Professor Berit L. Heitmann is an internationally recognised scientist in nutritional epidemiology, with almost four decades of experience in obesity, life-course health, prevention, and chronic disease research. Her work has contributed substantially to the

understanding of early-life determinants of obesity and cardiometabolic disease, as well as to the development and evaluation of prevention and long-term weight management strategies. She founded the Research Unit for Dietary Studies and has led major national

and European research programmes, including large collaborative projects on obesity prevention and weight-loss maintenance. Her research combines strong epidemiological methods, population-based data, intervention studies, and policy relevance. She has published

more than 440 peer-reviewed papers, supervised more than 50 PhD students, and contributed actively to national and international public health policy.