Kari Tikkinen is Professor of Urology at the University of Helsinki and Consultant Urologic Surgeon at the Department of Urology, Helsinki University Hospital and Department of Surgery, South Karelian Central Hospital, Finland. 

He received his MD in 2004 and PhD in 2010 at the University of Tampere, Finland. He is Adjunct Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Helsinki since 2014 and was appointed as (Full) Professor of Urology at the University of Helsinki in June 2020. He is leading the Clinical Urology and Epidemiology (CLUE) Working Group (http://www.clueworkinggroup.com) – a strong collaborative network of international collaborators. 

His research initially focused on population studies of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), in particular nocturia and overactive bladder. His PhD thesis addressing these issues was awarded the best thesis of the year at the University of Tampere (all faculties), and received international recognition. While his research group is actively continuing LUTS research, his post doctoral fellowship (hosted by Distinguished Professor Gordon Guyatt at McMaster University) has considerably broadened his research focus. 

Prof. Tikkinen chaired two prestigious guidelines: the European Association of Urology (EAU) Guideline on Thromboprophylaxis in Urological Surgery and The BMJ’s Rapid Recommendation on Prostate Cancer Screening. The EAU Guideline addressing thromboprophylaxis in urologic surgery, published in 2017, is the first ever procedure- and patient risk factor specific surgical thromboprophylaxis guideline, and has the potential to rationalize current widely varying clinical practice.

Prof. Tikkinen is the national principal investigator of the WHO-led SOLIDARITY trial on COVID-19 treatments, the global co-principal investigator of the APPEAL trial on antibiotic prophylaxis before urinary stone shock wave therapy, and the global principal investigator of the ARTS trial on thromboprophylaxis post general abdominal, gynecologic and urologic surgeries.