Doctor of Philosophy, PhD (Filosofian tohtori, FT). University of Turku, Faculty of Medicine, Turku PET Centre. Clinical physiology and nuclear medicine. June 2017.
Master of Science, MSc (Liikuntatieteiden maisteri, LitM). University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. June 2015.
MSc Thesis. Effects of high-intensity interval training on the right ventricular glucose and fatty acid metabolism in healthy middle-aged men. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2015.
Major subject: exercise physiology
Master of Science, MSc (Filosofian maisteri, FM). University of Turku, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. June 2007.
MSc Thesis. Möbius-kuvaukset. University of Turku, Turku, Finland. 2006.
Major subject: mathematics
Minor subjects: information technology, physics, chemistry, pedagogics (teacher’s proficiency)
Research experience
Post-doctoral researcher. University of Turku, Turku PET Centre. July 2018 – July 2020.
CROSSYS: Modeling systemic cross-talk between brain, gut, and peripheral tissues in glucose homeostasis: exercise training and public health (NCT03730610).
Project started: 2018
Responsibilities: applying permissions for the study (ethical committee, organizational clinical study permissions). Organizing and conducting the study and collection of data, PET and MRI image analyses, data analysis and mathematical modeling, writing publications.
Researcher. University of Turku, Turku PET Centre. August 2017 – May 2018.
Writing publications to HITPET project (see below).
Doctoral student. University of Turku, Turku PET Centre. August 2014 – June 2017.
HITPET: The effects of short-time high-intensity interval training on tissue glucose and fat metabolism in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes (NCT01344928).
Project started: 2011
Responsibilities: PET and MRI heart image analyses, data analysis (R, SAS), writing publications and dissertation.
Project researcher. University of Turku, Department of Mathematics. September 2010 – October 2013.
Modeling genetic interactions with applications to cancer drug discover
Responsibilities: analyzing genetic and drug-gene interaction datasets, R coding, data integration and visualization, writing publications.
Honors and awards
The best dissertation in physiology (1 000 €). Societas Physiologica Finlandiae. March 2018.
Certificate of Honor: Dissertation in Sport Sciences. Finnish Society of Sport Sciences. June 2017.
Best Poster Award (200 €). 14th International EMBL PhD Symposium; Networks in the Life Sciences: Genomics, Proteomics and Systems Biology. EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, October 2012.
Award for outstanding performance in Matriculation Examination in Mathematics (600 €). The Matriculation Examination Board of Finland. October 2002.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals
Heiskanen MA, Honkala SM, Hentilä J, Ojala R, Lautamäki R, Koskensalo K, Lietzén MS, Saunavaara V, Saunavaara J, Helmiö M, Löyttyniemi E, Nummenmaa L, Collado MC, Malm T, Lahti L, Pietiläinen KH, Kaprio J, Rinne JO, Hannukainen JC. Systemic cross-talk between brain, gut, and peripheral tissues in glucose homeostasis: effects of exercise training (CROSSYS). Exercise training intervention in monozygotic twins discordant for body weight. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2021, 13(1):16. [Link].
Ojala R, Motiani KK, Ivaska KK, Arponen M, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen KA, Löyttyniemi E, Heiskanen MA, U-Din M, Nuutila P, Kalliokoski KK, Hannukainen JC. Bone marrow metabolism is impaired in insulin resistance and improves after exercise training. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020, 105(12):e4290-e4303. [Link]
Honkala SM, Motiani P, Kivelä R, Hemanthakumar KA, Tolvanen E, Motiani KK, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen KA, Kemppainen J, Heiskanen MA, Löyttyniemi E, Nuutila P, Kalliokoski KK, Hannukainen JC. Exercise training improves adipose tissue metabolism and vasculature regardless of baseline glucose tolerance and sex. BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, 2020, 8(1):e000830. [Link]
Motiani K, Savolainen A, Toivanen J, Eskelinen JJ, Yli-Karjanmaa M, Virtanen K, Saunavaara V, Heiskanen MA, Parkkola R, Haaparanta-Solin M, Solin O, Savisto N, Löyttyniemi E, Knuuti J, Nuutila P, Kalliokoski K, Hannukainen J. Effects of short-term sprint interval and moderate-intensity continuous training on liver fat, lipoprotein profile and substrate uptake: a randomized trial. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019, 126(6), 1756-68. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Motiani KK, Mari A, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen KA, Löyttyniemi E, Kalliokoski KK, Hannukainen JC. Comment on ‘Exercise training decreases pancreatic fat content and improves beta cell function regardless of baseline glucose tolerance: a randomised controlled trial’. Reply to Amini P and Moharamzadeh S [letter]. Diabetologia, 2019, 62(1):204-206. [Link]
Savolainen AM, Karmi A, Immonen H, Soinio M, Saunavaara V, Pham T, Salminen P, Helmiö M, Ovaska J, Löyttyniemi E, Heiskanen MA, Lehtimäki T, Mari A, Nuutila P, Hannukainen JC. Physical activity associates with muscle insulin sensitivity post bariatric surgery. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2019, 51(2):278-287. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Motiani KK, Mari A, Saunavaara V, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen K, Koivumäki M, Löyttyniemi E, Nuutila P, Kalliokoski KK, Hannukainen JC. Exercise training decreases pancreatic fat content and improves beta cell function regardless of baseline glucose tolerance: a randomised controlled trial. Diabetologia, 2018, 61(8):1817-1828. [Link]
Sjöros TJ, Heiskanen MA, Motiani KK, Löyttyniemi E, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen KA, Savisto NJ, Solin O, Hannukainen JC, Kalliokoski KK. Increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in both leg and arm muscles after sprint interval and moderate-intensity training in subjects with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports¸ 2018, 28(1), 77-87. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Sjöros TJ, Heinonen IHA, Löyttyniemi E, Koivumäki M, Motiani KK, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen K, Knuuti J, Hannukainen JC, Kalliokoski KK. Sprint interval training decreases left-ventricular glucose uptake compared to moderate-intensity continuous training in subjects with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Scientific Reports, 2017, 7(1), 10531. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Leskinen T, Heinonen IHA, Löyttyniemi E, Eskelinen JJ, Virtanen K, Hannukainen JC., Kalliokoski KK. Right ventricular metabolic adaptations to high-intensity interval and moderate-intensity continuous training in healthy middle-aged men. American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2016, 311(1), H667-75. [Link]
Eskelinen JJ, Heinonen IHA, Löyttyniemi E, Hakala J, Heiskanen MA, Motiani KK, Virtanen K, Pärkkä JP, Knuuti J, Hannukainen JC, Kalliokoski KK. Left‐ventricular vascular and metabolic adaptations to high‐intensity interval and moderate intensity continuous training. The Journal of Physiology, 2016, 594(23), 7127-40. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Leskinen T, Eskelinen JJ, Heinonen I, Löyttyniemi E, Virtanen K, Pärkkä JP, Hannukainen JC, Kalliokoski KK. Different predictors of right and left ventricular metabolism in healthy middle-aged men. Frontiers in Physiology, Clinical and Translational Physiology, 2015, 6, 389. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Aittokallio T. Predicting drug-target interactions through integrative analysis of chemogenetic assays in yeast. Molecular BioSystems, 2013, 9, 768-779. [Link]
Heiskanen MA, Aittokallio T. Mining high-throughput screens for cancer drug targets – lessons from yeast chemical-genomic profiling and synthetic lethality. WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 2012, 2, 263-272. [Link]
