Clinical Research Award Winner Rima Chakaroun is an internal medicine specialist in endocrinology and clinician-scientist at University Hospital Leipzig and the Wallenberg Laboratory in Gothenburg. Her research focuses on endocrine and metabolic disorders, particularly obesity and its cardiometabolic sequelae, explored through microbiome–nutrition interactions and sex-specific disease trajectories.
She contributes to multidisciplinary obesity programs, working closely with a dedicated team to support sustainable lifestyle changes. Her work examines how sex—shaped by hormonal dynamics—and the microbiome—as an extension of the human genome and metabolic network—interact with systems like adipose tissue to influence disease and offer modifiable targets for improved health. She aims to drive translational research by integrating microbiome- and nutrition-based interventions into personalized care.
Great to meet with you Rima! Please tell us a bit about yourself, where did you grow up? Feel free to share insights into your early life, including your upbringing, family environment, and formative experiences that may have influenced your career path.
I grew up in Lebanon as the eldest of three children. My father, the first in his family to attend university, was a man of deep intellectual curiosity. Raised in a small village where he shared living quarters with farm animals, his journey to earning a PhD in France and returning as a geography professor in Lebanon was a testament to resilience and ambition. His sudden and tragic death during a political assassination attempt in the turbulent post-civil war era, along with my own experience of being struck by a ricochet bullet, left an indelible mark on me. Yet, in the chaos, I found solace in the presence of first responders and treating physicians—an experience that instilled in me a profound appreciation for medicine, not only as a science of precision but as one of care and compassion.
My mother, a physics teacher by training and an educator by vocation, navigated single parenthood in survival mode, embodying perseverance and strength. Hardship became our norm, but from her, I learned resilience, purpose, and an unwavering belief in the power of education. After high school, I moved alone to Germany to study medicine, stepping into yet another challenge—that of being a first-generation immigrant. This experience profoundly shaped my personal and professional trajectory. Though demanding, it reinforced my empathy for others and deepened my conviction that diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches every field, including evidence-based medicine and research.
Today, as a clinician-scientist, I am passionate about understanding metabolic disease heterogeneity and advocating for inclusivity in academia and healthcare. More importantly, I remain driven by a profound desire to improve lives—whether by ensuring that those I care for feel seen, accepted, and valued in a highly professionalized setting or by contributing to meaningful advancements in their health, daily lives, and overall well-being.
Rima, your story is powerful and inspiring, a real testimony to your resilience. Please tell us more about your educational background and research experiences, was there anything in particular that led you to specialise in obesity research.
My academic journey began at the University of Leipzig, where I pursued a six-year medical degree that combined intensive study with hands-on hospital training. After obtaining my medical license, I began my residency at the Clinic for Internal Medicine – Department of Endocrinology, Nephrology, and Rheumatology at Leipzig University Hospital. This experience provided me with a comprehensive foundation across multiple medical disciplines, shaping my holistic approach to metabolic diseases.
My interest in obesity research was first sparked during biochemistry lectures in medical school, where I was fascinated by insulin signaling and glucose metabolism. This curiosity led me to pursue a doctoral thesis under Prof. Matthias Blüher, investigating the role of a specific gene in obesity and diabetes resistance in mice and cell culture. I expanded this research to include the effect of plasticisers on adipocytes and to human adipose tissue samples from different depots and intervention studies, deepening my understanding of adipose tissue biology. This work provided me with a strong foundation in molecular biology techniques and observational studies while further fueling my curiosity about obesity’s complexity.
As I transitioned into clinical practice, my focus remained on unraveling metabolic diseases at a deeper level. My postdoctoral research extended into adipose tissue biology, metabolic surgery outcomes, and the gut microbiome’s role in metabolic health. Collaborating with international research leaders, I contributed to key studies on the microbiome’s impact on cardiometabolic diseases—an area that had been largely underexplored at the time. I also investigated bacterial translocation into adipose tissue and its potential influence on metabolic disease progression.
This interdisciplinary exposure solidified my commitment to obesity research and the broader field of metabolic disorders. The systemic nature of obesity presents both a challenge and an opportunity, reinforcing my dedication to advancing research in this field and bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical application.
Fascinating Rima, particularly the interdisciplinary nature of your work. It sounds like your academic training and professional experiences have equipped you to take on the complexities of obesity research. How have your research interests developed over time?
My academic training and professional experiences have uniquely positioned me to tackle the multifaceted challenges of obesity research. As a trained endocrinologist and clinician-scientist, I integrate clinical expertise with translational research, allowing me to approach obesity from both patient-centered and mechanistic perspectives.
My early research in adipose tissue biology and insulin resistance provided a strong foundation in molecular and cellular mechanisms. My doctoral work, followed by studies on environmental factors like plasticizers in metabolic disease, deepened my understanding of obesity’s complexity beyond genetics alone. Later, my research expanded to the gut microbiome’s role in metabolic health, leading me to acquire advanced skills in metagenomics sequencing, RNASeq data processing, and multi-omics analysis—now fundamental techniques in obesity and metabolism research.
Collaborating with international research consortia such as MetaCardis, I investigated obesity from a systems biology perspective. Over time, I have come to view obesity not as an isolated disorder but as an intricate, interconnected condition influenced by microbiota, environmental exposures, and individual metabolic phenotypes.
That said, many critical aspects remain unexplored. Conversations with my patients continually highlight the psychosocial dimensions of obesity. This shift in perspective—viewing obesity as a dynamic, systemic disorder rather than a singular condition—has driven my commitment to advancing research that not only unravels these complexities but also translates findings into tangible, patient-centered solutions. In my clinical practice, I see firsthand how obesity medicine embodies the art of caring for the whole person, integrating insights from multiple disciplines to address both the disease and the individual behind it.
Thank you for sharing your holistic person-first Rima. Have you experienced challenges as an early-career researcher in obesity? If so, have opportunities arisen from these experiences?
One of the biggest challenges I have faced as an early-career researcher is balancing scientific research with clinical practice. The demands of both fields require continuous learning, adaptability, and time management. To navigate this, I actively sought out clinician-scientist programs, which, while extending my medical training, allowed me to bridge the gap between patient care and translational research and to do what I love continuously.
Another challenge has been finding strong mentorship. Mentorship often relies on the best fit, and mentors tend to push forward mentees who resemble them in background or approach. As a woman with an Arabic background in German academic institutions, this made it more difficult to find natural mentorship opportunities. To overcome this, I proactively sought mentorship programs throughout my studies and clinical training, intentionally surrounding myself with women leaders in science. I learned to mix and match insights from different mentors and made it a point to absorb valuable lessons from every collaboration, broadening my perspectives and refining my approach to research.
Additionally, my wide-ranging interest in translational aspects of obesity—particularly in adipose tissue and the microbiome—posed another challenge. Obesity research spans multiple disciplines, making it difficult to fit within traditional academic silos. However, this challenge became an opportunity as it pushed me to seek international mentors, engage in diverse research environments, and pursue multiple postdoctoral experiences in Germany and abroad. This exposure not only expanded my expertise and my skillset but also helped me build an extensive network of collaborators, allowing me to pursue interdisciplinary research that integrates multiple facets of obesity.
Wherever I go, I carry with me a small drawing that reads: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Through these experiences, I have learned to embrace discomfort as a catalyst for growth. I now find excitement in exploring new areas of research that complement my work, continuously evolving my approach to better understand and address the complexities of obesity.
Love that quote, Rima! You have always pushed boundaries and it is so great to learn about your experiences and the way this has shaped your perspective.
Obesity Is a multidimensional chronic disease. Can you say more about how interdisciplinary collaboration has featured in your work?
Obesity is one of the most urgent global health challenges, transcending borders, socioeconomic status, and medical disciplines. It was once considered a disease of wealthier nations, it has surged in low- and middle-income countries, exposing the flaws in viewing obesity as merely a consequence of excess. Instead, it is a catalyst for numerous diseases, its impact shaped by an individual’s metabolic, environmental, and genetic landscape.
What makes obesity particularly complex is its systemic nature. Unlike diseases confined to a single organ, it intricately links the brain, cardiovascular system, kidneys, liver, sex hormones, immune function, and, fundamentally, muscle and adipose tissue. Its neurological and psychosocial dimensions further complicate its trajectory, making it both a physiological and sociocultural phenomenon. As the paradigmatic disease of systems medicine, obesity demands a holistic approach that integrates molecular biology, clinical insight, and public health strategy.
My research is shaped by this perspective. Beginning with insulin resistance and adipose tissue biology, my work expanded into the gut microbiome, bacterial translocation, and metabolic inflammation—each layer revealing obesity’s deep interconnections within the human system. Through collaborations in environmental research, microbiology, systems medicine, and computational biology, I have explored multiple facets of obesity, reinforcing that it is far more than an energy imbalance.
I also collaborate on research into obesity’s neurological and renal implications, areas often underestimated in their significance. Additionally, I believe we must better understand obesity’s sexual dimorphism, particularly the differential impact of nutrition and environmental factors—especially as women are now more likely to develop obesity at younger ages than men. I aim to explore these dimensions further through the NNF New Investigator Award.
Absolutely agree, it sounds like you’ve formulated several important interdisciplinary research questions. Can you share perspectives around how your research might influence public health policies, clinical practices, or foundational scientific knowledge related to obesity?
My research has the potential to shape public health policies, clinical practices, and foundational scientific knowledge by driving a more nuanced understanding of obesity that underlines its complexity and systemic nature.
At the level of scientific knowledge, this research contributes to a broader redefinition of obesity as a dynamic, systemic disorder rather than a singular condition. It advances our understanding of the microbiome’s role in metabolic health, highlights the interconnectedness of organ systems in obesity, and supports the integration of systems medicine into metabolic research. By raising awareness of the importance of microbial and environmental diversity, this work not only deepens our scientific grasp of obesity but also promotes a shift in public and professional perceptions, reducing stigma and fostering a more informed and empathetic approach to obesity care.
In clinical practice, this research underscores the importance of moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to obesity treatment. By demonstrating, for example, how the gut microbiome influences obesity differently in men and women, it supports a shift toward more personalized interventions, from tailored dietary recommendations to microbiome-based therapies. Integrating microbiome findings into clinical guidelines could improve patient care by offering more precise, effective treatments while fostering a more holistic understanding of obesity.
From a policy perspective, my research will provide sex-specific, longitudinal obesity data, which can help policymakers better understand disease risk and develop targeted screening, prevention, and treatment strategies—particularly for women’s health, an area often underrepresented in metabolic research. Additionally, recognizing the role of the gut microbiome in obesity may encourage policies that prioritize gut health, such as improving food quality, regulating antibiotic use, and promoting microbiome-friendly diets. Finally, identifying environmental factors that affect microbiome composition and metabolic health could shape policies related to environmental health.
Ultimately, my research is not just about understanding metabolism—it is about reshaping how we approach human health. With the rise of blockbuster medications for obesity, it is more important than ever to maintain a holistic approach—one that empowers individuals with the knowledge and tools to actively manage their health, to ensure that no population, rich or poor, Is left behind in the fight against this global epidemic. Beyond pharmacological solutions, true progress lies in equipping patients with the education, resources, and personalized strategies needed to address obesity in a sustainable, long-term way.