Elias Tillandz prize awarded at the BioCity Symposium for research improving heart attack diagnostics
Saara Wittfooth. Photo: Suvi Harvisalo
The Elias Tillandz prize for the best scientific publication of 2025 was presented to a study demonstrating the potential of the long-form troponin in the diagnostics of myocardial infarction. The award was presented on Thursday, 27 August 2026 during the opening ceremony of the BioCity Symposium.
The Elias Tillandz award is presented annually to the best scientific paper published by a research group BioCity Turku researchers. The award is jointly funded by BioCity Turku and the Åbo Akademi Foundation, and the prize amount is €12,000.
BioCity Turku is an umbrella organisation supporting and coordinating research on life sciences and molecular medicine at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. The joint scientific advisory board of BioCity Turku and Turku Bioscience Centre selected the award recipient from amongst the suggestions made by the research community.
The research article by Associate Professor Saara Wittfooth’s research group was awarded the prize for the best research publication of 2025. The study demonstrated that the long forms of cardiac troponin T helps distinguish myocardial infarction from other conditions that elevate troponin levels.
The Elias Tillandz prize has been named after Professor Elias Tillandz (1640–1693) of the Royal Academy of Turku. Tillandz introduced empirical life science to Finland and published the first scientific study in Turku.
Newly developed test allows for a more accurate and rapid diagnosis of a heart attack
Cardiac troponins are proteins normally found in the body exclusively in heart muscle cells. Based on findings from previous studies, troponins are released from the heart into the bloodstream during a heart attack as long molecules that are either unfragmented or only slightly fragmented, whereas in other contexts, cardiac troponin is found in the blood as shorter, more fragmented molecules.
Wittfooth’s research group at the Biotechnology unit of the Department of Life Technologies at the University of Turku previously developed a new, simple immunoassay that detects only long troponin molecules.
In clinical practice, hospitals currently use a test that measures the total level of cardiac troponin in the blood: intact, slightly fragmented, and small fragmented troponin molecules. However, elevated troponin levels can occur not only in myocardial infarction but also in other conditions, such as kidney disease or atrial fibrillation. Only about 10–20 percent of patients with elevated troponin levels receive a diagnosis of myocardial infarction.
Wittfooth’s research group’s award-winning study was conducted in close collaboration with Turku University Hospital’s Heart centre, Kidney centre, Acute, and Laboratories, and it demonstrated that a new test measuring the long-chain form of troponin can improve the diagnosis of myocardial infarction by more effectively identifying the patients.
“Previously, we had studied the test’s effectiveness in only a few dozen patients, but in this study, we were able to demonstrate the test’s efficacy in over 1,800 patients admitted to the hospital with suspected heart attacks,” Wittfooth explains.
The award-winning study was published in the prestigious European Heart Journal, which also featured an editorial in the same issue highlighting Wittfooth’s research group’s work as an important milestone in the history of troponin research.
Applying these findings in practical clinical work will require further research and the development of an automated commercial test, but the findings of the award-winning study are promising. Wittfooth is delighted with the award:
“The Tillandz prize is truly a wonderful recognition, especially since our research is not basic research but rather important applied research.”
The research was funded by Business Finland’s Research to Business funding instrument.
The award-winning article, Long forms of cardiac troponin T for myocardial infarction diagnosis: the SuperTROPO study, was published in the European Heart Journal in December 2025.
More information
Saara Wittfooth, tel +358 50 476 5496, saara.wittfooth@utu.fi
