The world needs researched information and thought-provoking art.
The Sakari Alhopuro Foundation promotes and supports medical research, biodiversity, entrepreneurship as well as cultural and social well-being in Finland.
Medical Science
The Foundation specifically supports young doctors, so that they might have the opportunity to conduct research already during their studies and immediately after graduating.
Nature
More research data is needed about the impacts of climate change on our planet’s future. The Foundation seeks to advance an understanding of the biodiversity of nature as a means of promoting a more sustainable use of our natural surroundings.
Art
The Foundation supports Finnish art and culture in accordance with varying criteria that are decided on annually. In 2025, the grants were awarded to artists who address aspects of climate change, biodiversity loss or the state of Finnish nature in their work.
What's new
The Foundation established a fund to support the Seili and Kevo research stations
The Seili and Kevo research stations of the University of Turku are known especially for their longitudinal environmental studies. The rapidly advancing climate change accentuates the role of these exceptionally long time series and the continuity of the underlying field research.
Sakari Alhopuro:
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS FOUND IN HELPING OTHERS
‘What is the purpose of life? As a doctor, I have often considered that the purpose of life is found in helping others’, states Sakari Alhopuro, founder of the Foundation.
Blogs
Get to know the work of researchers by reading our blogs!
Did mitochondrial genomes play an role in the extinction and survival of species?
Mitochondria are power generators that provide cells with energy. They also regulate the essential cellular functions, such as ageing and cell death. Mitochondrial research may yield new information on, for example, the extinction of species or the adaptation of organisms to their environment.Genome editing offers new opportunities for the treatment of diabetes
Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Due to its widespread prevalence, new options for the treatment of diabetes are urgently needed. Scientists are now exploring the possibilities for using genome editing tools to correct specific gene mistakes that cause diabetes.Could ultrasound provide a new tool for the study of foetal insulin metabolism?
The elevated blood sugar level of the expecting mother affects her foetus in many ways including, for example, liver size, blood circulation, fat concentration and metabolism. Researchers are now exploring if ultrasound imaging could provide an efficient method for the monitoring of foetal metabolism and facilitate a more individualised treatment of diabetes during pregnancy.Articles
Now is the time to prepare for future pandemics
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been tackled, the threat of pandemics has not vanished. Scientists cannot say when the next pandemic will break out, what will cause it or how deadly it will be. All they know is that new pandemics will definitely appear in the future – and now is the time to prepare for them.‘My path to research began on the island of Seili’
In the summer of 2011, biology student Katja Mäkinen could not have imagined that her first internship in the field, at the Archipelago Research Institute of the University of Turku, would alter her dreams of becoming a teacher. However, that’s exactly what happened, and that field work on Seili sparked her interest in research work and led her to a career as a researcher.The first ever Sakari Alhopuro Prize awarded to Professor Kalervo Väänänen and archipelago nature photographer Jaakko Ruola
The Sakari Alhopuro Foundation’s Board has selected Professor Kalervo Väänänen and nature photographer Jaakko Ruola as the recipients of the Sakari Alhopuro Prize. The prize is awarded in recognition for their influential contribution to the protection of the Archipelago Sea. Now awarded for the first time, the prize sum amounts to 50,000 euro to be shared by the prize winners.Contact information
Sakari Alhopuro Foundation
Board of Directors of the Foundation
Professor of Bacteriology
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Research
Email addresses are in the form: firstname.lastname(at)sakarialhopuronsaatio.fi