Welcome

It is my great pleasure to invite you to Helsinki to participate in a Symposium honouring the career and scientific achievements of Leena Peltonen-Palotie. This two-day meeting will feature presentations from the global leaders in human genomics research, many of whom were close colleagues of Leena at Sanger, Broad, Helsinki and elsewhere.

This meeting will be a tribute to Leena’s commitment to human genetics research. We are truly delighted and honoured that so many prominent speakers have accepted our invitation, and are looking forward to a very exciting meeting that will address the past, present and future of human genetics. Science is, truly, the best way to celebrate Leena’s career and the remarkable advances that have taken place over the past decades in her field.

Leena left a monumental legacy in the field of disease genomics globally, as well as in the scientific community of Finland. Among her many awards and honours was her membership in the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and EMBO, The Anders Jahre Prize, the Margaret Pittman Lectureship Award, the European van Gysel Prize for Biomedical Research and the Eric K. Fernstroms Nordiska Priset. Just four months before her death she was awarded the title of an academician, the highest scientific honour in Finland. During her career she made numerous key discoveries that helped to promote the advantages of special populations in disease gene identification. She also had a deep commitment to encourage and mentor young scientists; she supervised over 70 PhD students. Many of her former students have later become group leaders and professors, demonstrating that Leena’s impact in science will be felt for a long time after her death.

Leena was known for her ability to disseminate important scientific breakthroughs to the community at large. She was by far the best-known scientist in Finland and was ranked among the 100 best-known and appreciated Finns of all time. We all deeply miss her charming, ladylike personality, her enthusiasm and her enormous drive and collaborative spirit.

I warmly invite you to Helsinki from May 18 to 19, 2011, to celebrate Leena’s career and to participate in this Symposium, entitled “A Global View of Disease Genomics”.

Olli Kallioniemi

Chair of the Organizing Committee