uncover the mechanisms of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals and to develop a new biomarker for the exposure to environmental chemicals.