Dr Penttinen is the Chief Executive Officer for Gulf CDC, based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is leading the establishment of this regional Center for Disease Prevention and Control in a scientific and managerial role. Dr Penttinen is a public health leader with a distinguished career of more than 20 years in managing and leading disease prevention and control activities in multiple countries, at local, national and international levels both in the public and private sector.

He managed multiple public health emergencies for ECDC, including the 2009 influenza pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. His research interests include surveillance, pandemic preparedness, epidemic intelligence, surveillance of respiratory viruses and vaccines.