I carried out my medicine studies at the University of Helsinki and completed the qualification to neurologist in 1982. In 1984, I defended my doctoral thesis on the epidemiology and genetics of multiple sclerosis in Finland. Thereafter, I published several articles on the Finnish Twin Cohort, especially regarding MS. I have also published articles on central nervous system infections (viral meningitis, listeria, poliomyelitis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). Since 1990, I have been docent (associate professor) in neurology at the University of Helsinki. The same year I started my work as a head of the department of neurology in Hyvinkää  Hospital. I have conducted in more than 100 clinical drug trials on MS, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and migraine.