Riin Tamm (born 12 August 1981) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

and a science popularizer. She is the head of the Department of Youth and Talent Policy within the

Estonian Ministry of Education and Research The Ministry of Education and Research ( et, Haridus- ja teadusministeerium) is a government ministry of Estonia, responsible for the planning and carrying out education, research, youth, and language policies, developing the national curricula ...

. She has previously served as the director of University of Tartu Youth Academy.

Early life and education

Tamm was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

and grew up in the village of

Peri In Persian mythology, peris (singular: peri; from fa, پَری, translit=parī, , plural , ; borrowed in European languages through ota, پَری, translit=peri) are exquisite, winged spirits renowned for their beauty. Peris were later ado ...

, near

Põlva Põlva () is a town in southeastern Estonia, the capital of Põlva County, and the centre of Põlva Parish. Põlva is home for the Intsikurmu Song Festival Grounds, which regularly hosts concerts and summer activities, situated in a small for ...

, and is the daughter of two doctors. She attended Miina Härma Gymnasium in

between 1997 and 2000. From 2001 to 2005 she was an undergraduate at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

studying

molecular diagnosis Molecular diagnostics is a collection of techniques used to analyze biological markers in the genome and proteome, and how their cells express their genes as proteins, applying molecular biology to medical testing. In medicine the technique is ...

, and from 2005 to 2007 studied for her master's degree, which she obtained in 2007. Her master's thesis, prepared under supervision of

Andres Metspalu Andres Metspalu (born 11 March 1951) is an Estonians, Estonian geneticist and member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Biography Metspalu was born on 11 March 1951 in Lääne-Viru County. In 1969 he graduated from the Rakke High School. I ...

and Kersti Oselin, was entitled ''Human thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: genotype-phenotype correlation and haplotype analysis in the Estonian population''. Following this, she began her PhD studies in human genetics.

Publications and appearances

Tamm has published in

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

s and presented research to a broader public in other venues, including the newspaper ''

Postimees ''Postimees'' () is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 ...

'',

Radio Kuku Radio Kuku ( et, Raadio Kuku, also called ''Kuku-raadio'') is an Estonian radio station. It was the first politically independent privately owned radio station in post-occupation Estonia, established in 1992 by a media businessman and later polit ...

's program ''Falling Apple'' (''Kukkuv õun'' – 28 August 2010), and

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televisi ...

's program ''Good Vision'' (15 October 2009, 20 October 2011, 17 January 2012). She has been one of the judges in the Estonian science competition show

Rakett69 Rakett69 is an Estonian science competition show, broadcast by Estonian Television and funded by the Estonian Research Council. European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévi ...

.Meist
Rakett69 Tamm has said that doctors are conservative and still have relatively little interest in using genetic information to improve treatment. In a June 2012 interview she said that more work is needed to map out the human genetic structure, but much has been done already. Genetic information may help to determine risk of certain diseases, and may be useful in determining appropriate drug treatments.

Professional service

Tamm is a board member of the

Estonian Society of Human Genetics The Estonian Society of Human Genetics (ESTSHG) (Estonian: ''Eesti Inimesegeneetika Ühing'') is a non-profit organization that promotes research and communication between scientists involved in human and medical genetics. Functions The Estonia ...

and the Estonian Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and is Chair of the Scientific Program Committee of the Annual International Gene Forum conference organized by the Estonian Genome Foundation. In 2011 she was chosen as one of 26 scientists to travel around Estonia and take part in events at schools and academic institutions as part of an initiative by the

Archimedes Foundation The Archimedes Foundation is an independent body established by the Estonian government in 1997 with the objective to coordinate and implement different international and national programmes and projects in the field of training, education, researc ...

and the Ministry of Education and Research.

Awards

In 2012 she was given second prize for Estonian National Science Communication in the category "Best popularizing scientist, journalist, teacher etc in the field of science and technology".

Publications

Tamm has authored or co-authored various papers on subjects related to human genetics and gerontology, including the following: * * * * * * According to the Web of Science, her publications have been cited 23 times, giving Tamm an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as winn ...

of 3.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Riin Tamm: explaining genetics in layman's terms
InTime April/May 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamm, Riin 1981 births Living people People from Tartu Estonian geneticists Miina Härma Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu Science communicators Estonian women scientists