Concordia University Food Studies

Associate Professor, Exercise Science

Dr. Santosa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise Science at Concordia University and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Santosa joined the Department of Exercise Science in January of 2011 following a 3.5 year research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  She earned her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from McGill University and completed her dietetic internship at the McGill University Health Centers. Dr. Santosa is a registered dietitian through her membership in the College of Dietitians of Ontario. 

Obesity—both on an individual and a societal level—is a concern for millions of Canadians. Despite existing public policy and weight loss treatments, more Canadians are clinically overweight than are not.

At the same time, health research has yet to fully understand exactly how obesity affects the progression or treatment of people suffering from weight-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Obesity treatments themselves remain largely ineffective, as most people who lose weight eventually gain it back.

Dr. Sylvia Santosa studies the metabolic and cellular mechanisms surrounding how diseases develop among the overweight—and why not all obese people develop weight-related illnesses. Her multidisciplinary research integrates elements from biology, physiology and nutritional science to study the effects of obesity that contribute to weight gain and disease.

Dr. Santosa’s research will identify the long-term effects of obesity, from cells to the entire human body. The results of her work will help in developing better public health interventions, from disease prevention to weight management.

Her food-related publications include:
1.      Murphy J, Moullec G, Santosa S. Factors associated with adipocyte size reduction after weight loss interventions for overweight and obesity: a systemic review and meta-regression. Metabolism. 2016: revision requested.

2.      Santosa S, Bonnes S, Jensen MD. Acute female hypogonadism alters adipose tissue fatty acid storage factors and chylomicronemia. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2016:101;2089-98.

3.      Yang SQ, DeGuire JR, Agellon S, Lavery P, Mak I, Weiler HA, Santosa S^§. Conjugated linoleic acid mitigates testosterone-related changes in body composition in male guinea pigs. Nutrition Research. 2016:36;408-17.

4.      Dam V, Sikder T, Santosa S^§. From Neutrophils to Macrophages: Differences in Regional Adipose Tissue Depots. Obesity Reviews. 2016:17;1-17.

5.      Santosa S^§, Jensen MD. The sexual dimorphism of lipid kinetics in humans. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2015: 6:103 (6 pages).

6.      Hames KC, Koutsari C, Santosa S, Bush NC, Jensen MD. Adipose tissue fatty acid storage factors: effects of depot, sex and fat cell size. International Journal of Obesity. 2015:39;884-7.

7.      Varady KA*, Dam V*, Horne M, Cruz R, Klempel MC, Kroeger CM, Santosa S^§. Effects of weight loss via high fat vs low fat alternate day fasting diets on free fatty acid profiles. Scientific Reports. 2015:5;7561 (6 pages).

8.      Santosa S, Swain J, Tchkonia T, Kirkland JL, Jensen MD. Inflammatory characteristics of adipose tissue collected by surgical excision vs. needle aspiration. International Journal of Obesity. 2015:39;874-6.

9.      Santosa S^§, Jensen MD. Sex and sex steroids: impact on the kinetics of fatty acids underlying body shape. Hormone Molecular Biology and Clinical Investigation. 2014:20;15-23.

10.   Du S, Rajjo T, Santosa S, Jensen MD. The thermic effect of food is reduced in older adults. Hormone and Metabolic Research. 2014:46;365-9.

11.   Santosa S, Jensen MD. Adipocyte Fatty Acid Storage Factors Enhance Subcutaneous Fat Storage in Postmenopausal Women. Diabetes. 2013:62;775-82.

12.   Santosa S, Jensen MD. Effect of Male Hypogonadism on Regional Adipose Tissue Fatty Acid Storage and Lipogenic Proteins. Public Library of Science One. 2012:7;e31473 (10 pages).

13.   Santosa S, Khosla S, McCready L, Jensen MD.  Effects of estrogen and testosterone on resting energy expenditure in older men.  Obesity.  2010:18;2392-4.

14.   Barrow CJ, Nolan C, McCleod M, Santosa S, Holub BJ.  Bioequivalence of encapsulated and microencapsulated fish-oil supplementation.  Journal of Functional Foods.  2009:1;38-43.

15.   Kassis AN, Santosa S, Jones PJH. Potential health claims on dietary fiber: How robust is the evidence? International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine. 2009:4;28-32.

16.   Santosa S, Hensrud DD, Votruba SB, Jensen MD.  The influence of sex and obesity phenotype on meal fatty acid metabolism before and after weight loss.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008:88;1134-41.

17.   Santosa S, Jensen MD.  Why are we shaped differently and why does it matter?.  American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism.  2008: 295;E531-5.

18.   Santosa S, Demonty I, Lichtenstein AH, Jones PJH. Moderate weight loss: A self-directed protocol for women.  Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research. 2008: 69;23-27.

19.   Santosa S, Demonty I, Lichtenstein AH, Ordovas JM, Jones PJH. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in ABCG5 and ABCG8 are associated with changes in cholesterol metabolism during weight loss.  Journal of Lipid Research. 2007:48;2607-2613.

20.   Santosa S, Demonty I, Lichtenstein AH, Cianflone K, Jones PJH.  An investigation of hormone and lipid associations after weight loss in women.  Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2007:26;250-258.

21.   Santosa S, Demonty I, Lichtenstein AH, Jones PJH. Cholesterol metabolism and body composition in women : the effects of moderate weight loss.  International Journal of Obesity. 2007:31;933-941.

22.   Varady KA, Santosa S, Demonty I, Jones PJH. Validation of hand-held bioelectrical impedance analysis with magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of body composition in overweight women.  American Journal of Human Biology. 2007:19;429-433.

23.   Santosa S, Varady KA, AbumWeis S, Jones PJH.  Physiological and therapeutic factors affecting cholesterol metabolism: does a reciprocal relationship between cholesterol absorption and synthesis really exist?. Life Science. 2007:80;505-514.

24.   Varady KA, Charest A, Santosa S, Demonty I, Lamarche B, Jones PJ. Effect of weight loss resulting from a combined low-fat diet/exercise regimen on low-density lipoprotein particle size and distribution in obese women. Metabolism. 2006:55;1302-1307.

25.   Santosa S, Farnworth E, Jones PJH.  Probiotics and their potential health claims.  Nutrition Reviews. 2006:64;265-274.

26.   Santosa S, Jones PJH.  Health benefits of consumption of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids.  International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine.  2006.

27.   Santosa S, Jones PJH.  Oxidative stress in ocular disease: does lutein play a protective role?. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2005:173;861-862.

28.   Santosa S, Farnworth E, Jones PJH.  Probiotics:  Health benefits to the gut. International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine. 2004.

29.   Santosa S, AbuMweis S, Jones PJH.  Plant sterols:  Evidence to support a health claim. International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine.  2004.