Professor Outi Mäkitie awarded the Bror Axel Lamberg Prize 2025
The Minerva Foundation’s Bror Axel Lamberg Prize in Endocrinology 2025 was granted to Professor Outi Mäkitie on the 30th of October. The prize, worth 10,000 €, is presented every two years at the annual meeting of the Finnish Endocrine Society to a distinguished Finnish or Nordic researcher in the field of endocrinology.
Professor Mäkitie is a paediatric endocrinologist and internationally recognised expert in metabolic bone diseases. She serves as Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of Helsinki, Chief Physician at the Helsinki University Hospital, Senior Researcher in Clinical Genetics at the Karolinska Institute, and Group Leader at the Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum.
From Lamberg’s mentorship to research career
Professor Mäkitie describes herself as deeply honoured by the prize, noting its significance given that previous recipients have been pioneers in the field.
– It is a great privilege to join the ranks of previous pioneers. This prize is especially meaningful for me since my own research career began under the supervision of Bror Axel Lamberg, Mäkitie notes.
During her medical studies, Mäkitie completed a research project under Lamberg’s guidance – an experience that sparked her interest in research even more and left a lasting impression of the importance of scientific research in medicine.
Diversity and international support as an asset
Based on her positive experience with mentorship, Mäkitie truly knows the importance of including researchers from different ages and tenures into a research group. Throughout her career, Mäkitie has noticed how demographic diversity plays a key role in a group’s success. She sees diversity, especially in terms of age, as a significant strength.
– When a research group includes both younger and more experienced researchers, the research work can be inspiring and stimulating, and you can really enjoy it. Young people inspire the more experienced ones, which makes the research even more meaningful, Mäkitie explains.
Mäkitie wants to encourage younger researchers to network internationally. She has noticed that the support from international research networks has been absolutely vital during her career.
– It’s not possible to conduct extensive research alone in a small country, which is why international cooperation is essential, Mäkitie notes.
Groundbreaking discoveries in paediatric bone diseases
Mäkitie’s research has focused particularly on early-onset osteoporosis and skeletal dysplasias as well as their underlying genetic mechanisms. Her group was the first to demonstrate that osteoporosis can also occur in children – a finding that permanently changed clinical practice and contributed to the inclusion of paediatric osteoporosis in Finland’s national Current Care Guidelines in 2014.
She has also contributed to the discovery of several novel inherited bone diseases. Each genetic discovery has advanced the field significantly.
– Genetic discoveries are increasingly leading us towards understanding disease mechanisms and developing targeted therapies. We have already witnessed the impact of breakthrough precision medicines – and more are urgently needed, Mäkitie notes.
Prize acknowledges pioneering genetic research
Professor Mäkitie’s research groups, in collaboration with international partners, have identified several previously unknown rare disorders, including a growth failure syndrome with compromised immune function linked to a gene involved in G-protein signalling, a skeletal dysplasia caused by mutations in the ribosomal protein RPL13, and a monogenic skeletal disorder that can range in severity from childhood-onset osteoporosis to lethal skeletal dysplasia, caused by variants in the KIF24 gene.
By awarding The Lamberg prize to Mäkinen, the Minerva Foundation wants to recognise Mäkitie’s pioneering work that uniquely combines clinical practice, basic research, and international collaboration. Minerva Foundation highlights that Mäkities contributions have significantly advanced paediatric endocrinology and the diagnosis and treatment of rare bone diseases, while inspiring new generations of researchers in Finland and internationally.
