FOOD AND FASTING PERIODS AS MEDICINE TO PREVENT DISEASE
Professor Leonie Heilbronn
University of Adelaide &
Group Leader Obesity and Metabolism,
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
Adelaide, South Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australia | February 2025
Professor Leonie Heilbronn is based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), where she leads the Obesity and Metabolism laboratory. Her research is at the interface between basic and clinical science. She is internationally recognised for her work in nutritional modulation in humans and has made major contributions to our current understanding of mechanisms underlying conditions such as insulin resistance, particularly inflammation and lipid metabolism. She has also contributed significantly to current concepts of caloric restriction (CR), intermittent fasting (IF) and time restricted eating (TRE) in humans. She has published more than 110 peer reviewed papers in scientific journals and is an Associate Editor of Obesity, and Obesity Research and Clinical Practice.
Prof. Heilbronn is a translational investigator in obesity and diabetes research. She has a particular interest in understanding how fasting and meal timing alter nutrient signalling pathways to improve health and contributed extensively to current concepts in calorie restriction, intermittent fasting and time restricted eating. She has published more than 140 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has a current h-index of 44. She is an Associate Editor of Obesity and the European Journal of Endocrinology. She is President of the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society and an Associate Member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science.
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Pregnancy in women with chronic kidney disease
Professor Shilpanjali Jesudason is an academic nephrologist and Head of Department at the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplant Service, South Australia.
From 2017-2020, she was the Clinical Director of Kidney Health Australia, the peak body for patients with kidney disease. In this role she developed a passion for advancing kidney disease education in primary care.
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Investigating new approaches to target plaque inflammation in atherosclerosis
Associate Professor Peter Psaltis is an Academic Interventional Cardiologist who holds Level 2 NHMRC Career Development and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowships. He has Faculty positions within the University of Adelaide, Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). Within SAHMRI, he is the Co-Theme Leader of the Lifelong Health, Program Leader of Heart and Vascular Health and Co-director of the Vascular Research Centre in the Lifelong Health Theme.
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Causal genes and pathogenic mechanisms underlying gastrointestinal diseases
Professor D’Amato has more than 25 years research experience in the field of human genetics and complex diseases, with activities most recently geared towards a translational application for therapeutic precision in gastroenterology. His team, the Gastrointestinal Genetics Laboratory, combine leading expertise in genomic, computational and pre-clinical research, and have contributed important breakthroughs linking specific genes and pathogenetic mechanisms to a number of gastrointestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), microscopic colitis (MC) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
