Timo Leppänen

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Personal Statement

I started my studies at the University of Eastern Finland in 2011 after two years in the service for the Finnish Defense Forces. I got my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in five years in 2016 at the age of 26 years and my thesis earned a grade of approved with distinction (which is awarded only if the dissertation falls in the category of top 5% of its field). Since then, I have been a co-head and principal investigator in the STAR, a research team focusing on sleep-related disorders and the development of novel methods and computational tools for sleep data analysis. Furthermore, I have established a wide international collaboration network with the world’s top-level scientists and research infrastructures as well as companies operating in the business sector. My research is mainly funded by the EU Commission, Academy of Finland, Business Finland, and private foundations.

My research is focused on the development of novel diagnostic parameters, mathematical solutions, and paradigms for the severity estimation of obstructive sleep apnea. Therefore, it is very closely related to medical physics, but it has also a strong interface with clinical medicine. Thus, my research is a great example of interdisciplinary research at the University of Eastern Finland but also of active research collaboration between the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital.

Personal Information

Co-head of the Sleep Technology and Analytics Research Group (STAR)

  • Phone: +358503101828
  • Room: Canthia 2071/3
  • Email: timo.leppanen[at]uef.fi
  • Year of birth: 1990
  • Supervisor of 10 postdocs and 14 Ph.D. students, 82 scientific papers, H-index 15 (Scopus) – 19 (Google Scholar)
  • Current research interests: Development of artificial intelligence solutions for diagnostics and severity estimation of sleep apnea, Phenotyping of OSA, Sleep apnea related psychomotor vigilance and daytime sleepiness, Progression of OSA, Wearable sensor for HSAT
  • Current and previous experience:
    • Associate Professor, Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland and Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland), 1.1.2022–
    • Adjunct Fellow, School of Electrical Engineering and Compuer Science, The University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), 1.3.2021–
    • Co-head of the Sleep Technology and Analytics Research Group, Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 1.1.2017–
    • Senior Researcher, Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland and Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland), 1.11.2018–31.12.2021
    • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland and Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland), 1.1.2017–31.10.2018
    • Assistant Physicist, Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland), 23.4.2018–23.9.2018
    • Assistant Physicist, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Seinäjoki Central Hospital (Seinäjoki, Finland), 19.6.2017–6.8.2017
    • Junior Researcher, Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland), and Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Seinäjoki Central Hospital (Seinäjoki, Finland), 1.6.2014–31.12.2016
  • Education:
    • Adjunct Professor (Docent), Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2020
    • Ph.D. (Applied Physics), Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2016
    • M.Sc. (Applied Physics), Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2015
    • B.Sc. (Applied Physics), Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2014
    • Graduate of Finnish Upper Secondary School, Kuopion klassillinen lukio (Kuopio, Finland), 2009
  • Skills: Sleep medicine and science, obstructive sleep apnea, artificial intelligence
  • Language proficiency:
    • Finnish, native language
    • English, fluent
    • Swedish, basics
  • Membership in professional organizations:
    • IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (Member)
    • European Sleep Research Society (Member of the Scientific Board)
    • Finnish Sleep Research Society (Vice Member of the Board)
    • Finnish Society for Medical Physics and Medical Engineering (Member)
    • Finnish Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (Member)
    • World Sleep Society (Member)
  • Hobbies: hunting, fishing, ice hockey, floorball, guitar playing, dogs, gaming
  • Awards:
    • 2nd price at the NeuroChallenge innovation competition, Insomnia diagnosis and solution, Neurocenter Finland, 2020
    • Shortlisted for Award of Young Scientist, University of Eastern Finland, 2017
    • Shortlisted for Best Poster award, European Sleep Research Society, 2016
    • M.Sc. Thesis award, Finnish Society for Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, 2016
  • Lecturing:
    • Medical Device Approval Process and Quality Control, Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2021–
    • Fundamentals of Medical Device Approval Process, Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2021–
    • Physics of Clinical Physiology and Neurophysiology, Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland), 2021
    • Scoring of polysomnographies, Savonia University of Applied Science (Kuopio, Finland), 2017–2020