Taija Juutinen
| Contact search available for JYU staff members. X (formerly Twitter) handle: https://twitter.com/taijafinni ResearchGate address: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Taija-Finni ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7697-2813 |
General description
I am Taija Finni (name used in scientific conduct), officially Taija Juutinen, professor of kinesiology since 2010, vice dean responsible of education at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Main research themes
Achilles tendon research has been my interest since my PhD where I utilized in vivo force transducers to assess forces in humans. I have published critical reviews related to methodology of assessing tendon properties, and examined internal tendon movement in rats and in humans. Project related to Achilles tendon research are UNRESAT (2019 -2023) and ACHILLES (2023-2027), funded by the Reserach Council of Finland.
Physical activity-related research has taken many paths including assessing muscle inactivity and activity during daily life (EMG 24-study, InPact, CHIPASE projects) with Olli Tikkanen, Arto Pesola, Arto Laukkanen and Gao Ying.
Neuromuscular function-theme contains several smaller projects, often done with students. EXECP project examining effects of exercise on children and young adults with cerebral palsy has been going since 2016 and is in a reporting and dissemination phase. Pedro Valadao defended his PhD thesis on EXECP project on March 8, 2024.
Active JYU affiliations
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Professor
Previous, inactive or other affiliations
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences (University of Jyväskylä), Professor, Ended
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences (University of Jyväskylä), Professor, Ended
Research interests
My research ranges from basic neuromuscular function to translational research related to physical activity and sedentary behavior. Regarding physical activity field we have studied the electromyographic activity patterns in antigravity muscles of adults and children that have the potential to short-circuit the detrimental physiological processes of sedentary time resulting in better cardio-metabolic risk profile. We gain accurate individual-level knowledge of the sedentary behaviour that is needed for designing effective interventions. Another research line focusing on muscle-tendon neuromechanics has provided fundamental information on tendon properties and muscle-tendon function for exercise training, rehabilitation and insight into age-related changes in mobility and neuromuscular performance.
Fields of science
Follow-up groups
Personal keywords
Biomechancis, tendon, physical activity, neuromuscular function
Projects as Principal investigator
- Development of novel methods for creation of a new subject-specific view of Achilles tendon structure and loading in health and disease
- Research Council of Finland
- Physical activity and exercise for young people with cerebral palsy: understanding mechanisms and providing evidence of efficacy (EXECP)
- Ministry of Education and Culture
- Integrating SENSorimotor disorders with ankle hyper-resistance in cerebral palsy
- European Commission
- Sedentary behavior and physical activity in school-aged children: objectively measured sedentary time and associations with muscle
inactivity and activity.- Research Council of Finland
- Understanding restoration of Achilles Tendon function after rupture
- Research Council of Finland
- Children’s physical activity spectrum: daily variations in physical activity and sedentary patterns related to school indoor physical environment
- Ministry of Education and Culture
- Sensor fusion for kinesiology research
- Research Council of Finland
Projects as Team Member
- Continuous learning in sport coaching
- Ihalainen, Johanna
- Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Ostrobothnia
- Effects of a combined strength, flexibility and gait training intervention on physical capacity and function, neuromuscular and brain mechanisms and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and young adults with cerebral palsy
- Frederico Valadao, Pedro
- Cerebral Palsy Alliance
- Understanding restoration of Achilles Tendon function after rupture
- Juutinen, Taija
- Research Council of Finland
- Competitive funding to strengthen universities’ research profiles. Profiling actions at the JYU, round 3
- Hämäläinen, Keijo
- Research Council of Finland
- Cotutelle agreement JYU-KU Leuven, Antti Löppönen
- Rantalainen, Timo
- KU Leuven
- Machine learning for gait analysis and performance prediction.
- Cronin, Neil
- Research Council of Finland
- Bodily movement and sustaining quality of life in old age research costs)
- Rantalainen, Timo
- Research Council of Finland
Publications and other outputs
