Organizing secretariat: Veera Kainulainen and Anne Kivimäki
Should you have any questions about the seminar or require assistance with your registration, please feel free to contact us: nutrition.winterschool@helsinki.fi
Karl-Heinz Herzig studied medicine in Germany and the United States. He did his postdoc on intestinal peptides and their regulation at the University of Michigan Gut Peptide Center and the Nancy Pritzker Laboratory at Stanford University. Returning to Germany, he specialized in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Physiology at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany. He became Professor of Internal Medicine (apl) at the University of Kiel, then moved to the A. I. Virtanen Institute of Molecular Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, where he worked as a Research Director of Molecular Physiology in the Dept. of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine and a Docent in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. In 2006, he became Professor of Physiology at the Medical School of the University of Oulu.
His research interest is the metabolic syndrome, investigating the effects of physical activity and nutrients. In national and international collaborations his team is using different model systems, human intervention trials and cohort studies (e.g. Northern Finland Birth Cohorts; NCD Consortium). The team belongs to the Biocenter of Oulu, the Medical Research Center of the University of Oulu, the ProNORD consortium on Personalized Nordic lifestyle to promote healthy ageing (NordForsk) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Nutriome.
Veera is a Doctor of Philosophy (General Microbiology) and she is mainly interested in bacteria-host interactions in health and disease. Now her research is focused on the role of gut microbiota in Parkinson´s disease and she is working in Neurocenter, Helsinki University Hospitals and as visiting scientist in Research Program Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki.
The topic of her doctoral thesis was molecular interactions of lactic acid bacteria with human host and the dissertation title was “Moonlighting Proteins of Lactobacillus crispatus: Extracellular Localization, Cell Wall anchoring and Interactions with the Host”. After her doctoral dissertation she worked in University of Helsinki as a post-doctoral researcher (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Medicine) and served as a vice-PI of the research group of Professor Riitta Korpela (Research Program Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki) from 2015. The main focus of her post-doctoral research has been in host-microbiota interaction, gut microbiota, fecal material transplantation and next generation probiotics.
She has participated in Nutrition Winter School four times and has been a member of the scientific board of Nutrition Winter School (2020) as well as act as a Secretary General of Nutrition Winter School (2018). Veera shares the NWS Secretary general position with Anne Kivimäki in 2026.
Anne is a Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine) with an interest in biomedicine and functional foods. She has a strong background in science, particularly in Medical Nutrition Physiology and Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases. After completing her PhD, she worked as a Laboratory Coordinator at the University of Helsinki and remains a visiting researcher there. Today, she works as a Regulatory Affairs Expert at Medfiles Ltd., specializing in novel foods and health claims. Research and the Nutrition Winter School are her inspiring free-time activities.
Berries have a special place in her heart. She did her PhD about lingonberries, blood pressure and vascular function in the Medical Nutrition Physiology Group at the University of Helsinki.
Anne attended the first Nutrition Winter School in 2009 as a young scientist. Over the years, she has taken on various roles, from organizing activities in 2012 to supporting the organizing committee in 2020. In 2023, she served as Secretary General. Now, Anne continues in the NWS 2026 Secretariat and shares Secretary General position with Veera Kainulainen. Anne is excited to organize another unforgettable event with the team.
Anu has a PhD in human nutrition and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki. She worked as a researcher at the Department of Human Nutrition of the University of Helsinki for over ten years. After completing her PhD thesis on the effects of dietary fats on risk factors of heart disease, Anu spent two years as a visiting fellow at Cornell University, USA, studying the metabolism of long-chain fatty acids.
Anu’s strong academic background is combined with experience in the food industry. Since 2008, she has held different positions in the R&D department of Valio Ltd, the leading dairy company in Finland. She works currently as a Nutrition Research manager, planning and coordinating Valio’s nutrition research. As milk is a treasure chest of bioactive compounds, it gives continuous inspiration for research.
Anu has attended Nutrition Winter School as a participant many years ago and is now excited to be involved in planning the event as a member of the scientific board.