Sini Heinonen is an Adjunct Professor and Principal investigator (MD, PhD, Resident in Internal Medicine) in Obesity Research Unit, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland. She has studied adipose tissue in obesity in identical obesity-discordant twins and in different types of weight loss, with special interest in adipocyte mitochondria and their relation to the metabolic complications of obesity. Her research bridges clinical practice, pharmacological trials, and molecular biology by combining patient cohorts, omics data, and primary human adipocyte cultures to uncover mechanisms regulating adipose and systemic energy metabolism in obesity and in weight loss.
Her current interests comprise understanding the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery and lifestyle-induced weight loss strategies on peripheral tissue mitochondrial energy metabolism. This translational work aims to in detail characterize adipose tissue function before and after successful weight loss and to identify mechanism and mediators of effective weight loss, such as postprandial plasma bile acids, gut hormones and metabolites, combined with research on in vitro human adipocyte models.