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Lihua Sun serves as Associate Professor in the Clinical Department and Collegium Researcher at the PET Center, University of Turku, where she investigates brain-body interactions in metabolic and psychiatric disorders using advanced neuroimaging techniques. Her educational foundation includes a PhD (Honors) in System Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology. Professor Sun's research centers on seasonal brain variations, neurotransmitter dynamics (dopamine/opioid systems), and brain-body metabolic crosstalk. She employs PET imaging to explore how day length affects brain glucose metabolism, why winter enhances brain-brown fat interactions, and how hormones like secretin modulate appetite. Her work bridges clinical psychiatry (anorexia, obesity, seasonal depression) with molecular neuroscience, revealing biological mechanisms underlying eating disorders and mood conditions. Analysis of her 10 recent publications (2023-2025) shows consistent focus on translational neuroscience themes: seasonal neurochemical fluctuations, obesity-related brain changes, and neurotransmitter abnormalities in psychiatric conditions. Key trends include the use of twin cohorts to isolate BMI effects, repeated-measures PET to track seasonal variations, and multimodal approaches linking receptor availability with behavioral outcomes. As an active researcher with continuous high-impact publications, Professor Sun likely leads grant-funded projects supporting graduate training and clinical collaborations. Her position at the PET Center provides access to advanced imaging infrastructure for human neuroscience research. Her primary research base operates within the PET Center ecosystem at University of Turku, facilitating interdisciplinary studies connecting neuroscience, endocrinology, and psychiatry through shared imaging resources and clinical partnerships.

• Neuroscience
• Neuroendocrinology
• Brain Imaging
• +5 more

Pirjo Nuutila holds dual appointments at the University of Turku: Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine InFLAMES Flagship Professor Based at Kiinamyllynkatu 4-8, 20520 Turku, she can be contacted via pirjo.nuutila@utu.fi or phone (+358 29 450 2569 / +358 40 162 6834). Her research integrates endocrinology, neuroscience, and molecular imaging to investigate obesity pathophysiology, metabolic surgery outcomes, and brain-reward mechanisms. Key methodologies include PET/PET-MR imaging, proteomic profiling of adipose tissue, and metabolic clamp studies, with emphasis on translating molecular findings to clinical applications in metabolic and psychiatric disorders. Her 2025 publication output reveals consistent focus on adipose tissue metabolism, brain receptor dynamics in eating disorders, and innovative imaging applications for Crohn's disease monitoring. The work demonstrates strong translational impact across Molecular Psychiatry, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine, and American Journal of Physiology. No specific awards are documented in the provided materials. Professor Nuutila's extensive 2025 publication record indicates active grant funding and graduate student supervision, though specific grant numbers and student counts aren't detailed. Her work shows strong institutional support through the InFLAMES Flagship initiative. She operates within the InFLAMES research ecosystem at University of Turku, which integrates inflammation research across medical disciplines, though no dedicated laboratory name is specified in available materials.

• Endocrinology
• Obesity Research
• Molecular Imaging
• +3 more