SPEAKERS & MODERATORS
Cesarettin Alasalvar, PhD, FIFT, FISNFF, FIAFoST, FRSC
TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center, Food Institute. Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey
Dr. Cesarettin Alasalvar is the Director of the Food Institute at TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MRC) in Turkey and is also an Associate Professor of Food Science and Engineering. His research interests focused mainly on the development of functional foods and nutraceuticals for life-threatening diseases, functional properties of foods, bioactive properties of phytochemicals, and separation/identification of bioactives as well as bioavailability of foods and human trials. Dr. Alasalvar has been active in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) programs for many years and served as a past chair of the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Division. He is also an Executive Board Member of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (ISNFF) and is current chair of ISNFF 2022 Conference, held in İstanbul. Dr. Alasalvar is an editor of Food Chemistry journal and serves as an editorial board member of Journal of Food Bioactives and Food Chemistry Advances. He is active in Horizon Europe Programme and has been serving as Turkish Delegate of Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment) of the Horizon Programme Committee since 2021. He also serves as Academic Committee and World Forum for Nutrition Research and Dissemination Committee Members of International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC).
Dr. Alasalvar is the editor of seven books including Tree Nuts: Composition, Phytochemicals and Health Effects, Dried Fruits: Phytochemicals and Health Effects, and Health Benefits of Nuts and Dried Fruits and holds seven patents. His work has led to the publication of over 100 research articles in the form of peer-reviewed journals (h-index of 43) and book chapters. Dr. Alasalvar has received a number of international prestigious awards; including the IFT-Fellow Award (2012), the TÜBİTAK MRC - Most Successful Researcher Award (2012), the ISNFF Merit Award (2014), the Sabri Ülker International Science and Innovation Award on Food, Nutrition, and Health (2015), the ISNFF-Fellow Award (2019), the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAUFoST)- Fellow Award (2020), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)-Fellow Award (2020) in recognition of his pioneering scientific achievements. He is a principle founder of Food Innovation Platform of Turkey (TÜGİP).
Dagfinn Aune
Dagfinn Aune is a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London and an associate professor at the Department of Nutrition, Bjørknes University College in Oslo, Norway. He completed his PhD at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2016 and has a MSc in Nutrition from the University of Oslo from 2008. He has since 2010 worked for several years in the Continuous Update Project of the World Cancer Research Fund, updating the systematic reviews and meta-analyses that were the basis for the report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Risk of Cancer: A Global Perspective that was published in 2007 and contributed to the Third Expert Report that was published in 2018. He has worked extensively on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of nutrition and lifestyle factors and chronic disease prevention. He has a special interest in the role of plant foods and adiposity as risk factors for chronic diseases and premature mortality. He has a wide network of collaborators globally and has been involved in analyses in the EPIC study, the HUNT study and the UK Biobank study.
Affiliations:
1 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
2Department of Nutrition, Bjørknes University College, Oslo, Norway
David Baer, PhD
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center located in Beltsville, Maryland
David J. Baer, Ph.D., is a Supervisory Research Physiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center located in Beltsville, Maryland. He serves as the Research Leader for the Center’s Food Components and Health Laboratory.
Dr. Baer conducts controlled dietary intervention studies to investigate the relationship between diet and the risk for chronic degenerative diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes in people. Some of the dietary interventions he has investigated include the effects of different types of protein, fats and fatty acids, fiber, margarine, butter, plant sterols, salad dressings, nuts, whole grains, berries, alcohol and tea on overall nutrition and health. His publications include important findings from randomized controlled trials on the effects of different fatty acids on risk for cardiovascular disease, especially several large trials investigating partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and trans fatty acids. He was among the first to demonstrate how diets impact systemic inflammation, and this research was recognized in 2004 when he was the inaugural recipient of the Pan American Prize on Nutrition, Science and Food Technology. In 2012, he began publishing several peer-reviewed articles describing the energy value of different nuts using an approach developed in his Laboratory. This research updates methods that have been used since the late 1890s to label the energy (calorie) content of foods. He served as the Guest Editor for the journal Nutrients’ special issue titled “Nut Consumption for Human Health.” In addition to dietary intervention studies, Baer is involved in research studies to validate food survey methodologies and to develop new methods for dietary assessment.
Dr. Baer earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his Masters and doctorate in nutrition from Michigan State University.
Nágila R T Damasceno, Prof, PhD, MSc
Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Sao Paulo University, Brazil
Dr Nágila Damasceno is the Director of the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics at University Hospital of the Sao Paulo University, Brazil and Associate Professor of Clinical Nutrition at the same university. Her research interests include experimental and clinical trials about omega-3, olive oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil in cardiovascular diseases, neuroscience (epilepsy and multiple sclerosis) and breast cancer. She has provided her expertise in nutrition for different expert painels, including Brazilian Cardiology Society (SBC), Brazilian Food and Nutrition Society (SBAN) and Cardiology Society of Sao Paulo (SOCESP) and as member of Advisor Board of these institutions contribute to Position Statement on Fat Consumption and Cardiovascular Health (2021). Dr Damasceno is full professor at the post-graduation program on Nutrition and Public Health at Sao Paulo University. She is also an Executive Member of Department of Nutrition in Cardiology at Cardiology Society of Sao Paulo. For five years, Dr Damasceno coordinated the International Program of Scientific Cooperation between Sweden and Brazil (CAPESP-STINT) in nutrition area, promoting exchanging of professors, researchers and post-graduate students between both countries. In 2020, she expanded her international collaborations to Germany-SHIP Trend and Brazilian-SHIP Cohorts focused in nutrition-genetic determinants of the cardiovascular diseases. As researcher of the National Council of Research (CNPq) and The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) coordinated more than 30 projects and supervised more than 60 post-graduate students. In 2003 and 2012 received the CAPES AWARD for excellence in Nutrition Research. Since 2010, Dr Damasceno is Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Complex Fluids dedicating part of her time to investigate the role of bioactive substances in foods on oxidative stress and inflammation on lipid metabolism, and structure and functionality of low- and high-density lipoproteins. In addition to the original publications, Dr Damasceno is editor of four books and eighteen book chapters.
Bradley Bolling, PhD.
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Bradley Bolling is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and the Fritz Friday Chair of Vegetable Processing Research, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned undergraduate and PhD degrees in Food Science at UW-Madison and received postdoctoral training in Nutritional Sciences at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research center on Aging at Tufts University. Dr. Bolling's research focus is on determining the role of foods and phytochemicals in preventing chronic diseases. His current research aims are to characterize how interindividual variability in metabolic pathways of dietary bioactive components influences efficacy of dietary interventions; characterize the ability of bioactives to prevent chronic inflammation associated with obesity and auto-immune disease; and determine the abundance and variability of bioactive components in the food supply. He is presently utilizing human intervention studies, cellular studies, and animal models to accomplish these objectives. Dr. Bolling is a Scientific Editor for the Journal of Food Science and Chair-Elect of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Food Science, include a graduate course about dietary bioactives.
Graham Finlayson, PhD
Prof. Graham Finlayson is a psychologist and Professor in Psychobiology in the Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds, UK. He currently holds a Visiting Professorship at Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen. His research focuses on understanding what underpins the control of human appetite and why people overeat. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed research papers with +9,000 total citations.
Homepage: http://aceb-research.leeds.ac.uk/
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/graham-finlayson-16955249
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=O5xK_NsAAAAJ
Michelle Dalton, PhD
School of Psychology and Therapeutic Studies, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Leeds Trinity Univeristy, Leeds, England, United Kingdom.
Dr. Michelle Dalton is the Deputy Head of Psychology at Leeds Trinity University, UK. Prior to joining Leeds Trinity in 2017, Michelle was a postdoctoral researcher in the Appetite Control and Energy Balance lab at the University of Leeds. Her research specialises in the biopsychological investigation of appetite control and eating behaviour with a focus on examining individual differences in
susceptibility to weight gain.
Heinz Freisling,PhD
Nutritional Methodology and Biostatistics Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO) in Lyon, France
Dr. Heinz Freisling is a Scientist and Team leader of the Nutrition, Cancer and Multimorbidity Team at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO) in Lyon, France. He earned undergraduate and PhD degrees in molecular nutrition and nutritional epidemiology at the University of Vienna. During his stay as a post-doctoral researcher and later on as a Scientist at the IARC-WHO, he assumed a leading role in dietary exposure assessment to answer scientific questions related to diet and health, in particular with regard to cancer prevention. His current research interests are focused on understanding the role of diet, nutrition, and metabolic health, and their interplay with genetic susceptibility in the etiology of major chronic diseases, in particular cancer, but also diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. This will be done in large, mostly prospective, observational studies that are accessible for research such as the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, the UK Biobank, but also primary care databases and genetic consortia. He is currently coordinating five large on-going research projects in cancer epidemiology as Principal Investigator. An important feature of these projects is the aim to go beyond the state-of-the-art in terms of data acquisition and statistical analysis. One example of this in his research is the application of a “triangulation” approach combining two or more statistical techniques as a means to reduce uncertainty and identify potential causal factors in relation to disease risk. His scientific competence is exemplified by over 170 peer-reviewed publications in major scientific journals, with many as first or senior author.
Marta Guasch-Ferré, PhD.
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Guasch-Ferré is a Research Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. Guasch-Ferré earned her PhD in Nutrition and Metabolism from the Rovira i Virgili University, Spain. She previously earned a BS and Master in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the same university. Her research interests include the role of Mediterranean diet, nuts, olive oil and dietary fatty acids on type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and mortality. She has conducted extensive research on this field in the framework of the PREDIMED trial and three large U.S. prospective cohorts, the Nurses’ Health Study I and II and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. During her postdoctoral training at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, she has integrated metabolomics approaches to gain insights into the biological mechanisms underlying the associations between dietary and lifestyle factors with chronic diseases. Her ongoing research aims include bringing an individualized therapeutic lifestyle approach to the clinical treatment of cardiometabolic diseases by integrating dietary and lifestyle factors, phenotypic and omics data for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She is the PI of the project ‘Mechanisms underlying metabolomics profiles and type 2 diabetes’ granted by the American Diabetes Association.
Crystal Haskell-Ramsay, Prof.
Crystal is a Professor of Biological Psychology based in the Psychology Department of Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK. Her research focuses on the impact of nutrition on cognition and wellbeing. She has over 15 years’ experience in the assessment of cognitive performance, with her early work exploring the neurocognitive effects of caffeinated plants. Her current research focuses on the biobehavioural effects of polyphenolic compounds from sources including coffee, cocoa, berries and nuts. She is also interested in the impact of food insecurity on wellbeing as well as the relationship between women’s wellbeing and nutrition at key stages across the lifespan.
Frank Hu, Prof.
Departments of Epidemiology and Statistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Channing Division for Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA, USA.
Dr. Frank Hu is Chair of Department of Nutrition, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves as Co-director of the Program in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention at Harvard and Director of Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (BNORC) Epidemiology and Genetics Core. Dr. Hu is the recipient of the Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology by the American Diabetes Association in 2010 and the American Heart Association’s Ancel Keys Memorial Lecturer in 2018. He has served on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease, the AHA/ACC Obesity Guideline Expert Panel, and the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, USDA/HHS. He has served on the editorial boards of Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Diabetes Care, and Clinical Chemistry. Dr. Hu is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
David Jenkins, Prof.
University of Toronto & St. Michael's Hospital.
Prof. David J.A. Jenkins is an University Professor, and Canada Research Chair, in the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine, a staff physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, and a Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital. He was educated at Oxford University, obtaining his DM, DPhil and DSc. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) and of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. He has served on committees in Canada and the United States that formulated nutritional guidelines for the treatment of diabetes and recommendations for fiber and macronutrient intake under the joint US-Canada DRI system (RDAs) of the National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a member of Agriculture Canada’s Science Advisory Board (2004-2009) on the future direction of Canada’s agriculture and agricultural research. He has spent much time working with the food industry to develop products for the supermarket shelf and, for example, helped to initiate a major Canadian supermarket line of heart healthy foods. His research area is the use of diet in the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and diabetes. He has over 350 original publications on these and related topics. His team was the first to define and explore the concept of the glycemic index of foods and demonstrate the breadth of metabolic effects of viscous soluble fiber, including blood glucose and cholesterol lowering. His group developed the cholesterol lowering concept of the dietary portfolio that has entered guidelines in many jurisdictions (e.g. CCS, Heart UK etc.). He believes in the therapeutic value of plant based diets and that diets have to be environmentally sustainable.
Júlvez Jordi
Dr Jordi Julvez is a Group Leader at the Institute of Health Research Pere Virgili (IISPV, in Spanish). He achieved his bachelor's degree in Psychology at University of Barcelona (UB) in 1999, a Master of Clinical Neuropsychology at the UB in 2002 and a PhD. in Psychology and Epidemiology at the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in 2007. He worked in the field of epidemiology and developmental neurotoxicity at the Harvard School of Public Health (2008-2011), where he has an affiliation as visiting scientist. He was awarded a 2020-Miguel Servet tipo II tenure-track stipend at the IISPV to establish his group, Environmental Epidemiology, Nutrition and Developmental Neuropsychology (NeuroÈpia). His team’s focus is to determine what environmental and nutritional factors may affect neurodevelopment from cradle-to-grave, with a focus in Epidemiology and Neuropsychology. He is PI of several projects such as Walnuts, Omega-Brain and NutInBrain (https://smartsnack.isglobal.org/en/homemain-3/), WP6 Co-leader and a Partner of the H2020 LifeCycle and Equal-Life projects as well as collaborator of INMA, HELIX, Phenotype, Breathe, BISC and ATHLETE projects.
Cyril Kendall, Prof.
D
epartment of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto. Toronto, Canada
Prof. Cyril WC Kendall is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, St. Michael's Hospital and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan. He was educated at the University of Toronto, where he obtained his Honors BSc, MSc and PhD. His primary research interest is the role of diet in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Dr. Kendall has over 180 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. His research on the Portfolio Diet, which combines cholesterol-lowering food components, has been included in the US National Cholesterol Education Program (ATP III) and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines as an effective dietary strategy for cholesterol reduction. He has also conducted much research on the role of healthy diets, including low glycemic index diets, in the control of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kendall has worked extensively with the food industry to develop healthy foods. He is a founding member of the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC), Executive Board Member of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group (DNSG) of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), is on the Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committee for Nutrition Therapy of the EASD and is a Director of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials foundation.
Penny Kris-Etherton, Prof., RD., FAHA., FNLA., FASN., CLS.
The Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton is Distinguished Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research expertise is cardiovascular nutrition. She conducts controlled clinical nutrition studies designed to evaluate the effects of nutrients, bioactives and dietary patterns on risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Kris-Etherton has served on national committees that have issued dietary guidelines (the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee and the 2002 National Academies Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Macronutrients and Cholesterol). She served on the 2nd Adult Treatment Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program. As a member of the American Heart Association (AHA) Nutrition Committee, she has co-authored numerous Scientific Statements and Advisories that have made diet and lifestyle recommendations for the prevention and treatment of CVD. She also co-authored the National Lipid Association’s (NLA) recommendations for Patient-Centered Management of Dyslipidemia.
She is Chair of the AHA Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, and Past Chair of the AHA Nutrition Committee. Dr. Kris-Etherton is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, the National Lipid Association (where she served as President), and the American Society for Nutrition. She has published over 350 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and has received numerous awards from the American Society for Nutrition, the American Oil Chemist’s Society, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council, the Northeast Lipid Association Chapter, and the National Lipid Association for her accomplishments and contributions to the profession.
Giuseppina Mandalari, PhD
University of Messina, Italy
Giusy Mandalari, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of Messina, Italy. My main research interest involves the basic physiology underlying the digestion within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The bioaccessibility of nutrients and phytochemicals from various food matrices has important implications in the areas of disease prevention and management.
My main research interests are: simulated in vivo studies of human digestion in relation to gut health; investigation of the pharmacological and antimicrobial properties of plant extracts through in vitro and in vivo studies; evaluation of the prebiotic effect of functional foods on the intestinal microbiota.
I teach graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Science. I serve as Scientific Editor for the Journal “Nutrients”.
Anoop Misra, MD, Prof.
Director, Fortis CDOC Hospital of Diabetes and Allied Sciences, Director, National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, India.
Prof. MD. Misra is Chairman, Fortis-CDOC Center of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases, and Endocrinology, New Delhi, and Director, National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, and Diabetes Foundation (India). Prof. Misra has extensive academic experiences in Universities overseas. As WHO Fellow, he has worked in Royal Free Hospital in London, UK and at Department of Medicine and Endocrinology at Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas, USA. Later he served as faculty in the same department and institution in USA. In India, Dr Misra has been participant of top Advisory Committees relating to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and nutrition in India. Prof. Misra has more than 30 years of experience in teaching, service, research and community health intervention programs and has published more than 300 scientific papers in the National and International journals, He has been Associate Editor of Journal of Diabetes (USA), European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (UK), and Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Research and Reviews (Singapore). Dr Misra has received numerous awards and orations. He has been awarded highest award for medicine in India Dr BC Roy award (2006) and India’s prestigious National Honor, Padma Shree (2007). He has received “Outstanding Investigator Award” from World India Diabetes Foundation in 2013. His current interest include research on nutrition, liver fat, lean muscle mass and vitamin D.
Noushin Mohammadifard, PhD
Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Dr. Noushin Mohammadifard is an Assistant Professor and Head of Nutrition Department at the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CRI), Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran (a WHO Collaborating Center in Eastern Mediterranean Region for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention and Control). She is a Deputy Director in this Institute, as well.
She earned her PhD in Nutrition Science from the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. She received the BSc from the same university and MSc degree at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Her research interests focus on cardiovascular nutrition. She has substantial expertise in nutrition epidemiology especially examining the impact of individual foods and dietary patterns on CVD outcomes and risk factors and also community interventional programs to improve nutrition for the prevention and control of CVDs. She has conducted extensive research on this field in the framework of the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program (IHHP) and Isfahan Cohort Study (ICS). She has served as the Head of Nutrition Committee of IHHP, a practical model of WHO for implementing comprehensive population based interventional program in developing countries and Co-Investigator of ICS, an ongoing longitudinal study in urban and rural areas in Iran begun from 2001. Also, she is a Co-Investigator of an ongoing multicentric study of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) to examine the impact of urbanization on the development of behavioral, physical and metabolic risk factors as well as CVD. She has published more than 150 scientific papers in peer review journals regarding various aspects of diet and non-communicable diseases. She cooperated in writing and publishing three books such as Healthy Cooking for Having Healthy Heart. She is a Section Editor of Nutrition in Arya Atherosclerosis, an International Journal indexed in emerging sources citation index of Thomson Reuters ISI. She has been a key note speaker at National and International Conferences. She has received several research and travel grants, from national and international organizations such as World Heart Foundation (WHF) for participating in world congresses or conducting studies.
Stephanie K. Nishi, PhD, RD
Stephanie Nishi is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) postdoctoral researcher with the Unitat de Nutrició Humana, Departament de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de la Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), and Insitut d´Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), in Spain. She earned her PhD from the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto in 2020, and previously earned a combined MSc and RD in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Toronto and St. Michael´s Hospital. Her research has focused on chronic disease prevention from a plant-based nutritional perspective using systematic reviews and meta-analyses and randomized controlled trial methodology. Her ongoing research assesses cognitive health within the framework of the multicentre PREDIMED-Plus study. Concurrently, Dr. Nishi has worked as a dietitian and clinical trials coordinator on international research trials with the Diabetes Heart Research Centre and as an educator at George Brown College with the Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (CHCA). Dr. Nishi works to support evidence-based practice and knowledge dissemination with the goal of informing dietetic practice, public health policy, and nutrition guidelines through her research, and as an educator/dietetic preceptor, an evidence analyst with Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition (PEN) – The Global Resource for Nutrition Practice and as a podcast host for the not-for-profit medical science-based organization Plant-Based Canada.
Sujatha Rajaram, PhD
Center for Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyle, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA
Sujatha Rajaram, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University in California, USA. She serves as the Director for the Doctoral Programs at the School, and a Researcher at the Center for Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyle.
Dr. Rajaram conducts controlled dietary intervention studies to investigate the relationship between plant-based diet, plant foods, and the risk for chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and age-related cognitive decline. Some of the dietary intervention trials she has been involved as a PI or Co-I include the Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study (The WAHA Study), the Habitual Avocado Trial (The HAT study), and more recently studying the role of several plant-based foods on immune functions. She has published her research work in several leading medical and nutrition journals including Circulation and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Her work, both in terms of research and academic programs, focus on plant-based nutrition for optimal health. Besides her contributions to further the science supporting the role of plant-based foods and diets on health promotion and disease prevention, Dr. Rajaram has also served as the chair of the scientific program committee of the International Vegetarian Congress (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th), and served as one of the guest editors of the congress proceedings published in the American Journal of Nutrition and the Advances in nutrition.
Dr. Rajaram earned her undergraduate and Master’s degree from India, and her PhD at Purdue University in Nutritional science and a post-doctoral training at the University of Tennessee at Memphis in neonatal nutrition. She has over two decades of experience working in a collaborative team in the area of plant-based nutrition for health.
Emilio Ros, Prof.
Endocrinology Sevice, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona
Born in Girona, Spain in 1945. Founder and former head of the Lipid Clinic, Endocrinology Service, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona. Emeritus Investigator, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer (DIBAPS,) Barcelona. Former principal investigator and now associate member of the research group “Nutrition, Lipids and Cardiovascular Risk”, CIBEROBN, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain. Received MD degree in 1968 and PhD in 1991, University of Barcelona. Postgraduate training in USA (1970-1976). American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Gastroenterology, Boston in 1973-75. Member and founder of the Spanish Arteriosclerosis Society (SEA); member of European and International Atherosclerosis Societies and American College of Cardiology. Awards to best scientific career in Nutrition from Fundación Danone in 2013, SEA in 2014, and Catalan Nutrition Center in 2015. Golden Nut award from the International Nut Council in 2014. Has published more than 400 original papers, over 130 review papers, 30 editorials, and 90 scientific textbook chapters (h index 61; ORCID identifier 0000-0002-2573-1294). Award as highly cited researcher globally for the period 2006-2016 by Clarivate Analytics. He has been a speaker at many scientific conferences and professor at many courses focused on nutrition, lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular prevention. Research interests: nutrition in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cognitive decline, with especial interest in the Mediterranean diet and walnuts; plant sterols; blood membrane fatty acids; genetic dyslipidemias; cardiovascular risk assessment; and vascular imaging techniques, especially carotid ultrasound. He also led the nutritional intervention of the landmark PREDIMED trial of Mediterranean diet for primary cardiovascular prevention.
Joan Sabaté, MD, PhD
Loma Linda University School of Public Health, CA, USA.
Joan Sabaté MD, PhD, is Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Loma Linda University School of Public Health where he directs the Center for Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles. Originally from Spain, Dr. Sabaté is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine who moved to the U.S.A. to further train in Public Health Nutrition.
Dr. Sabaté was the principal investigator of a nutrition intervention trial that directly linked the consumption of walnuts to significant reductions in serum cholesterol, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993. He is co-investigator of the Adventist Health Studies prospective epidemiological studies relating dietary intake with health outcomes that have the largest cohort of vegetarians. For the past 25 years, he has been the principal investigator of many human nutrition intervention trials investigating the health effects of nuts, avocados, and other plant foods. Dr. Sabaté has authored more than 200 research articles in the scientific literature, many of them in high-impact journals (h-index of 65 and more than 15,000 citations).
Being a member of the US 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is his most recent contribution to public health.
Dr. Sabaté directs the Environmental Nutrition research program at Loma Linda University School of Public Health that focuses on sustainable diets and explores the interrelationships between the environmental and health impacts of food choices, and ultimately seeks to improve the sustainability, health and equity of food systems.
Albert Salas-Huetos, PhD
Dr. Salas-Huetos obtained his Bachelor of Science (Biology) from the Universitat de Girona (UdG) in 2009, his MSc in Cell Biology in 2010 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology (Cum-Laude and Extraordinary Doctorate Award) in 2016 at the same University (UAB). Nowadays, he is a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Girona (Spain), Visiting Scholar at Harvard University (USA), and a member of the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de la Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII, Spain). He has participated in 11 competitive national and international projects (Principal Investigator in 4) and he was awarded with 4 competitive, postdoctoral research contracts (one in evaluation: MSCA Postdoctoral fellowship 2021-TRPC-FERTYL) with a total of 36 months abroad (3 more expected) as a post-doc (Universidad de Guadalajara, University of Utah and Harvard University). Albert has been teaching for 10 academic years at different universities with more than 310 h of magistral lectures (theory) and practicals (including Doctorate and Master courses). He has supervised 5 Final Degree Project, participated in 6 Final Degree committees, and is supervising 2 PhD Thesis. The main contributions of his scientific activity are reflected in a total of 70 original articles (Q1: 55/70; first or corresponding author: 20/70) in SCI/JCR-journals (some in collaboration with foreign authors, 21/70) (plus 5 submitted), and 3 book chapters (plus 2 submitted). He has attended 12 national/international conferences as invited (plenary) speaker and he was the leading author of 10 contributions in international conferences (plus 14 as a collaborator author). He is an inveterate traveler and has been to meetings and given invited lectures in Belgium, Canada, England, Italy, Mexico, Poland, USA, and Spain. His research has been mainly focused on male infertility (epi)genetics and nutrition and has been specialized in sperm miRNAs, molecular biology, Randomized Clinical Trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. He has been awarded with prestigious prizes, including the PhD Extraordinary Award 2018 (UAB), the 45th, 44th and 36th Annual Conference of American Society of Andrology Travel Award (NIH) and an Andrology Award 2016 (Andrology journal). In the last three years, Dr. Salas-Huetos was habilitated as Tenure-Track Lecturer (Prof. Lector, Prof. Ayudante Doctor, Prof. de Universidad Privada, Prof. Contratado Doctor, and Prof. Agregat) by the Regional Catalan Government (AQU Agency) and the Spanish Government (ANECA). Dr.Salas-Huetos is an Editorial Board Member in 2 journals (PeerJ; and Reproductive, Female and Child Health), a Reviewer Editor in 3 journals (Front. Cell Dev. Biol.; Front. Endocrinol.; and Front. Physiol.) and a Special Issue Editor in 7 journals (Animals; Biology; Front. Cell Dev. Biol.; Front. Reprod. Health; Genes; J. Clin. Med.; and JoVE).
Aleix Sala-Vila, PhD.
Barcelonaßeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Aleix Sala-Vila received his BSc in Pharmacy (1999), BSc in Food Science and Technology (2002) and PhD in Biomedical Sciences (2004) from the University of Barcelona. His whole scientific career has focused on investigating how the intake of foods and nutrients characteristic of the Mediterranean diet (omega-3 fatty acids in particular) can help protect from chronic diseases. After working on atherosclerosis, aneurysm and ischemia/reperfusion injury, he started working on healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease. He has been involved in specific projects within the PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterranea) study. He is a co-investigator of the randomized controlled trial WAHA (WAlnuts for Healthy Aging, aimed at studying the effect of a diet enriched with walnuts for 2 y in comparison with a control diet on age-related cognitive decline and macular degeneration in 700 cognitively healthy older persons. He recently joined the Clinical, Biomarker and Risk Factors Research Group at Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC). In the framework of the ALFA Study, he is currently investigating whether dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids in the preclinic stages of Alzheimer’s disease might help delay the onset of the disease.
Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Prof, MD, PhD.
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia, Unitat de Nutrició, Reus, Spain; Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus; Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Reus, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Currently, he is Professor in Nutrition and Director of the Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV). He also has positions in other important entities such as Pere Virgili Institute for Health Research Foundation, Center for Biomedical Research in Network Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition of Carlos III Health Institute, , Catalan Nutrition Center of the institute of Catalan Studies, Public Health Agency of Catalonia and is Chair of the URV-World Forum for Nutrition Research on on Tree Nuts and Dried Fruit.
In last years, Dr. Salas-Salvadó’s expertise and research lines focused on human clinical trials evaluating the effect of diets and dietary compounds on obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Since 2005, he is one of the leaders of the PREDIMED study, a landmark trial evaluating the effect of the Mediterranean Diet on the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. He is the Director and Chair of the Steering Committee of the PREDIMED-PLUS study, an ongoing multi-centre, randomised, primary prevention trial on 6,900 overweight or obese participants (age 55-75 years) with metabolic syndrome. The project aims to determine the effects on cardiovascular disease events and mortality, adiposity, cardiovascular risk factors and quality of life, of an intensive weight loss intervention based on a traditional hypocaloric Mediterranean Diet, physical activity promotion and behavioral support compared to a less intensive program using Mediterranean Diet
Since 1983 Dr. Salas-Salvadó has directed more than 32 research projects funded by public National or International agencies and 28 projects in collaboration with pharmaceutical and food industries. He has also participated as a Co-Investigator and as a Co-Principal Investigator in other projects funded by the Carlos III Health Institute, the European Commission, and the National Institute of Health (USA).
He has published more than 700 scientific articles in national and international peer-reviewed and indexed journals, as well as numerous reviews and editorials, adding more than 30,500 citations, with an SCI H-index 81. Editor of 14 books He has presented more than 520 communications in national and international conferences. Has been declared by Clarivate Analytics as "Highly Cited Researcher" between 2018 and 2021.
His scientific and academic work has been recognized through multiple awards and recognitions; Is Corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia, Academic of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition, Dupont Prize of Science, Josep Trueta Award to his scientific career by the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia, Award to his scientific career by the Spanish Academy of Nutrition, Awarded for the scientific and human career by the University of Navarra, recently he has received the Narcís Monturiol Award for scientific and technological merits, awarded by the Generalitat of Catalunya and the Gaudi-Gresol Award for excellence in scientific career.
John Sievenpiper, MD., PhD., FRCPC.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto. Toronto, Canada
Dr. Sievenpiper is a Clinician Scientist who holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Lifestyle Medicine Lead in the MD Program at the University of Toronto. He also holds appointments as a Staff Physician in the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism and Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital. Dr. Sievenpiper completed his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship training in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He completed his MD at St. Matthew’s University followed by Residency training in Medical Biochemistry at McMaster University leading to his certification as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC). He has established an internationally recognized research program focused on using randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses to address questions of clinical and public health importance in relation to diet and cardiometabolic disease prevention with a particular interest in the role of sugars, carbohydrate quality, and plant-based dietary patterns. He is directly involved in knowledge translation with appointments to the nutrition guidelines’ committees of Diabetes Canada, European Association for the study of Diabetes (EASD), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and Obesity Canada. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a PSI Foundation Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship, Diabetes Canada Clinician Scientist Award, Banting & Best Diabetes Centre Sun Life Financial New Investigator Award, CIHR-INMD/CNS–New Investigator Partnership Prize, and CNS Young Investigator Award. He has authored more than 175 scientific papers and 15 book chapters.
Linda Tapsell, Prof.
University of Wollongong, Australia
Prof. Linda Tapsell is a leading figure in Nutrition and Dietetics. Her research has contributed to our understanding of the relationship between nutrients, foods and dietary patterns, arguing for their interdependence, and the complexity of this relationship. She conducted many pivotal studies demonstrating that foods such as nuts are core elements of healthful diets. Her studies identified the contributions these foods make in reducing risk for chronic diet related disease, and supported the position of food based dietary guidelines, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In 2019 she received the Excellence in Research award from the INC.
Importantly, Professor Tapsell built strong linkages between nutrition science and practice. She helped establish the professional Nutrition and Dietetics programs at the University of Wollongong, and led the Australian Research Council Key Centre for Smart Foods. She provided her expertise in nutrition for many expert panels, such as the National Health and Medical Research Council grant review panels, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and Nutrient Reference Values Expert Working Groups, as well as Food Standards Australia New Zealand though the Community and Public Health Dialogue. She has provided her expertise in nutrition for many expert panels and Science Advisory Councils both in Australia and overseas, including the California Walnut Commission.
Professor Tapsell has presented at many scientific conferences, produced over 250 scientific publications and served on editorial boards. Significantly, she has educated and supported a generation of nutrition scientists, dietitians, academics and research fellows. In 2015 she received the Order of Australia for ‘significant service to heath science as an academic and clinician specialising in diet and nutrition’. She is a Fellow of Dietitians Australia, the Nutrition Society of Australia and an Emeritus Member of the American Nutrition Society, where she was recently named in the 2022 Class of Fellows. The University of Wollongong has awarded her the Honour of Emeritus Professor. She continues to enjoy the challenges of nutrition science and the collegiality of nutrition scientists across the globe.