Riin Tamm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 12 August 1981 |
| Nationality | Estonian |
| Occupation | Genetic scientist |
| Known for | Genetics Science communication |
Riin Tamm (born 12 August 1981) is an Estonian geneticist and a proponent of science in popular culture. She is the head of the Department of Youth and Talent Policy within the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. [2] She has previously served as the director of University of Tartu Youth Academy. [3]
Tamm was born in Tartu and grew up in the village of Peri, near Põlva, and is the daughter of two doctors. [1] She attended Miina Härma Gymnasium in Tartu between 1997 and 2000. From 2001 to 2005 she was an undergraduate at the University of Tartu studying molecular diagnosis, and from 2005 to 2007 studied for her master's degree, which she obtained in 2007. Her master's thesis, prepared under supervision of Andres Metspalu and Kersti Oselin, was entitled Human thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: genotype-phenotype correlation and haplotype analysis in the Estonian population. [4] [5] Following this, she began her PhD studies in human genetics. [1]
Tamm has published in scientific journals and presented research to a broader public in other venues, including the newspaper Postimees , Radio Kuku's program Falling Apple (Kukkuv õun – 28 August 2010), and Eesti Televisioon's program Good Vision (15 October 2008, 20 October 2011, 17 January 2012). [4] [6] She has been one of the judges in the Estonian science competition show Rakett69. [7]
Tamm has said that doctors are conservative and still have relatively little interest in using genetic information to improve treatment. [8] In a June 2012 interview she said that more work is needed to map out the human genetic structure, but much has been accomplished already. Genetic information may help to determine risk of certain diseases, and may be useful in determining appropriate drug treatments. [9]
Tamm is a board member of the Estonian Society of Human Genetics [10] and the Estonian Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, [11] and is Chair of the Scientific Program Committee of the Annual International Gene Forum conference organized by the Estonian Genome Foundation. [12] In 2011 she was chosen as one of 26 scientists to travel around Estonia and take part in events at schools and academic institutions as part of an initiative by the Archimedes Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Research. [1]
In 2012 she was given second prize for Estonian National Science Communication in the category "Best popularizing scientist, journalist, teacher etc in the field of science and technology". [4]
Tamm has authored or co-authored various papers on subjects related to human genetics and gerontology, including the following: [4]
According to the Web of Science, her publications have been cited 23 times, giving Tamm an h-index of 3. [13]
Svante Pääbo is a Swedish geneticist and Nobel Laureate who specialises in the field of evolutionary genetics. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. In 1997, he became founding director of the Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Since 1999, he has been an honorary professor at Leipzig University; he currently teaches molecular evolutionary biology at the university. He is also an adjunct professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan.
Estonians or Estonian people are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who speak the Estonian language. Their nation state is Estonia.
Azathioprine, sold under the brand name Imuran, among others, is an immunosuppressive medication. It is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus; and in kidney transplants to prevent rejection. It is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 1 human carcinogen. It is taken by mouth or injected into a vein.
Catechol-O-methyltransferase is one of several enzymes that degrade catecholamines, catecholestrogens, and various drugs and substances having a catechol structure. In humans, catechol-O-methyltransferase protein is encoded by the COMT gene. Two isoforms of COMT are produced: the soluble short form (S-COMT) and the membrane bound long form (MB-COMT). As the regulation of catecholamines is impaired in a number of medical conditions, several pharmaceutical drugs target COMT to alter its activity and therefore the availability of catecholamines. COMT was first discovered by the biochemist Julius Axelrod in 1957.
Mercaptopurine (6-MP), sold under the brand name Purinethol among others, is a medication used for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Specifically it is used to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. For acute lymphocytic leukemia it is generally used with methotrexate. It is taken orally.
Toomas Kivisild is an Estonian population geneticist. He graduated as a biologist and received his PhD in Genetics, from University of Tartu, Estonia, in 2000. Since then he has worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Medicine, at Stanford University (2002-3), Estonian Biocentre, as the Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of Tartu (2005-6), and as a Lecturer and Reader in Human Evolutionary Genetics in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (2006-2018). From 2018 he is a professor in the Department of Human Genetics at KU Leuven and a senior researcher at the Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu.
Thiopurine methyltransferase or thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the TPMT gene. A pseudogene for this locus is located on chromosome 18q.
Haplogroup L-M20 is a human Y-DNA haplogroup, which is defined by SNPs M11, M20, M61 and M185. As a secondary descendant of haplogroup K and a primary branch of haplogroup LT, haplogroup L currently has the alternative phylogenetic name of K1a, and is a sibling of haplogroup T.
Tioguanine, also known as thioguanine or 6-thioguanine (6-TG) or tabloid is a medication used to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Long-term use is not recommended. It is given by mouth.
David Emil Reich is an American geneticist known for his research into the population genetics of ancient humans, including their migrations and the mixing of populations, discovered by analysis of genome-wide patterns of mutations. He is professor in the department of genetics at the Harvard Medical School, and an associate of the Broad Institute. Reich was highlighted as one of Nature's 10 for his contributions to science in 2015. He received the Dan David Prize in 2017, the NAS Award in Molecular Biology, the Wiley Prize, and the Darwin–Wallace Medal in 2019. In 2021 he was awarded the Massry Prize.
Peri is a village in Põlva Parish, Põlva County in southeastern Estonia, about 4 km (2 mi) southeast of the town of Põlva. Its population was 364 as of 1 January 2010.
The Estonian Genome Project is a population-based biological database and biobank which was established in 2000 to improve public health in Estonia. It contains health records and biological specimens from a large percentage of the Estonian population.
Andres Metspalu is an Estonian geneticist and member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.
The Estonian Society of Human Genetics (ESTSHG) is a non-profit organization that promotes research and communication between scientists involved in human and medical genetics.
Liina Olmaru is an Estonian stage, radio, television, and film actress.
Merle Talvik is an Estonian stage, film and television actress whose career began in the mid-1970s.
In genetics and genetic epidemiology, a phenome-wide association study, abbreviated PheWAS, is a study design in which the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms or other types of DNA variants is tested across a large number of different phenotypes. The aim of PheWAS studies is to examine the causal linkage between known sequence differences and any type of trait, including molecular, biochemical, cellular, and especially clinical diagnoses and outcomes. It is a complementary approach to the genome-wide association study, or GWAS, methodology. A fundamental difference between GWAS and PheWAS designs is the direction of inference: in a PheWAS it is from exposure to many possible outcomes, that is, from SNPs to differences in phenotypes and disease risk. In a GWAS, the polarity of analysis is from one or a few phenotypes to many possible DNA variants. The approach has proven useful in rediscovering previously reported genotype-phenotype associations, as well as in identifying new ones.
Liisa Pulk is an Estonian stage, television, voice, and film actress whose career began in 2010.
Maila Rästas was an Estonian stage, film, and radio actress. Rästas was employed at Estonian Drama Theatre in Tallinn from 1961 until 1992 before retiring. She also appeared in several films.
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