Dr. Ramon Estruch
Hospital Clinic, IDIBAPS
Spain

Professor Ramon Estruch is currently Senior Consultant at the Internal Medicine Department of the Hospital Clinic (Barcelona) from 2002. He is also Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at the Barcelona University from 1996.

The main research lines developed are the following: 1) Cardiovascular effects of Mediterranean diet 2) Mechanisms of the effects of moderate wine and beer consumption; 3) Effects of chronic alcohol consumption on heart, liver and brain; 4) Effects of different alcoholic beverages on immune system; 5) Effects of olive oil, nuts and cocoa in lipid profile and inflammatory biomarkers.

In the last years, his group has received grants from the European Commission, National Institute of Health (NIH) from USA, CICYT, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agroalimentaria (INIA) del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III del Ministerio de Sanidad (ISCIII). In addition, Prof. Estruch is the leader of the Thematic Network “Mediterranean Diet and Cardiovascular Disease” from the ISCIII (Spain).

Prof. Estruch has published more than 250 papers in peer-review journals, including N Engl J Med, JAMA, Ann Intern Med, Arch Intern Med, Cardiovasc Res J, Ann Neurol, Am J Clin Nutr, J Nutr and Diabetes Care.   

Dr. Nikos Alexandratos
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Italy

D. Phil. (Economics, University of Sussex, U.K.), former Chief, Global Perspective Studies Unit, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), retired 1999, currently consultant to FAO.

Main area of work: leader of interdisciplinary teams assessing historical developments and long-term prospects of the world food and agriculture situation, with particular reference to the developing countries and issues of agriculture and economic development, food security, trade, natural resources, sustainability and national and international policies. Publications include: ìWorld Food and Agriculture: the Outlook for the Medium and Longer Termî, Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, 1999: ìMediterranean Countries and World Food Marketsî, in: Options MÈditerranÈennes, 1997; ìChinaís Consumption of Cereals and Capacity of the Rest of the World to Increase Exportsî, in: Food Policy, 1997; (Ed.) World Agriculture: Towards 2010, 1995 (Wiley); (Ed.).

Dr. Lina Badimon
ICCC – Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
Spain

Prof. Lina Badimon is the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center in Barcelona (CSIC‐ICCC) in the Hospital Santa Creu and San Pau, and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Chair of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her research activities focus on cardiovascular health and disease. She has published over 390 articles in highly qualified scientific journals with her work highly quoted in the scientific literature (Citations: over 18.914; h‐index 61). She has written 230 reviews and book chapters. She is Member of Editorial Boards of various international scientific journals.

Previous appointments include: Fellow in Cardiovascular Diseases at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA (1981‐1983); Director of the Cardiology Basic Research Laboratory of the Division of Cardiology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY (1983‐1991); Assistant Professor of Medicine (1983‐1987) and Associate Professor of Medicine (1988‐1991) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY; Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston (1991‐1994); Consultant at the Cardiac Unit, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (1991‐1994)

Among her council and scientific appointments: Vice‐President of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (2014‐2016); Chairman of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science (2014‐2016) and Chairman of the Working Group on Microcirculation (2012‐2014) of the European Society of Cardiology; Past‐President of the Spanish Society of Atherosclerosis (1996‐2000); Past‐President of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (2000‐2002).

Honorary Appointments: Fellow of the Cardiovascular Science Council and Fellow of the Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Council of the American Heart Association; Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology; Distinguished Fellow of the International Atherosclerosis Society, Honorary Member of Spanish Society of Hypertension, of the Romanian Society of Hypertension, of Spanish Society of Arteriosclerosis. Recently she has awarded with Doctor Honoris Causa (Carol Davila University of Medecine, Romania) and “Rey Jaime I” Award – Medical Research (Generalitat Valenciana).

Dr. Felipe Casanueva
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Spain

Degree and Doctorat in Medicine and Surgery, specialist in Endocrinology, Nutrition and Internal Medicine. His academic and professional title are currently: MD, Specialist in Endocrinology, Head of Endocrinology at CHUS and professor of Medicine at USC.

He has been granted prestigious awards such as the National Award “Rey Jaime I” for Clinical Medicine, the Xunta de Galicia Research Award, the “José Varlea de Montes” Research Award or the International Neuroendocrinology “Geoffrey Harris” Award for his scientific career.

Throughout his career, other activities should be noted such as supervising doctoral theses, publication of books and articles in national and international journals, plenary lectures, organization of conferences, research projects, clinical trials or consensus groups.

In the field of scientific research activity, Felipe Casanueva is currently leading the CIBERobn, a European level research group based in Santiago de Compostela, whose main objective is to promote, unite and stabilize shares of excellence in R+D*I in the field of Health Sciences.

Created in 2006, CIBERobn integrates 26 national working groups with proven academic excellence, focusing research on the study of obesity, nutrition and exercise, as well as the genetics of obesity and factors regulating homeostasis body weight. It also focuses on the Mediterranean Diet and the prevention of metabolic disorders that can affect health in relation to overweight and obesity.

Dr. Dolores Corella
Universidad de Valencia
Spain

Dolores Corella is Full Professor in the area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and the School of Medicine of the University of Valencia. Since 1998 she is the Director of the Research Unit of Genetics and Molecular Epidemiology, pioneering in Spain the study of gene-environment interactions in the etiology and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and obesity, particularly in the field of nutritional genomics and the Mediterranean Diet.

She has been a researcher at various universities and research centers in Spain and the United States, working with multiple national and international research groups. Since 2003, she participates in the PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea) being the main researcher and coordinator of the study in Valencia. Since 2006 she is the group leader at the CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition. Since 2011, she is the representative of the University of Valencia in the Spanish Network of Healthy Universities.

Dr. Montserrat Fito
Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute
Spain

Montserrat Fito Colomer es currently the coordinator of the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Group (CARIN) within the IMIM (Hospital del Mar Institue of Medical Research Institute) and the CIBER Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn) within the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). The CARIN Group along with the IMIM Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Nutrition Research Group, form the REGICOR Study Group (Registre Gironi del Cor) with recognition of AGAUR (Consolidated Health Research Group in Girona REGIDOR).

The researcher is a medical doctor and specialist in Clinical analysis under the program of resident physicians, being the Technical Laboratory Director of the REGICOR group at IMIM.

Her participation in the European Project EUROLIVE must be noted. Based on multiple items derived from this project, among other, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) issued a health claim on the protection conferred by hydroxytyrosol (EFSA Journal 2011; 9 (4): 2033).

Received an award from the Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities” (AEMO) for the best work on scientific research on olive oil and health, 2003.
Culture of Olive Oil Award granted by the Board of “Fira de les Garrigues” to the CARIN group for the promotion of the values associated with the quality of extra virgin olive oil, 2014. Member of the “Centre Catala of Nutricio de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans-CCNIEC”. Member of the Steering Committee of the PREDIMED and PREDIMEDplus Studies.

Dr. Valentí Fuster
Mount Sinai Medical Center of New York
United States of America

The cardiologist Valenti Fuster currently combines his duties as Director General of the National Center for Cardiovascular Research Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid, Director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Physician-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Among the countless positions he has held, they include President of the American Health Association, President of the world Health Federation, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the American National Academy of Sciences (chairing the committee for the prevention of the global cardiovascular disease epidemic), member of the Advisory Board of the American Institute National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and President of the Training Program of the American College of Cardiology.

In 2008, Dr Fuster received the Kurt Polzer Prize from the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2009 he received the prestigious Arrigo Recordati International Prize for his scientific advances in the field of cardiovascular imaging. In June 2011 he was granted the Grand Award of the Scientific Institute of France, considered the most important in Cardiology, for his translational research of atherothrombotic disease. Furthermore, in recognition of his work, he has received, among other awards, the Gold Heart Award, the Lewis A. Conner Memorial and James B Eric Achievement Award from the American Heart Association, the Distinguished Service Award and the Distinguished Teacher Award of the American College of Cardiology, the Gold Medal of the American and European Societies of Cardiology and the top award of Medicine of the Dutch Erasmus University. In 2012, the American College of Cardiology elected Dr. Fuster as one of the two Living Legends in Cardiovascular Medicine; in addition, he was awarded the 2012 Research Achievement Award, the highest honor of the American Heart Association. In 2013 he received the Ron Haddock International Impact Award from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association in recognition of his global leadership and has been named editor in chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the main domestic source of clinical information in the area of cardiovascular medicine and flagship publication of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Giovanni de Gaetano
Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed
Italy

Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo NEUROMED, in Pozzilli, Italy.

Dr De Gaetano has directed a study of 25,000 Italians and their GP’s that aims to understand the equilibrium between genetics and environment, and its consequences on cardiovascular and cancer disease. Participants are analysed every three years regarding their health, diet, medicinal use and lifestyle habits. These epidemiological studies are very important in our understanding of all cause mortality, longevity and the role of lifestyle habits such as BMI, drinking, diet, exercise and smoking.

Dr. Carlos-Alberto Gonzalez
Catalan Institute of Oncology
Spain

Chief of the Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer at the Epidemiological Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. González has more than 25 years of experience in epidemiological cancer research, being the author (co) of more than 300 scientific papers in international journals. He is the national coordinator of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) He has been the principal investigator in several multicenter collaborative epidemiological studies on environmental factors, nutrition and cancer of the lung, stomach, urinary bladder and pleural mesothelioma. He is professor and coordinator on Cancer Epidemiology in the Master of Public Health at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain and professor of Nutrition and Cancer in the Master of Nutrition at the Roviri I Virgil University of Reus.

Dr. Rosa Lamuela-Raventos
University of Barcelona
Spain

Dr. Lamuela is Associate Professor at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, in University of Barcelona, and leader of a CIBEROBN group. She has more than 200 published. Rosa is currently working in important European and National projects, related to the nutritional interest of food bioactive compounds in Mediterranean diet. She is the leader of the Natural antioxidant group from University of Barcelona.

Dr. Michel de Lorgeril
Université de Joseph Fourier
France

Born on 8th October, 1950, married, 3 children, French nationality
1969: Secondary school leaving examination, scientific section (rating “good”)
1970: 1st year of medical studies: ranked 3rd at the selection examination of Paris University School of Medicine (CHU Saint-Antoine, Paris)
1970-1976 Medical studies in Paris and then at Toulouse University School of Medicine
1976: MD thesis (Toulouse University). Title (translated): “Effect of glucagon infusion on the prognosis of acute pancreatitis: a double-blind randomised trial”.
1976-1977: Fellow in cardiology at Narbonne Regional Hospital (South of France)
1978-1986: Fellow in cardiology at Geneva University Hospital (Switzerland), Cardiology Centre (Head W. Rutishauser), Paediatric Cardiology Unit (Head B. Friedli) and Cardiac Surgery Unit (Head B. Faidutti).
1977: Grant of the Swiss Society of Cardiology for “The study of platelets, and platelet prostanoids in coronary heart disease patients”.
1983: Diploma in Internal Medicine (Speciality Cardiology) at Geneva University.
1986-1988: Fellow in cardiology at the Montreal Heart Institute (Canada)
1986: Grant of Montreal University for “The study of leucocytes in the development of acute myocardial infarction in an experimental model of infarction in dogs”.
1987: Diploma in Cardiology at Montreal University School of Medicine (Québec, Canada).
1988-1998: Fellow in cardiology and nutrition at Unit 63 (Head S. Renaud) of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM U63, Lyon France)
1988-2002: Principal Investigator of the Lyon Diet Heart Study.
1990: Recruited as a career full-time researcher in the French Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Life Sciences Department.
1989-1995: Principal investigator of the programme “Biological and clinical investigation of the accelerated form of atherosclerosis in heart-transplanted patients”.
1989-1998: Chief of the Experimental Cardiology Laboratory created jointly by INSERM and Lyon University Hospital (France).
1999-2000: Principal investigator of the programme “Importance of nutrition in chronic heart failure patients” at Saint-Etienne University Hospital.
2000-2017: Principal investigator in several international (especially European: Immidiet, Flora, Idefics, Athena) and local/regional research programmes at Grenoble University School of Medicine (France): Omegadef-1 and Omegadef-2.

Dr. Abel Marine
Universidad de Barcelona
Spain

PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona. Food science from the Complutense University of Madrid. Since 1982 he is Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the School of Pharmacy of the UB. He has held various positions at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Salamanca and the UB. He has researched the chemical, microbiological, hygienic, technological, toxicological and nutritional aspects of aromatic amines, aliphatic diamine and aliphatic polyamines in food. He has made numerous contributions in books and published about two hundred research papers in journals.

He was the Director General of Universities (1986-1993) and vice president of the CIRIT (1991-1993). Expert collaborator regarding food subjects for the Great Catalan Encyclopedia, is a member of the Catalan Society of Biology, the Catalan Society of Chemistry and the Catalan Association of Food Science. Founding member of this last society. He is responsible for the subject Nutrition Network, Department of Universities, Research and Information Society, a network that led to the creation of the Catalan Center of Nutrition, attached to the IEC. He received the Narcis Monturiol Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (2001).

Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez
Universidad de Navarra
Spain

1. Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Director of the Department, University of Navarra.
2. Main Investigator of the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) Cohort, initiated in 1999 with 22,000 participants.
3. PREDIMED (PREvention with MEDiterranean Diet) Network (RD 06/0045) Coordinator 2006-2013.
4. Visiting scholar at Harvard School of Public Health (Boston) Department of Nutrition (Prof. Willett), 1998, 2001 and 2004.
5. Author of more than 350 scientific articles indexed in PubMed.
6. H-index: 62 (Google scholar); H-index (web of science): 47. Total citations (WoS): 7512 (average citations per paper: 17.4)
7. Director of 30 doctoral theses.
8. Editor and Director of the textbook “Bioestadística amigable” (Diaz de Santos, 2006, 2nd ed; Elsevier 2014, 3rd ed)
9. Editor and Director of the textbook “Conceptos de salud pública y estrategias preventive strategies” (Elsevier, 2013)
10. Director-Editor of 20 books in total.

Dr. Jose M Ordovas
Tufts University
United States of America

Professor of Nutrition and a Senior Scientist at the USDAHuman Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston Massachusetts where he is also the Director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory. He is a Senior Scientist at the CNIC Madrid Dr Ordovas was educated in Spain at the University of Zaragoza and did postdoctoral work at the MIT Harvard and Tufts. He has published over 550 scientific articles in peer review journals and edited several books. He is considered as one of the founders of Nutrigenomics and one of the most renown world experts Moreover he has trained in his laboratory over 60 scientists from all over the world and his current genetic studies involve populations and investigators from all Continents. Throughout his career Dr Ordovas has received multiple honors for his scientific achievements and he has been awarded an honorary degree in Medicine bestowed by the University of Cordoba and the title of Member of the Royal Academies of Sciences Medicine and Nutrition in Spain. He serves on multiple editorial boards and is active with several NIH peer review committees in the USA as well as in many other countries.

Dr. Demosthenes Panagiotakos
University of Athens
Greece

Demosthenes Panagiotakos is the Dean of the School of Health Science & Education at Harokopio University in Athens, Greece. He is Professor in Biostatistics, Research Methods and Nutrition Epidemiology. Dr Panagiotakos is also a visiting Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Athens and at the Agricultural University of Athens. He has supervised 12 PhD and 55 MSc theses. He is the principal investigator of 11 large–scale epidemiological studies. His research interests include CVD epidemiology, risk modelling and analysis, medical research methodology, meta-analysis, as well as nutritional epidemiology and methodology.

He has published 3 books, over 550 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as 50 papers in national journals or Conference proceedings and has more than 10.000 citations of his work (h-index of 48). He has received 3 Young Investigators’ National and International Awards and 3 Scholarships (2 National, 1 EU). He has served as an evaluator for 15 National and International Organizations, as well as reviewer in 41 international journals; he is an Executive Board member in 3 Scientific Societies as well Editorial Board member / Associate Editor in 17 international journals. He has invited to give more than 150 lectures in 16 countries around the world. Dr Panagiotakos is currently Board Member of the Scientific Council of the Hellenic Food Authority and ex-Board Member of the National Council of Public Health.

Dr. Gulden Pekcan
Haceteppe University
Turkey

Prof. Gülden Pekcan is the Head of the Community Nutrition Division at the Hacettepe University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in Ankara. She is heavily involved in research on special diets and the elaboration of nutrition strategies, and has participated in and coordinated a number of national and international collaborative studies.

She has previously been an expert consultant in the development of a National Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition and has also been a member of several advisory committees and councils of national programmes, Ministries, UNICEF and FAO in Turkey, as well as on public health nutrition topics. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Ministry of Health on iodine deficiency disorders and iodisation of salt, prevention of iron deficiency anemia, bone health and vitamin D deficiency, the national codex committee on nutrition and foods for special dietary uses, the Turkish Society of Public Health Genomics and Nutrigenetics (TOGEN). She is the local coordinator of EU F6 project EUROPREVOB and a participant in the BRAFO project.

Dr. F-Xavier Pi-Sunyer
Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition
United States of America

Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and is co-Director of the NIH-supported New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
After receiving his BA in 1955 from Oberlin College, Dr. Pi-Sunyer went on to complete an MD from Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1959 and an MPH from Harvard University School of Public Health in 1963.

He has served as president of the American Diabetes Association, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, as well as a Councilor of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. He has been a Fellow of the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Task Forces on Opportunities in the Nutrition and Food Sciences, on Medical Nutrition Therapy and on Dietary Reference Intakes on Macronutrients. He served on the 2005 and 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. He recently completed a term on the FDA Science Board Advisory Committee to the Commissioner. He chaired the committee of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that researched and defined the federal government’s guidelines for the prevention and treatment of obesity in 1998 and has just concluded membership on the Task Force that completed the AHA/ACC/Obesity Society Guidelines on Obesity in 2013.

His research focus is on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, obesity and diabetes. He has over 450 peer-reviewed publications. He is on the Steering Committees of the NIH-sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program, the LookAhead, the Life-Moms and the GRADE trials of the NIDDK.

Dr. Francisco Perez Jimenez
Universidad de Cordoba
Spain

Full Professor of Internal Medicine and Head of Internal Medicine Department, at the Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain. Actual position: Scientific Director of the Maimonides Institute for Research in Biomedicine at Cordoba. His research has been focused in the area of the human nutrition and arteriosclerosis, including nutritional prevention of CHD and healthy effects of diet on biological mechanisms involved in the development of chronic disease, e.g.lipoproteins, coagulation, fibrinolysis system, glucose metabolism, endothelial function and insulin sensitivity and postprandial lipemia.

He is especially interested in the study of the healthy effect of the phenols compounds and in the relation between microbiote and the development of metabolic syndrome. Now he is Principal Investigator of CORDIOPREV, a dietary intervention trial on 1002 cardiovascular disease patients for testing the comparative clinical effects of two healthy diets (Mediterranean Diet and AHA diet). The H index of Prof Perez-Jimenez is 36 and in his scientific production are included more than 200 papers of nutrition in the last 10 years, in the more relevant journals of nutrition. He is member of Ciber Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutrición and he has participated in several projects supported by the Spanish Research Agencies and the European Commission.

Dr. Attilio Rigotti
Pontificia Universidad Catolica
Chile

Dr. Rigotti is a M.D. (with a fellowship in Internal Medicine) and a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology with postgraduate training at the Biology Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). Currently, Dr. Rigotti is Full Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism and Director of the Center for Molecular Nutrition and Chronic Diseases at the School of Medicine of the Catholic University of Chile. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and has supervised lab work and research theses performed by Biology, Biochemistry, Nutrition, MD and PhD students. His medical practice is dedicated to Internal Medicine and Clinical Lipidology.
Dr. Rigotti´s research interests are focused in the study of: 1) lipid metabolism and dyslipidemia and their relationship to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and 2) impact of healthy lifestyle, including the Mediterranean diet, and psychological wellbeing on chronic disease prevention. Public Chilean and US agencies as well as private foundations have supported his research.
Dr. Rigotti has more than 140 publications, including original research articles, reviews, letters and commentaries in a variety of scientific journals such as Nature, Science, Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, Atherosclerosis, Endocrinology, Current Opinion in Lipidology, Human Molecular Genetics, and Obesity, among others.

Dr. Eric B Rimm
Harvard School of Public Health
United States of America

Eric Rimm, ScD, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He is also the Director of the Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. His research is split between etiologic research on the relationship between diet and lifestyle characteristics and cardiovascular disease and on public health nutrition research on the impact of nutrition policy in schools on the diets of school children and on the impact of SNAP on dietary habits. He has previously served on the Institute of Medicine’s Dietary Reference Intakes for macronutrients and more recently on the scientific advisory committee for the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans. He has published more than 400 peer reviewed publications during his 18 years on the faculty at Harvard. Dr. Rimm is an associate editor for the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the American Journal of Epidemiology. He was awarded the 2012 American Society for Nutrition General Mills Institute of Health and Nutrition Innovation Award.

Dr. Emilio Ros
Hospital Clinic, IDIBAPS
Spain

Director of the Lipid Clinic and Senior Consultant, Endocrinology and Nutrition Service,
Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain. Specialist in Internal Medicine (American Board of Internal Medicine, New York 1972) and Gastroenterology (Id id, Boston 1974). Main research interest in nutrition in relation to cardiovascular risk. Particular interest in nutrition and cardiovascular disease, with special interest in the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, nuts, phytosterols, and omega-3 fatty acids and their health effects, with many clinical projects and published papers in the last 20 years on the effects of diets, foods and nutrients on blood lipids, endothelial function, blood pressure, postprandial events, inflammation, carotid atherosclerosis, and cognitive health. Directed the nutritional intervention of the landmark PREDIMED trial, whereby Mediterranean diets enriched with extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts reduced incident cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Joan Sabaté
Loma Lina University
United States of America

Joan Sabaté is Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health. From Spain, Dr. Sabaté is a board certified physician in internal medicine. In 1989 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Public Health in nutrition from Loma Linda University and became a faculty in the Department of Nutrition. From 1997 to 2013 he served as Chair of the Department.

Dr. Sabaté was principal investigator in the study that directly linked the consumption of walnuts to significant reductions in blood serum cholesterol. His landmark findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and received the attention of nearly 400 media sources, both national and international. Bringing the research full circle Archives of Internal Medicine has recently published the findings of his pooled analysis of 25 intervention trials establishing the benefits of nut consumption on blood lipid levels and lowering the risk of heart disease. He is currently the co-principal investigator on the Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study (the WAHA Study), a dual-center clinical trial with Hospital Clinic in Barcelona that includes 700 subjects.

Dr. Sabaté is frequently asked to speak at scientific symposia as well as health and nutrition conferences throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He has been published in many scientific journals both as principal and co-author and is the editor of the book Vegetarian Nutrition published in 2001. He also served as chairman for the Sixth International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition held on the campus of Loma Linda University in February 2013.

Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvado
Universitat Rovira Virgili
Spain

Jordi Salas has occupied teaching and research posts at the Faculty of Medicine in Reus (UB) since 1984. At present, he is professor of Nutrition (Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology) and director of the Human Nutrition Unit of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV). Since 1989, he has occupied a variety of medical posts at the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, and since 1991, is Head of Nutrition of the Internal Medicine Service.

At present, the Nutrition Unit of which Jordi Salas is director, is recognized by: a) the URV as the research group “Diet, Nutrition and Growth”, b) the Catalan Centre for Nutrition of the Institute of Catalan Studies; c) the Autonomous Government of Catalonia as a Consolidated Research Group, d) the Carlos III Health Institute in the Thematic Network RD06/0045 “Health Diet in the Primary Prevention of Chronic Diseases: the PREDIMED network” and CIBERobn ‘Obesity and Nutrition’.

He has directed 15 research projects financed by public bodies and 28 projects in conjunction with the pharmaceutical or food industries. He is one of the leaders of the PREDIMED clinical trial. He has published more than 250 original articles in national and international journals. Editor of 7 books, he has also co-authored more than 50 books.

Dr. Nikolao Scarmeas
Kapodistrian University of Athens
Greece

Dr Nikos Scarmeas was born and raised in Athens Greece. After obtaining an M.D. degree from the University of Athens he moved to the US and had Neurology residency training and then a 2-year clinical fellowship in Aging and Dementia at Columbia University Medical Center. He also completed a Masters degree in Biostatistics – Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Dr Scarmeas joined the faculty of Columbia University in 2002. He is currently an Associate Professor of Neurology and shares his time between research and clinical work at Columbia University and in University of Athens. His clinical work includes seeing elderly patients with dementias and cognitive dysfunction, supervising and teaching of Medical students and Neurology residents.

His research interests have started from the topic of cognitive reserve (i.e. how higher IQ, education, more demanding occupational attainments, or more engagement in cognitive-social-physical leisure – lifestyle activities can help elderly cope better with the damage caused to their brains by Alzheimer’s disease and aging and therefore reduce their risk for dementia and slow down their rates of cognitive and functional decline). More recently, he has developed a special interest in the contribution of diet (in particular composite dietary patterns such as a Mediterranean-type diet and others) and physical activity in dementias and healthy aging.

Dr Scarmeas is the Principal Investigator in studies funded by either the Alzheimer’s Association (IIRG) or the NIH-NIA (RO1) and a Co-Investigator in multiple others. His research work has resulted in more than 120 original publications in highly esteemed journals (>5800 citations, H-index = 44) and multiple presentations in internationally acclaimed scientific conferences – meetings. He reviews for more than 130 international scientific journals and international funding agencies including the Alzheimer’s Association, the US National Institute of Health, the European Union Marie Curie programs etc.

Dr. Iris Shai
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Israel

Prof. Shai, is a researcher at BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences investigating nutrition and the epidemiology of biological markers of chronic diseases. Since returning in 2004 from her postdoctoral work at Harvard University, she has led an international research group specializing in clinical trials dealing with the effect of different nutritional strategies and specific nutritional components (such as wine), the mechanisms of diabetes control, the withdrawal and transport of atherosclerotic tissue body fat.

These experiments are unique in scope and are characterized by innovation, creativity and managing quality levels in the research of medication. Over the last six years, Shai’s research group has had three articles published in world’s most prestigious medical journal NEJM, an unprecedented achievement in medical academia. Her research findings are cited today as guides for updating medical guidelines on nutrition and chronic diseases, and the relationship between them and biological markers in blood.

Dr. Creina Stockley
The Australian Wine Research Institute
Australia

Clinical pharmacologist, has been Manager – Health and Regulatory Information at The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) since 1991. An Australian government delegate to the Organisation de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) she has been Vice-President and acting President of the Nutrition and Wine expert group (2000-2006), President of the Food Safety expert group (2007 – 2012), and is now the President of Commission IV Safety and Health (2012-).

Her position at the AWRI has afforded her opportunities to act as an independent expert for a variety of national and international governmental health and safety forums and, specifically related to the OIV, in the areas of allergens and additives, as well as being actively involved in research related to the effects of moderate wine consumption (and its components) on human health such as cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and dementia. She has presented papers at in excess of 60 conferences, and published in excess of 45 peer-reviewed papers, non-peer-reviewed papers, seven book chapters and guest editor of two journals.