BOARD MEETING 2/2014
22 April 2014
MINUTES
INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
Title:
Meeting of the Board of FIMM 2/2014
Time:
Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at 14.05—15.30
Place:
Faculty Club, Biomedicum Helsinki 1 (6th floor), Haartmaninkatu 8, Helsinki
Chair:
Dean, Professor Risto Renkonen, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki
Members (Deputy Members):
Professor Kalle Saksela, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki
Professor Kimmo Porkka, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki
Vice Dean, Professor Risto Kostiainen, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki
Chief Administrative Physician, MD, PhD, LL.D., MFPM, Assistant Professor Lasse Lehtonen, HUS;
arrived in item 3
Senior Scientist Anu Jalanko, Head of Public Health Genomics Unit, THL
CEO Saara Hassinen, Strategic Centre for Health and Well-being, SalWe Oy (industry)
Director, Professor Eero Vuorio, Biocenter Finland
Coordinator Imre Västrik, FIMM, University of Helsinki (personnel)
Experts:
Communications Coordinator Mari Kaunisto, FIMM, University of Helsinki; item 7
Financial Manager Marja Medina, FIMM, University of Helsinki
Head of Development Kimmo Pitkänen, FIMM, University of Helsinki
Presenter:
Director, Professor Olli Kallioniemi, FIMM, University of Helsinki
Secretary:
Administrative Manager Reetta Niemelä, FIMM, University of Helsinki
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
Meeting of the Board of FIMM 2/2014
1
Opening of the meeting and presence of a quorum
2
Approval of the agenda
3
Overview on the FIMM development, activities and plans
4
Minutes of the previous meeting of the Board of FIMM and meeting practices
5
Selection of the Vice Chair of the Board of FIMM
6
Appointment of the Deputy Director of FIMM
7
Approval of the FIMM Annual Report 2013
8
Announcements
9
Other business
10 Dates of the next meetings
11 Closing of the meeting
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Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
1 Opening of the meeting and presence of a quorum
Proposal:
It was proposed that a quorum be present when the Chair of the meeting as well as at least
half of the other members are present (Regulations of FIMM 5 §, Annex 1).
Decision:
It was recorded that a quorum was present.
2 Approval of the agenda
Proposal:
It was proposed that the agenda be approved.
Decision:
As proposed.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
3 Overview on the FIMM development, activities and plans
Director of FIMM, Professor Olli Kallioniemi gave a brief overview on the recent development,
activities and plans of the institute.
FIMM 5-year Evaluation was carried out in May 2013 by an international Evaluation Committee comprising of members of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of FIMM as well as external
experts. The Evaluation Report is in Annex 2.
All faculties and independent institutes of the University of Helsinki have prepared Target Programmes (tavoiteohjelma) for the four year period 2013—2016. The strategic objectives of the
faculties and independent institutes have been derived from those of the University
(http://www.helsinki.fi/strategy/index.html). The Target Programmes prepared in 2012 were
updated in October 2013. FIMM’s Programme is in Annex 3a. Updated budget of 22 April
2014 was available at the meeting (Annex 3b). The deadline for the next update of the Programme is in early October 2014, including detailed action items, budget plan and human resources plan for 2015.
In October 2013 Rector Jukka Kola, the Directorship of the University of Helsinki and Directors
of the independent institutes of the University discussed the structural development of the University. The Rector asked the independent institutes to be proactive and discuss joint new initiatives between other independent institutes, faculties of the University of Helsinki and other
stakeholders to improve the functions and contributions to the strategy of the University.
FIMM plans and collaborative initiatives were developed based on the discussions with the
Board, Steering Group and personnel as well as the Chair of the SAB of FIMM. These plans
and initiatives were discussed on 13 February 2014 at the meeting with Rector Jukka Kola,
Vice Rector for Research Keijo Hämäläinen, Director of Administration Esa Hämäläinen and
Planning Director Jussi Karvinen as well as the Directors and Administrative Managers of the
Institute of Biotechnology, FIMM, Neuroscience Center and Laboratory Animal Center. Olli
Kallioniemi’s presentation of 13 February 2014 is in Annex 4 and the memorandum of the
meeting in Annex 5 of this Agenda.
The Board (2010—2014) has supported the current role of FIMM as an independent, joint research institute (University, HUS, THL and VTT) with a national and international role, including Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine. The Board suggested that opinion of the
national FIMM partner organisations, the Nordic EMBL Partnership as well as the Scientific
Advisory Board (SAB) of FIMM should be requested as well.
Discussions between the Directorship of the University, faculties and independent institutes
will continue in spring. Discussion between Directorship of the University, Faculty of Medicine,
Faculty of Pharmacy, Neuroscience Center and FIMM is scheduled for 6 May 2014.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
4 Minutes of the previous meeting of the Board of FIMM and meeting practices
(Presenter: Kallioniemi)
The last meeting of the previous Board of FIMM was held on 4 March 2014. The Board approved the minutes by e-mail before the term ended on 31 March 2014 (Annex 6).
The previous Boards have decided that the minutes are approved in the forthcoming meetings
so that examiners of the minutes need not to be selected for each meeting. The previous
Boards have also decided that the approved minutes of the Board will available at FIMM website (http://www.fimm.fi/en/fimm/board/board_meetings/).
FIMM is a joint research institute of the University of Helsinki, the Hospital District of Helsinki
and Uusimaa (HUS), the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The University of Helsinki is the host organization of FIMM.
Hence, in managing the institute the personnel policies and financial rules of the University of
Helsinki will apply, as will the regulations and guidelines concerning University administration,
financial management, planning and follow-up. Guidelines on meeting procedures are in Annex 7 (Esittely- ja kokousmenettely Helsingin yliopistossa, 27.1.2010).
The Agenda for the first meeting of the current Board is sent by e-mail. Due to the number of
the Annexes (12) and size of the documents, the material for this meeting is sent by mail. It
would be preferable if the material was sent either electronically or by mail for the forthcoming
meetings.
Proposal:
It was suggested that the Board decides on the meeting practices.
Decision:
1. The Board decided that the minutes are approved in the forthcoming meetings so that examiners of the minutes need not to be selected for each meeting.
2. The Board decided that the Agenda and material for the meetings will be provided electronically only for the forthcoming meetings.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
5 Selection of the Vice Chair of the Board of FIMM
(Presenter: Kallioniemi)
According to the Regulations of FIMM the Board selects a Vice Chair from amongst its members (FIMM Regulations 3 §, Annex 1).
The Vice Chairs of the previous Boards of FIMM were Professor Jaakko Karvonen, HUS
(2007—2009) and Professor Anna-Elina Lehesjoki, Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki (2009—2010 and 2010—2014).
Proposal:
It was suggested that the Board appoints the Vice Chair from amongst its members.
Decision:
The Board decided to select CEO Saara Hassinen the Vice Chair.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
6 Appointment of the Deputy Director of FIMM
(Presenter: Kallioniemi)
According to FIMM Regulations (FIMM regulations 4 §, item 6, Annex 1) the Board appoints a
Deputy Director for the relevant term of office. According to the instructions of the University of
Helsinki the qualification requirement for the Deputy Director is the same as for the Director.
MD, PhD Janna Saarela was appointed the Research Director of FIMM Technology Centre for
a five-year period as of 1 January 2009. Based on the decision of the Board she has acted as
the Deputy Director of FIMM from 1 July 2011 until 31 December 2013. Dr Saarela’s contract
has been extended with another five years as of 1 January 2014 based on a very positive
evaluation in the FIMM 5-year Evaluation (Annex 2). In addition that Dr Saarela is the Research Director of the Technology Centre, which employs 50 technology experts, she is the
leader of the research group “Genetics of autoimmune diseases”.
Dr Saarela had confirmed that she is available for the Deputy Director’s position. Her CV and
list of publications are in Annex 8.
Proposal:
It was suggested that Research Director of FIMM Technology Centre Janna Saarela, MD, PhD
is appointed the Deputy Director of FIMM as of 23 April 2014 until 31 March 2018.
Decision:
As proposed.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
7 Approval of the FIMM Annual Report 2013
(Presenter: Kallioniemi)
The draft content of the FIMM Annual Report 2013 is in Annex 9. This time the Annual Report
has been prepared as a web-based version, which can include videos and interactivity. The
layout will follow the layout of the Annual Report of the University of Helsinki
(http://www.helsinki.fi/annualreport2013/). A printed handout of this format will be available later for e.g. visitors and stakeholders. FIMM Annual Reports 2008—2012 are available as pdf
documents at http://www.fimm.fi/en/fimm/annual_reports/.
The FIMM financial statement of 2013 is in Annex 10. The total income was 16,41 M€ and total expenditures 16,42 M€. The balance (including total income and total expenses both of
basic funding and external funding) shows a 16 118 euros deficit. From the previous years
FIMM has a surplus of 1 003 565 euros. We have prepared a plan of the use of the surplus in
2014—2018 as requested by Rector Jukka Kola as follows:
 Provision on possible deficit at the end of 2014 as mentioned in the FIMM Target Programme as the five-year start-up funding from the foundations and City of Helsinki ended
in 2013. In addition, due to the EU’s new Horizon2020 programme, no new EU project
funding is expected until late 2014 or early 2015.
 Recruitment of new FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders according to the EMBL model for a fiveyear period.
 Securing funding for the four-year extension period of the FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders
whose five-year contract end in 2014 and 2015.
According to the Regulations of FIMM (4 §), the Board approves the Annual Report of the Institute. It was suggested that the Board discusses the content of the Report. When necessary,
modifications are made based on the comments received from the Board.
Proposal:
It was suggested that the Board approves the content of the FIMM Annual Report 2013 in Annex 9.
Decision:
As proposed. The Board suggested that internationality of FIMM personnel is added also in
the figure describing the personnel by categories of employment.
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
8 Announcements
8.1
Rector Jukka Kola appointed the members and deputy members of the Board of FIMM for the
four-year term 1.4.2014—31.3.2018. Rector’s decision 40/2014 of 7 March 2014 is in Annex 11.
8.2
The Academy of Finland published the national roadmap for research infrastructures on 14
March
2014.
The
report
is
available
at
http://www.aka.fi/Tiedostot/Tiekartta/Tutkimusinfrastruktuurine_strategia_ja_tiekartta_2014_20.p
df (English translation expected later this spring 2014).
FIMM is involved in five international research infrastructures included in the national roadmap:
EATRIS (Olli Kallioniemi, FIMM/University of Helsinki)
EU-OPENSCREEN (Krister Wennerberg, FIMM/University of Helsinki)
BBMRI (Anu Jalanko, THL)
EURO-BIOIMAGING (John Eriksson, Åbo Akademi)
Biocenter Finland (Eero Vuorio, BF/University of Helsinki)





8.3
The Academy of Finland Research Infrastructure call 2014, FIRI2014, is open and the deadline
for the applications is on 29 April 2014. According to the internal guidelines of the University of
Helsinki the applications will first be evaluated internally by campus-based working groups and
by the Research Infrastructure Committee of University of Helsinki. FIMM is involved in six applications, including ESFRI and Biocenter Finland projects as well as other collaborative projects.
8.4
As part of the Finnish Government’s comprehensive reform of research institutes and research
funding, the Academy of Finland will establish a Strategic Research Council. Based on information available at the Academy’s website (http://www.aka.fi/en-GB/A/Academy-of-Finland/TheAcademy/Academy-of-Finland-to-set-up-funding-instrument-for-strategic-research/) the funding
provided by this Council will be allocated to research aimed at finding solutions to the major
challenges facing Finnish society. The overall objective is to have 70 M€ available for strategic
research funding in 2017. The first call is expected to be opened in autumn 2014.
8.5
Academy of Finland is planning to open a research programme on personalized medicine. The
call is expected to be opened in the September call 2014. So far there is no information whether
the call will be one/two-stage-call.
8.6
FIMM is actively engaged in implementing genomic analysis for individuals in the following grant
applications. We expect that Tekes will make decisions in May/June 2014:
 Implementation of genetics (SNP panels) in predicting cardiovascular risk in the health care
setting and associated decision support for clinicians (Salwe-SHOK application filed in December 2013)
 FIMM is involved in a new national initiative on "Digital Health Revolution" filed as a strategic
research application to Tekes in Febuary 2014. This project aims to use full genome sequencing, mobile monitoring of health and digital footprints to provide real-time feedback on
health to people. A pilot of 200 people is being planned. The project is coordinated by the
University of Oulu (Connected Health Initiative), together with VTT, Aalto University, Technical University of Tampere and other partners.
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Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
8.7
Rector Jukka Kola has appointed University of Helsinki Research Council for a four-year period
2014—2017. Vice Rector for Research, Professor Keijo Hämäläinen has been appointed the
Chair. Members of the Council comprise of the Vice Deans for Research of the 11 faculties as
well as two representatives of the independent research institutes of the University. Olli Kallioniemi and Sami Pihlstöm, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, represent the independent
institutes (Annex 12). The first meeting of the Council is scheduled for 4 June 2014.
8.8
FIMM joined the EU-LIFE network (European Life Sciences Institutes for Excellence) and signed
the Memorandum of Understanding between the members of the network in May 2013 and
Consortium Agreement in December 2013. EU-LIFE Manager Gabrielle Anne Bertier visited
FIMM on 14—15 April 2014. Her visit included meetings with FIMM representatives of the working groups (please see below), general presentation of EU-LIFE to the whole FIMM personnel
and discussions on the network’s indicators survey. The survey has been completed in early
2014 composing of e.g. the following sections: human resources, PhD and postdoctoral programmes, finances, projects and grants as well as publications. We expect to receive comparable information on how FIMM relates to the other European institutes involved in the network.
There are altogether six working groups in the EU-LIFE network, all of them having FIMM representative:
 General Strategy: Professor Olli Kallioniemi
 Translational Research: Research Director Janna Saarela
 Recruitment and training: Senior Researcher, Research Training Coordinator Gretchen Repasky
 Science Communication: Senior Researcher, Communications Coordinator Mari Kaunisto
 Grants and funding strategies: Senior Advisor Mika Frederiksen
 IT: Information Systems Manager Timo Miettinen
8.9
As part of an annual international joint call of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, FIMM-EMBL International PhD training in molecular medicine and bioinformatics in collaboration with HIIT offered positions (1—2) in molecular medicine and bioinformatics. This year the
deadline for applications was on 14 February and we received altogether 204 applications from
25 countries of nationalities. 40% of the applicants are female, and 60% are male.
Research Training Coordinators Gretchen Repasky (FIMM) and Ella Bingham (HIIT) have reviewed all applications. The Selection and Recruitment Committee comprised of FIMM and HIIT
group leaders or their representatives and an HBGP Board member have been invited to join
the Committee for the interview day in Helsinki on 5 May 2014. Altogether nine applicants have
been invited for interviews. Doctoral students selected for the positions will be offered an initial
contract as of August 2014 for 18 month-period. During the first half of the period they will engage in training through research group rotations.
8.10
Appointments at FIMM
FIMM Research Groups:
 Elina Parri, Research Assistant, 1.3.2014—28.2.2015, Group Wennerberg
FIMM Technology Center:
 Jatin Nandania, Laboratory Coordinator, 10.4.2014—12.4.2015, Metabolomics
 John-Olof Hansson, IT Designer, 19.5.2014—18.5.2016, IT
 Matti Kankainen, Bioinformatician, 19.5.2014—31.12.2016, Bioinformatics
Biobank:
 Andrew Erickson, Doctoral student, 1.4.2014—31.8.2017
 Heikki Seikkula, Doctoral student, 10.3.2014—30.4.2014
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INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE FINLAND FIMM
Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
Visiting researchers:
 David Tamborero Noguera, Postdoctoral Researcher, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona,
Spain, 24.3.2014-23.3.2014
 Aki Havulinna, Postdoctoral Researcher, 24.4.2014—31.12.2015, THL
 Mark Daly, Chief, Analytic and Translational Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Senior Associate Member, The
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA, 1.—30.6.2014
8.11
Events
 FIMM will arrange an exhibition "Molecular Medicine goes Art" on 29 April—10 May 2014,
Arkadia International Bookshop, Nervanderinkatu 11, Helsinki. We believe that this exhibition will raise people's curiosity about science and improve communication between scientists and non-scientists, by showing our science from an artistic angle.
8.12
Press releases / Media events
19 March 2014: FIMM and Sitra arranged a press conference of the pilot research study involving FIMM, Red Cross Blood Service and Sitra. The aim of this study is to develop a
browser-based user interface for individual-centric management of genetic information, research samples, and the data linked with these. Feedback from sample donors about their
experience of receiving and managing their personal cardiovascular diseases risk information will be collected. Several articles about the KardioKompassi study
(http://www.fimm.fi/en/news/kardiokompassi_pilot_research_study_has_started/) and the
Sequencing Initiative Suomi (SISu, http://www.sisuproject.fi/) project were published in the
Finnish
newspapers
after
media
event
organized,
e.g.
http://www.hs.fi/tiede/Sisu+ja+suomalaisten+perim%C3%A4+kiinnostavat+maailmalla/a1395
205874500.
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Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine
9 Other business
There was no other business.
10 Dates of the next meetings
Dates of the next meetings:
 Wednesday 10 September 2014 at 11.00—13.00 (approval of the FIMM Target Programme for 2015)
 Tuesday 2 December 2014 at 9.30—11.30.
11 Closing of the meeting
The Chair closed the meeting at 15.30.
Helsinki 10.9.2014
Risto Renkonen
Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Chair, Board of FIMM
Olli Kallioniemi
Professor
Director of FIMM
Presenter
Reetta Niemelä
Administrative Manager of FIMM
Secretary
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