We had a nice coffee while interviewing Professor Kai Kaarniranta, the first Finnish Chief Editor of Acta Ophtalmologica.
Kai Kaarniranta is definitely a big fish: Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Eastern Finland, as well as chief physician of the Department of Ophthalmology at Kuopio University Hospital. He has been awarded the title of an Honorary Professor of the University of Lodz, Poland. He was chosen as a member of the Finnish Academy of Science in 2020 and as the President of EVER for 2019–2020.
Kaarniranta's main clinical interest is in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). More widely, he has an interest in evidence-based translational ophthalmology. He and his AMD research group have repeatedly been granted large research funds, which shows that their hard work has not gone unnoticed. The amount of peer reviewed publications Professor Kaarniranta has been a part of exceeds 250, while having reached a Scopus h-index of 56 and a total of more than 16000 citations.
Q: Could you explain a little about your background?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I am a hundred percent Savonian person. I was born and grew up in Savonlinna, and did my studies in Kuopio, where I have lived since the 90s.
Q: Were there any physicians in your family before you?
Prof. Kaarniranta: No.
Q: Where and when did you study for your degree and what were your main research interests?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I graduated in medicine in 2000 from the University of Kuopio. I did my PhD studies at Prof. Helminen's Anatomy Department here in Kuopio, where I studied chondrocytes and their transcriptional regulation.
Q: You did your PhD on cartilage cells. What made you choose ophthalmology as a career path?
Prof. Kaarniranta: In my fourth year I was introduced to the world of ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology, and I was immediately hooked. Ophthalmology seemed to offer everything from medicine to surgery, all the way to genetics.
Q: How do you think today’s students are served by the education system and educators?
Prof. Kaarniranta: From what I have seen, today’s medical students are as bright and committed as they were when I graduated, or even smarter. There is always a tendency to criticize the following generations, but I must say that here at UEF the standards are exceptional.
Q: What was it about ophthalmology that attracted such a person as you?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I felt drawn towards vision research as it is such an exciting and rewarding field. There are many areas where the research is at the very forefront of the scientific field. I wanted to take part in translational research, more specifically translational ophthalmology. By that, I mean using our fundamental understanding of biological processes within the retina to improve our mechanistic understanding of retinal diseases and supporting the creation of new therapeutics. Ultimately, the aim is to provide better quality of vision, health, and life.
Q: What’s your current focus?
Prof. Kaarniranta: The area that presently really excites me is the regulatory pathways of protein aggregation, as well as lysosomal and autophagy clearance in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is a complex eye disease with a multifactorial background. It primarily affects the macula, RPE, and photoreceptors, which are responsible for high acuity vision. Damage to this region has the greatest and most dramatic effect on vision. We also aim to understand oxidative stress in the retina, the molecular mechanisms of its origin, its triggers, what its effects are, and what signaling pathways it encompasses. We are also very keen to know more about the role of apoptosis and its interactions with autophagy in AMD, as they have become increasingly important issues in AMD.
To develop personalised AMD care is the billion-dollar question in AMD research for scientists all around the globe today.
Kai Kaarniranta
Professor
Q: What do you think of the claim that your team is in the top 10 of the world in its field?
Prof. Kaarniranta: Well, I wouldn’t ever say that, and I’ve never liked to give sales pitches... But I will say that we are all passionate about what we do. It’s an all-consuming drive and we’re truly tuned in on our work.
Q: Do you think that researchers should make their work more understandable to the public? Should academic papers have a “plain language explanation” of their main findings and conclusions?
Prof. Kaarniranta: Researchers have a duty to make their findings and opinions understandable to the public. After all, oftentimes research is publicly funded, and if nothing else, the people who stand to gain the most should have some idea of the potential benefits of the studies. I would be quite happy for all papers to have an open access “layman” summary of a few hundred words that describes the paper and its possible implications.
Q: What is the most interesting and exciting work in your field of study at the moment? Any specific people to keep an eye on?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I suspect most ophthalmologists would suggest stem cell research as the most exciting field. The prospect of renewing worn out cells with new ones has to be enticing, especially in tissues like the retina and optic nerve that cannot regenerate naturally. Professor Botond Roska addresses top-notch questions about visual circuits these days: their structure, function, and repair.
Q: In your specialty, AMD, what are the rapidly evolving “hot” areas right now and what might they lead to?
Prof. Kaarniranta: Again, it would be difficult to not be impressed by the potential for site restoration with stem cells or the genetic engineering of damaged macular cells.
Q: Any stand-out mentors along your path?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I am very lucky, as I have met and had the privilege to work with several great and outstanding researchers during my career… If I ought to name someone, then Antero Salminen, Professor Emeritus, UEF.
Q: That sounds like a brilliant experience to have! What did he do that has been influential to you?
Prof. Kaarniranta: He taught me how to look at studies, papers, research, etc. with a critical eye. How to evaluate them and look for bias, intentional or unintentional. It is a skill that has served me very well both in my clinical practice and my scientific work. Although Antero is now close to his 70s, we still actively cooperate together. I am really proud of that.
Q: Which area of science or medicine would you most like to know more about?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I wish I understood medical statistics better (yes, way better).
Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Prof. Kaarniranta: First and foremost, to me personally, it’s my wife and children, as they always support my, sometimes hectic, academic lifestyle. It’s thanks to them that I can still hang on there after 25 years of hard work, having their continuous support. In my professional life, I’d say that it’s the fact that we could implement the “Kuopio model”. Our team at UEF and our top-notch collaborators around the globe, are all united by shared commitment to new scientific discovery related to AMD. We seek to uncover and answer key questions in basic and preclinical research, allowing us to find novel therapies and cures for AMD. Our wish is to connect talented young scientists with world-class leaders in AMD research and thereby promote discoveries that impact AMD care in the future, for the benefit of all.
Q: What is your most marked characteristic?
Prof. Kaarniranta: You should ask around… (laughs) Calmness, I guess.
Q: What is it that you most dislike in your area of medicine and science in general?
Prof. Kaarniranta: Bloated egos.
Q: You are only 53 yet have achieved so much. Any advice to the readers?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I think that it’s important to support young people, to ask them to challenge themselves, and never pretend that you know everything. The young people are the future and their questions always cause new styles of thinking to emerge. Dare to always question things. So, to get back to your question, I am lucky to have always been surrounded by smart and motivated young people.
Q: The second to last question is always a “magic wand” question: An unknown investor gave you 10 million euros without restrictions to foster European vision research efforts. How would you invest the money?
Prof. Kaarniranta: I would open a competitive call for ten ambitious young researchers to carry out novel, high-risk pan-European collaborative projects on AMD.
Q: Looking ahead, where do you see yourself in 10-15 years from now?
Prof. Kaarniranta: Gosh, I don’t know! (Smiles.) I wish to spend more and more time in the nature, so maybe I’ll be at our cottage more often with my beloved ones. More than just the few times per year we can do now, anyways.
Thank you very much to Professor Kai Kaarniranta for chatting with us today.
Photo on top of page: Professor Kaarniranta and his AMD research group.
For more on Kai Kaarniranta’s research and his AMD research group, please go to https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/kaarniranta-amd-lab/
We are super excited to find new methods in translational science that may significantly reduce AMD treatment burden. We believe that human data and cell cultures together with new animal models, which mimic features of human dry AMD, could potentially be useful for high throughput personalized drug screening to find molecules that slow or prevent the development of drusen.
Kai Kaarniranta
Professor