Specialist physician, researcher,
longevity medicine.

I have been a licensed physician since 2001 and a specialist since 2013. My background is academic. I defended my dissertation at Karolinska Institutet in 2000, was a postdoc at Harvard School of Public Health, and have been an Associate Professor at Sahlgrenska akademin since 2012.

Over time, I came to find conventional medicine's focus on diagnosis and symptom management, rather than underlying causes, unsatisfying. That led me to functional medicine. I trained at FMV in Stockholm, followed by four years with the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M).

My focus is longevity: how we extend the number of healthy years in life. I see patients of all ages, from those with long-standing complaints (digestive, autoimmune, hormonal, fatigue) to those who are well but want to optimize and age well.

Licensed physician

2001

Specialist physician

2013

PhD

Medical epidemiology · Karolinska Institutet, 2000

Postdoc

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2002–2004

Associate Professor

Sahlgrenska akademin, 2012

Functional medicine

IFM · Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, 2021

Anti-Aging & Longevity

A4M Fellowship (USA), 2022

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

IBUM (USA), 2023

Network

Longevity Docs, member since 2025

As a researcher at Karolinska Institutet and Sahlgrenska akademin, I have supervised three doctoral students to dissertation defense and authored a number of peer-reviewed publications. My dissertation on HPV and cervical cancer was awarded the Chorafas Prize.

• Josefsson AM, Magnusson PK, Ylitalo N, Quarforth-Tubbin P, Pontén J, Adami H-O, Gyllensten UB. P53 polymorphism and risk for cervical cancer. Nature. 1998;396:53. PubMed →
• Ylitalo N, Sorensen P, Josefsson A, Frisch M, Sparén P, Pontén J, Gyllensten U, Melbye M, Adami H-O. Smoking and oral contraceptives as risk factors for cervical carcinoma in situ. Int J Cancer. 1999;81:357–65. PubMed →
• Josefsson AM, Magnusson PK, Ylitalo N, Sorensen P, Qwarforth-Tubbin P, Andersen P-K, Melbye M, Adami H-O, Gyllensten UB. Viral load of human papillomavirus 16 as a determinant for development of cervical carcinoma in situ: a nested case-control study. Lancet. 2000;355:2189–93. PubMed →
• Ylitalo N, Sorensen P, Josefsson AM, Magnusson PK, Andersen P-K, Pontén J, Adami H-O, Gyllensten UB, Melbye M. Consistent high viral load of human papillomavirus 16 and risk of cervical carcinoma in situ: a nested case-control study. Lancet. 2000;355:2194–8. PubMed →
• Ylitalo N, Josefsson A, Melbye M, Sorensen P, Frisch M, Andersen PK, Sparén P, Gustafsson M, Magnusson P, Pontén J, Gyllensten U, Adami H-O. A prospective study showing long-term infection with human papillomavirus 16 before the development of cervical carcinoma in situ. Cancer Res. 2000;60:6027–32. PubMed →
• Ylitalo Helm N, et al. Prospective study of HPV16 viral load and risk of in situ and invasive squamous cervical cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2013;22(1):150–158. PubMed →
• Ylitalo N, et al. Risk factors for opportunistic illnesses in children with HIV in the era of HAART. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 2006. PubMed →

Nathalie also accepts speaking engagements on women's health and longevity. See speaker profile →