Marina Heinonen is a Professor of Food Safety and Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition at the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. She holds a Doctoral degree in Food Science from the University of Helsinki (1990) and has held academic positions including Professor of Functional Foods (2002-2007). Expert roles: Member of EFSA's NDA Panel (2004-present), UK Nutrition & Health Claims Committee, FACCE-JPI SAB Grants evaluator: European Research Council (2010-2015, 2017-present) and Novo Nordisk Plant Science Committee (2020-present) Her research focuses on chemical food safety mechanisms (e.g., protein-lipid interactions), natural antioxidants, and food composition analysis of phenolics/carotenoids. She actively engages in regulatory science for novel foods and health claims evaluation, contributing to EU policy frameworks. Her 561+ publications span food safety risk assessment, functional food development, and regulatory impact studies. Notable recent projects include Valio's legume protein gelation research (2024) and the Helsinki One Health initiative addressing climate-smart food systems. Awards: Sokrates Award (2019) for media outreach, Duodecim journalism prize (2014) Public engagement: YouTube series explaining food safety concepts, media interviews on dietary trends Led the FOODNUTRI research infrastructure (2020) and supervised 4 doctoral theses. Her team operates within the Helsinki One Health consortium focusing on food quality and safety innovations.








