Heli Kukkurainen
MSc
Doctoral Researcher
Public Health
Heli Kukkurainen is a public health researcher currently pursuing her PhD at the Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research (CERH), Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu. Her work is supported by the Finnish government's Sustainability Transformations (SusTra) doctoral education pilot.
Heli’s research focuses on the intersections of diet, environmental sustainability, and human health within the planetary health framework. Her work investigates how dietary patterns can simultaneously mitigate climate change and improve population health. She examines the impact of diet on air pollution and respiratory health outcomes in Finnish school-aged children using quantitative dietary assessment, life cycle assessment (LCA), and epidemiological analysis.
Before joining CERH, Heli completed her Master’s degree at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), where her research explored climate change-induced disruptions to Sámi food security in northern Finland and assessed national policy responses.
Research interests
- Direct and indirect impacts of dietary patterns on respiratory health outcomes.
- The diet–environment–health trilemma within the planetary health framework, with an emphasis on sustainable and climate-resilient diets.
- Climate change-induced disruptions to food systems and their effects on nutrition and population health.
Researcher information
Contact information
Visiting address
Kontinkangas Campus
Aapistie 5 B, 1st floor
Oulu, Finland
Postal address
PO Box 5000
FI-90014 University of Oulu
Finland