Stephanie Kullmann

Aktuelle Position:

Professorin, Universität Tübingen
Stellvertretende Leiterin des  Metabolischen Neuroimaging am Institut für Diabetesforschung und metabolische Erkrankungen (IDM)

Stephanie Kullmann – Helmholtz Zentrum München
Stephanie Kullmann – Universitätsklinikum Tübingen

Forschungsinteresse:

Meine Forschungsinteressen konzentrieren sich auf neurobiologische Mechanismen, die im Zusammenhang mit Fettleibigkeit und Diabetes beim Menschen stehen. Ich verwende moderne Neurobildgebungsverfahren, insbesondere die funktionelle Magnetresonanztomographie, und Messungen des peripheren Stoffwechsels. Insbesondere interessiere ich mich für die Erforschung der Hirninsulinwirkung mittels intranasaler Insulinanwendung zur Untersuchung der metabolischen und kognitiven Folgen von Hirninsulinresistenz.

Aktuelle projekte:

Impact of High Caloric Diet
Brain Insulin Resistance
Brain Insulin Resistance with Aging

Ausgewählte Publikationen:

Publications (through pubmed)

Mack, I., Kullmann, S., Le Morvan de Sequeira, C., Klos, B., Zipfel, S., Birkenfeld, A., & Erschens, R. (2026). Beyond weight loss: Integrating GLP-1 RA therapies into psychological and behavioral care for obesity and binge eating disorder. Reviews in Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-026-10047-4T

Wagner, R., Kullmann, S., Hummel, J., Prystupa, K., Hosenfeld, E., Veit, R., Birkenfeld, A. L., Häring, H.-U., Preissl, H., Fritsche, A., Peter, A., & Heni, M. (2026). Postprandial Glucagon Action in the Human Brain. Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism.
https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.70801

Hummel, J., Zhao, S., Sobotta, S., Veit, R., Sandforth, L., Birkenfeld, A. L., Fritsche, A., Wagner, R., Peter, A., Preissl, H., Heni, M., & Kullmann, S. (2026). The interplay of central insulin and menstrual cycle on functional brain networks and neural food cue reactivity in women. Communications Biology, 9(1), 76.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09341-9

Kullmann, S., Singh, A., Sehgal, R., Eichelmann, F., Sandforth, L., Wilms, B., Jähnert, M., Peter, A., Meyhöfer, S., Walther, D., Preissl, H., Häring, H.-U., Schulze, M. B., Heni, M., Birkenfeld, A. L., Schürmann, A., & Ouni, M. (2025). Circulating epigenetic signatures classifying brain insulin resistance in humans. Science Translational Medicine, 17(810), eadv7834.
https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adv7834

Zhao, S., Semeia, L., Veit, R., Moser, J., Preissl, H., & Kullmann, S. (2025). Structural and Functional Brain Changes in Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 26(12), e70001.
https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.70001

Quillian, J., Attuquayefio, T., Sung, J., Canna, A., Ko, T., Davis, X., Maciejewski, K., Li, F., Santoro, N., Pierpont, B., Kullmann, S., Preissl, H., Morys, F., Dagher, A., Caprio, S., & Small, D. M. Neurocognition in youth with versus without prediabetes (2025.06.23.25330130). medRxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences.
https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.23.25330130

Chen, W., Kullmann, S., & Rhea, E. M. (2026). Expanding the understanding of insulin resistance in brain and periphery. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism: TEM, 37(1), 17–30.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2025.04.010

Ester-Nacke, T., Veit, R., Thomanek, J., Book, M., Tamble, L., Beermann, M., Löffler, D., Salvador, R., Ruffini, G., Heni, M., Birkenfeld, A. L., Plewnia, C., Preissl, H., & Kullmann, S. (2025). Repeated net-tDCS of the hypothalamus appetite-control network enhances inhibitory control and decreases sweet food intake in persons with overweight or obesity. Brain Stimulation, 18(3), 863–874.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2025.04.013

Chakravartti, S. P., Jann, K., Veit, R., Liu, H., Yunker, A. G., Angelo, B., Monterosso, J. R., Xiang, A. H., Kullmann, S., & Page, K. A. (2025). Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights. Nature Metabolism, 7(3), 574–585.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01227-8

Semeia, L., Veit, R., Zhao, S., Luo, S., Angelo, B., Birkenfeld, A. L., Preissl, H., Xiang, A. H., Kullmann, S., & Page, K. A. (2025). Influence of insulin sensitivity on food cue evoked functional brain connectivity in children. NeuroImage, 310, 121154.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121154

Hege MA, Veit R, Krumsiek J, Kullmann S, Heni M, Rogers PJ, Brunstrom JM, Fritsche A, Preissl H. Eating less or more – Mindset induced changes in neural correlates of pre-meal planning. Appetite. 2018 Jun 1;125:492-501.

Kullmann S, Veit R, Peter A, Pohmann R, Scheffler K, Häring HU, Fritsche A, Preissl H, Heni M. Dose dependent effects of intranasal insulin on resting-state brain activity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017 Oct 31.

Kullmann S, Heni M, Veit R, Scheffler K, Machann J, Häring HU, Fritsche A, Preissl H. Intranasal insulin enhances brain functional connectivity mediating the relationship between adiposity and subjective feeling of hunger, Sci Rep. 2017 May 9;7(1):1627.

Kullmann S, Fritsche A, Wagner R, Schwab S, Häring HU, Preissl H, Heni M. Hypothalamic insulin responsiveness is associated with pancreatic insulin secretion in humans. Physiol Behav. 2017 Mar 24. pii: S0031-9384(16)31226-4.

Heni M, Kullmann S, Ahlqvist E, Wagner R, Machicao F, Staiger H, Häring HU, Almgren P, Groop LC, Small DM, Fritsche A, Preissl H. Interaction between the obesity-risk gene FTO and the dopamine D2 receptor gene ANKK1/TaqIA on insulin sensitivity. Diabetologia. 2016 Dec;59(12):2622-2631.

Kullmann S, Heni M, Hallschmid M, Fritsche A, Preissl H, Häring HU. Brain Insulin Resistance at the Crossroads of Metabolic and Cognitive Disorders in Humans. Physiol Rev. 2016 Oct;96(4):1169-209. Review.

Kullmann S, Callaghan MF, Heni M, Weiskopf N, Scheffler K, Häring HU, Fritsche A, Veit R, Preissl H. Specific white matter tissue microstructure changes associated with obesity. Neuroimage. 2016 Jan 15;125:36-44.