Editorial Board
Arne Astrup, MD, DMSc, Dept. Obesity and Nutritional Science, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Hellerup, Denmark
Professor Arne Astrup, MD, DMSc. is Senior Vice President at The Novo Nordisk Foundation in Denmark, and leader of the Dept of Obesity and Nutritional Sciences. Arne Astrup has been a full professor since 1990 and Head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, from 2012-20. Under Arne Astrup’s leadership the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports ranked number one on the internationally recognized Shanghai Ranking of Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments. Dr Astrup is past President of World Obesity Federation and founding editor-in-chief of Obesity Reviews. He is Editor of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.Arne Astrup’s scientific interests have been appetite regulation, treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Arne Astrup publishes frequently in journals such as BMJ, Lancet, Nature and New England Journal of Medicine, and has published more than 900 peer-reviewed papers and more than 1000 other academic publications. In 2018 Clarivate’s (Web of Science) named him among the most cited researchers in the world. Current H-index is 108: Google Scholar H-index is 146 with 111588 citations. He has supervised 44 PhD students to date.In 1996 Arne Astrup discovered, together with Professor Jens Holst, that GLP-1 is a satiety hormone in humans. Astrup played a major role in the prohibition in 2004 of industrially produced trans fats in foods in Denmark.Astrup was created Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 1999 by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Knight of the First Order of Dannebrog in November 2012. He was the recipient of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 2014 Willendorf Award.
Vickie E. Baracos, PhD, University of Alberta, Canada
Vickie Baracos (PhD 1981, Nottingham University, UK, Applied Biochemistry and Nutrition; Postdoctoral 1981-1984, Harvard University, Physiology) is a researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada. Dr Baracos' primary appointment is Professor, Department of Oncology, with a secondary appointment in the Division of Human Nutrition. Dr Baracos' work on skeletal muscle in clinical nutrition and metabolism and cancer-associated malnutrition spans 35 years (see invited reviews and commentary i.e. Ann Rev Nutrition 2006;26: 435-61, Nature Rev Clin Oncol 2013; 10:90; J Clin Oncol 2013; 31:1257). Dr Baracos' lifetime achievement in clinical nutrition was recognized with the 2014 Sir David Cuthbertson Award Lecture of the European Society for Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition as well as the 2016 Terukazu Muto Award Lecture of the Japanese Society for Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition. Since joining the Dept. of Oncology in 2003, Dr Baracos' research focus is the clinical problem of cancer cachexia. Dr Baracos leads a Canadian Institutes of Health Research -sponsored Network to develop clinical cachexia research and was senior author of the international consensus framework for definition of cancer cachexia (Lancet Oncol 2011; 12:489). Computed-tomography defined muscle loss, a prognostic factor for cancer treatment toxicity is a major theme of research initiated and pioneered by Dr Baracos' research group.
Abdul Dullo, PhD, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Born and bred on the island of Mauritius, Abdul Dulloo obtained a Bachelor degree in Physiology and a PhD degree in Nutrition from the University of London in UK, followed by a 2 year postdoctoral research fellowship for studies centered on the role of the sympathoadrenal system in weight regulation at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. He subsequently worked as a research associate in the Department of Physiology at the University of Geneva, before joining the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1999 where he has since been a lecturer in Physiology and Nutrition Sciences, and directing the Laboratory of Nutritional Energetics and Body Composition Regulation. His current research interests center upon elucidating the ‘thrifty’ mechanisms that interlink adaptive thermogenesis, body composition regulation and insulin resistance in pathways from weight fluctuations to obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Abdul Dulloo is an executive committee member of the Swiss Association for Study of Obesity.
M. Cristina Gonzalez, PhD, MD, Universidade Catolica de Pelotas, Brazil
Cristina Gonzalez received her Bachelor's in Medicine from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas in 1982, and followed this with a Masters in Epidemiology from Universidade Federal de Pelotas (1999) and Doctorate in Epidemiology from Universidade Federal de Pelotas (2002). During her PhD, she stayed four months at the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's Roosevelt, Columbia University, NY, EUA. She also had a Post-Doctoral stage at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, at Louisiana State University, LA, USA, in 2013, working as an Adjunct Instructor at this Institution since then. She is actually a Professor at Universidade Católica de Pelotas, working at Medicine graduation and Post-Graduate Program in Health and Behavior, and as an Associate Professor at Post-Graduate Program in Nutrition and Food and Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, from Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil. She also coordinates de Study Group in Body Composition and Nutrition (Grupo de Estudos em Composição Corporal e Nutrição – COCONUT). She has experience in Medicine and Nutrition, focusing on body composition, acting on the following subjects: nutritional assessment, bioelectrical impedance analysis, nutritional support in surgery, elderly and oncology.
Digant Gupta, MD, MPH, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, USA
Dr Digant Gupta obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Pune University, India, in 2000, and Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, in 2003. As a physician epidemiologist, Dr. Gupta provides consulting expertise to the healthcare industry in the areas of medical and scientific writing, scientific protocol development, clinical and public health research methodology, outcomes research, epidemiology and statistical analysis across a wide range of therapeutic areas. He has published over 75 manuscripts and 200 abstracts in several internationally-acclaimed medical and scientific journals and conferences. He is an editorial board member for over a dozen and an invited scientific reviewer for more than 35 peer-reviewed biomedical journals. Some research areas of interest to him are nutritional epidemiology, etiology and natural history of chronic diseases as well as factors predicting clinical and humanistic outcomes in chronic diseases.
Steven B. Heymsfield, MD. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Steven B. Heymsfield is Professor and Director of the Body Composition-Metabolism Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. He is on the visiting faculty at Harvard Medical School and a former Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Dr. Heymsfield has published papers covering topics such as obesity, malnutrition, cancer, cachexia, body composition, and caloric expenditure. Dr. Heymsfield is the past president of ASPEN, American Society of Clinical Nutrition and The Obesity Society.
Jeyakumar Henry, PhD, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore
Professor Jeyakumar Henry is currently Deputy Executive Director of Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Director, Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, A*STAR in Singapore. He was the founding director of the Functional Food Centre in Oxford. Trained initially as a Food scientist and he obtained his MSc and PhD in Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was a Board member of UK Food Standards Agency and member of the general Advisory Committee on Science of the Food standard agency (UK). Prof. Henry is on the Board of Directors of International Life Science Institute South East Asia (ILSI-SEA). Prof. Henry published over 300 papers and presented over 380 lectures around the world. In 2010 he was awarded the British Nutrition Foundation prize for his outstanding contribution to Nutrition. He was made a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Scientists and Technologists (2012). Prof. Henry was recipient of the NutraIngredients-Asia NutraChampion Awards 2019, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) -W.K. Kellogg International Food Security Award & Lectureship 2019, 100 Most Influential Asian Scientist– 2019 Edition, Asian Scientist Magazine and the prestigious Niigata International Food Award 2018 known as “Asian World Food Prize”. He was the scientific commentator on the highly successful TV program “Food Detective.
Michael Hermanussen, PhD, University of Kiel, Germany
Michael Hermanussen is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Kiel, Germany, and freelancing scientific researcher. He was born in Hamburg, married, 5 children, 7 grandchildren, living at Altenhof near Eckernförde, Germany. He studied medicine at the University of Hamburg. He has more than 35 years of professional experience as pediatrician and student lecturer in pediatrics, nutrition and human biology in Kiel and in Potsdam, Germany. His main interest is research in child health, nutrition, growth and development. He first described mini growth spurts in human child and rodent growth, he studied the impact of nutritional glutamate on appetite regulation, and currently works on the role of nutrition on child growth. He organized international research projects and more than 25 international meetings. He has authored more than 160 articles, books and book chapters. These include the book “Auxology – Studying Human Growth and Development”. He is founder and was head of the Auxological Society (formerly Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auxologie), and founder and editor of “Human Biology and Public Health”.
Andrew Peter Hills, BEd, University of Tasmania, Australia
Andrew Hills is currenlty Associate Dean Global, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania. Prior to returning to Tasmania in 2016 he was Professor of Allied Health Research, Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland and Professor of Energy Metabolism, Queensland University of Technology. A prominent educator and exercise physiologist, his interests include prevention and management of obesity; physical growth and development; exercise prescription for weight management; body composition, physical activity and energy expenditure assessment; nutrition, weight control and exercise. He has a particular interest in maternal, infant and child health. He has published of 260 papers and reviews, 30 book chapters and authored or edited 10 books. He is a Fellow of the Australian Sports Medicine Federation (ASMF) and former President of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS).
Alan Jackson, MD, MSc, PhD, University of Southampton, UK
Kazou Kondo, PhD, Ochanomizu University, Japan
Amos Laar, MPH, MA, PhD, FGA, University of Ghana, Ghana
Dr Laar, a Senior Lecturer of the University of Ghana, has academic training in Nutrition, Public Health, and Bioethics. In his independent scholarship, he draws on theoretical, conceptual, and methodological perspectives from the social sciences, bioethics, and public health to understand how physical environment, social environment, and structural forces affect health. He has led/co-led over 20 successful research projects, spanning maternal and child nutrition, and reproductive health. His recent work in nutrition is centred on obesity and NR-NCDs prevention, and includes projects such as the UK-AID/ Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded “Dietary Transitions in Ghanaian Cities”, and the GCRF-funded “Dietary Transitions in African Cities Project” (both of which identified how social, and physical environments drive consumption of energy dense nutrient-poor foods and beverages). He is currently the Principal Investigator of an IDRC-funded project, the MEALS4NCDs Project, which aims at providing Measurement Evaluation, Accountability and Leadership Support (MEALS) for NCDs prevention in Ghana and beyond. Dr. Laar publishes for both academic and non-academic audiences. His scholarly works include 70 scientific publications (one book, five book chapters, 64 peer-reviewed journal articles; 45 of which are indexed in PubMed). His work for non-academic audiences include 17 OpEds, feature articles, and commentaries in local print/electronic media. He was recently recognized in the Lancet, for his efforts at combating NR-NCDs in Ghana:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(19)30216-5/fulltext.
Dr Laar is the current President of the African Nutrition Society. His international engagements in public health nutrition include his participation in the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Meeting in New York, 2011; in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Expert Group Meeting in Addis, Ethiopia, 2017; in the FAO’s Future of Food Symposium, Rome, 2019, and several other international meetings. He has served as a Consultant to various United Nations Agencies, non-governmental organizations/international organizations, and national governments.
Miguel Leon-Sanz, PhD, MD, Doce de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain
Dr. Miguel Leon-Sanz studied Medicine at the Complutense University (1974-1980), where he also obtained a PhD degree in 1988. He trained in Endocrinology and Nutrition (1982-1986). Head of the Clinical Nutrition Unit of the Doce de Octubre University Hospital since 1992 and since 2017 Head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service. He is also Professor of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Complutense University (2011-).
He has published on various aspects of metabolic bone disease, malnutrition, proteinuria and obesity, artificial nutrition and diabetes mellitus, organization and complications of home artificial nutrition.
He has been part of different national and international committees of scientific and academic institutions. At Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) he has been a member of the Management Committee of the Nutrition Area. From 2008 to 2012 he was also General Secretary of the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). Director of the Lifelong Learning Program (LLL) of ESPEN (2013-2017). He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Spanish Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (SENPE). He was nominated Fellow of the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (FASPEN) in 2021.
Henry C. Lukaski, PhD, University of North Dakota, USA
Henry Lukaski (PhD 1979, Pennsylvania State University, USA, Physiology and Nutrition) is an adjunct professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Education at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota. He is the retired Research Leader and Assistant Center Director at the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center. Dr. Lukaski’s research focused on determining the physiological and biochemical roles that deficits of trace elements can have on human health and function emphasizing the public health significance of marginal intakes in contrast to severe deficiency. He also was directly involved in developing the bioelectrical impedance method for body composition assessment in health and disease. He served as the contact person for diet, physical activity, and body composition at the USDA-ARS. Dr. Lukaski was recognized widely for his scientific contributions and achievements for the promotion of careers in science and medicine for students of underserved populations. He was and continues to be a member of the editorial boards of several international journals emphasizing clinical nutrition, physical activity and health. In retirement, Dr. Lukaski actively collaborates in international studies of clinical body composition applications using bioelectrical impedance phase angle and digital imaging, and promotion of the understanding of the functional roles of body composition in facilitating physical performance, injury prevention and health promotion in sports and physically demanding occupations. He translates scientific information on nutrition, dietary supplements, performance, and health as a faculty member of the Diploma Program in Sports Nutrition of the International Olympic Committee.
Anoop Misra, MD, Fortis CDOC Hospital for Diabetes and Allied Sciences, India
Prof. (Dr.) Anoop Misra currently serves as the Chairman of the Fortis-CDOC Center of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases, and Endocrinology in New Delhi. Additionally, he holds the position of Chairman at the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation and serves as the President of the Diabetes Foundation in India. Prof. Misra boasts extensive academic experience, having pursued his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. His international experience includes notable tenures at the Royal Free Hospital in London, UK, and the Department of Medicine and Endocrinology at the Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, USA, where he served as a WHO Fellow and faculty member. In India, Dr. Misra has actively contributed to top Advisory Committees addressing Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, and Nutrition. His advisory roles extend to esteemed institutions such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Department of Biotechnology, where he provides valuable insights on issues related to diabetes and other non-communicable diseases. With over 41 years of rich experience in teaching, service, research, and community health intervention programs, Prof. Misra has made significant contributions to the field of Diabetes and Metabolic diseases. He has authored more than 370 scientific papers published in national and international journals and has written 34 books and chapters. He has been awarded the highest award for medicine in India, Dr BC Roy award (2006) and India’s prestigious National Honor, Padma Shree (2007). He has also received “Outstanding Investigator Award” from World India Diabetes Foundation in 2013. In a 2020 analysis conducted by Stanford University, Prof. Misra was recognized as one of the top 2% of scientists in diabetes research from India, earning global recognition for his outstanding contributions to the field. His current interests include research on nutrition, metabolism and diabetes in relation to liver fat, pancreatic fat, lean skeletal muscle mass and vitamin D.
Giovanna Muscogiuri, MD, PhD, University Federico II, Naples, Italy
Giovanna Muscogiuri graduated cum laude in Medicine from Catholic University, Rome in 2006 and then carried out postgraduate residency in Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease at the same University, obtaining her degree of specialization cum laude in 2012. She attended the post-doctoral fellowship at University of Texas Health science Center at San Antonio, TX – USA where she began her research in metabolic disease. Her research is on a range of nutritional topics including the study of insulin resistance, insulin secretion and GLP- 1. She is currently focused on the study of vitamin D and vitamin D related disease. She has received several awards for her scientific achievements in the metabolic research field. She has written or co-authored over 80 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and serves on the Editorial Boards of several endocrinological and/or metabolic journals.
Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, New York University, USA
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, in the department she chaired from 1988-2003 and from which she retired in September 2017. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She holds honorary degrees from Transylvania University in Kentucky and the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York.
She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Previous faculty positions were at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Her research and writing examine scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice and its consequences, emphasizing the role of food industry marketing. She is the author of prize-winning books about the politics of food: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002); Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety (2003); What to Eat (2006); Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics (with Malden Nesheim, 2012); Eat, Drink Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics (2013); and Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning) in 2015. She also has written two books about pet food, Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine (2008) and Feed Your Pet Right in 2010 (also with Dr. Nesheim). She published Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat, in 2018 (and its Portuguese translation in 2019). Her most recent book, with Kerry Trueman, Let's Ask Marion: What You Need to Know about the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health, was published in September 2020. From 2008 to 2013, she wrote a monthly Food Matters column for the San Francisco Chronicle food section. She blogs daily (almost) at www.foodpolitics.com, and her Twitter account is @marionnestle.
Elizabeth N. Pearce, MD, MSc, Boston Univerisy School of Medicine, USA
Dr. Pearce received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard and a masters' degree in epidemiology from the Boston University School of Public Health. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and her fellowship in endocrinology at the Boston University Medical Center. She is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition. She has served as a member of the board of directors of the American Thyroid Association and is currently on the management council of the Iodine Global Network. She is currently co-chairing the American Thyroid Association's Thyroid in Pregnancy Guidelines Task Force. Her research interests include the sufficiency of dietary iodine in the U.S., thyroid function in pregnancy, the thyroid effects of environmental perchlorate exposure, and the cardiovascular effects of subclinical thyroid dysfunction. Dr. Pearce was the 2011 recipient of the American Thyroid Association's Van Meter Award for outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland.
Elaine Rush, PhD, Reg Nutr, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Professor Elaine Rush, MNZM, PhD has been involved in health and education for all her working career. In 2014 she was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health. Her diverse research expertise in the measurement of body composition, energy expenditure, physical activity, nutrition and risk factors for disease, an interest in ethnic differences in health and involvement in programmes and actions that will make a difference to health has across the lifecycle has led to over 150 publications. The projects she is involved in include Energize in preschools and primary schools reaching more than 60000 children, the health and growth of children whose mothers' had gestational diabetes and the longitudinal Pacific Island Family study which is tracking over 1000 Pacific children from birth. She is scientific director of the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation and also serves on the Councils of a number of nutrition and obesity organisations and is the New Zealand representative for the World Obesity Federation. She has been an expert consultant for the World Health Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Nutrition and Health. She is a deputy editor for the British Journal of Nutrition.
Luís Bettencourt Sardinha, PhD, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Luís B. Sardinha is Full Professor of Exercise Prescription and Functional Body Composition and Energy Regulation at the Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon. He was trained in Exercise and Sport Science, earning a M.Sc. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Kansas, USA and a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. In 1997, he did his post-doc at the Body Composition Laboratory, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, USA. Currently he is the Dean of the Faculty of Human Kinetics, Director of the Exercise and Health Laboratory, PI for the Portuguese Physical Activity and Physical Fitness Surveillance System and coordinator of the Towards Intelligent Health and Well-Being Network of Physical Activity Assessment (INTERLIVE®). He has been an investigator in some international research projects and PI in several competitive projects. He has authored and co-author 10 books, 21 book chapters and more than 330 scientific papers published in international peer reviewed journals, and has a H-index= 56 (Source: Web of Science). The focus of his research has been the development of models and methods of human body composition, and investigating graded and dose response relationships between sedentary behaviour, physical activity and fitness with physiological attributes across the life span and related mechanisms. He is further involved in forward-translation research comprising web-based outreach programs to influence children and adults’ body composition, fitness and health using digital phenotyping.
Noel W. Solomons, MD, Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging and Metabolism, Guatemala
Noel W. Solomons is the co-founder and Scientific Director of the Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging and Metabolism (CeSSIAM) in Guatemala. Born in Boston, be received his AB from Harvard College and his MD from Harvard Medical School. His interests include absorptive physiology, body composition, lactation biology and the consequences of immuno-stimulation and oxidative stress. These are reflected on an interest in micronutrient malnutrition and excess, with respect to iron, zinc, vitamins A, D, E, B2, B12 and folate as well as essential fatty acids. At the public health level his interests include the mitigation of linear growth failure (stunting) and of endemic micronuitrient deficiencies. He has over 330 peer-reviewed papers and over 115 book chapters. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Guatemalan Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences and is a winner of the Medal of Science and Technology of the Congress of Guatemala (2010).
Diana Thomas, PhD, US Military Academy, USA
Daniel Tomé, PhD, AgroParisTech, France
Daniel Tomé is currently Honorary Professor and had a long-standing position as a Professor in Human Nutrition at AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay (France). His main interests are on protein, amino acid and energy requirements and metabolism and on the capacity of protein and amino acid supply to fulfil their biological functions and meet nutritional needs for humans. His research has contributed to a better understanding of the role of amino acids and energy nutrients to metabolic pathways, control of feeding behaviour, and health, and provided different criteria and methods for the evaluation of protein and food quality. He was involved during the last 25 years in several committees and working groups from national and international authorities (including EFSA, FAO, WHO, IAEA) for delivering scientific advice and recommendation for nutrient requirement and food quality particularly related to protein and amino acids needs for humans.
Jaakko Tuomilehto, MD, MA, PhD, FRCP, University of Helsinki, Finland
Professor Emeritus of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland, and currently working as the Chief Scientific Officer at Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait and also associated with the Chronic Prevention Unit of the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, Danube-University Krems in Austria, and King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His research interests include the epidemiology and prevention of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. His studies cover both lifestyle and genetic factors. He has contributed many landmark studies, including the North Karelia Project in Finland, WHO MONICA project on cardiovascular diseases and WHO DIAMOND project on epidemiology of type 1 diabetes, and the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. He has been acting as a member in several national and international committees on diabetes and CVD and Editorial Boards of several scientific journals, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Primary Care Diabetes. He has received many prestigious scientific awards. He has contributed to over 1700 scientific peer-reviewed publications, and is listed as "highly cited researcher" by Thomson Reuters with h-index 159.
Stanley Ulijaszek, MSc, MA , PhD, University of Oxford, UK
Stanley Ulijaszek (1954) is Professor of Human Ecology and Director, Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, within the School of Anthropology, University of Oxford (1999). Trained in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester and Nutrition at King’s College London, his first academic position in 1986 was in the then new field of Nutritional Anthropology in the Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge. He presently conducts multidisciplinary research in two related fields. The first is the political ecology of nutrition and obesity globally, using anthropological, life history, epidemiological, and economic historical frameworks. The second is nutrition in evolution and evolutionary medicine. Both involve increasing understandings obesity as a complex phenomenon. Past work on obesity includes the welfare regime hypothesis of obesity causation; impacts of inequality and social status on obesity production; energetics and reproductive function; the effects of economic modernisation on obesity and chronic disease; and mechanisms of physiological and nutritional adaptation, including growth and development.
Leigh C Ward, PhD, BSc, RNutr, FNSA, University of Queensland, Australia
Dr Leigh Ward is Honorary Reader in Metabolic Biochemistry and Nutrition at the University of Queensland and is a registered nutritionist (RNutr). He originally trained as a metabolic biochemist and nutritionist, taking his PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK. His early research was in the measurement of protein turnover using both animal models and in clinical studies. During this time, he gained expertise in tracer techniques for studying dynamic aspects of metabolism. This expertise was applied in a series of seminal studies in the protein nutritional support of children with cystic fibrosis. This work initiated a life-long interest in body composition analysis. In the last two decades, this has become a major research focus involving both the development of novel technologies for body composition analysis and their application. This was recognised in 2015 by the award of the Clunies Ross Award for innovative life-changing medical technology. He has published extensively in the international literature in the fields of nutrition and biochemistry and has held executive positions in the Nutrition Society of Australia and the International Society for Electrical Bioimpedance. His current research interests are concentrated on nutraceutical approaches to mitigating metabolic syndrome.
Jonathan Wells, PhD, UCL Institute of Child Health, UK
Currently Professor of Anthropology and Pediatric Nutrition at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, where he has been based since 1998. He has a BA in social anthropology, an MPhil in biological anthropology and a Ph.D. in biological anthropology/human nutrition, all from the University of Cambridge. His work focuses on paediatric energy metabolism and body composition, making extensive use of evolutionary and anthropological approaches to enhance interpretation. He has published over 300 papers, two monographs and 15 book chapters. Current interests include exploring the fundamental link between human nutrition and power relations, and applying state-of-the-art methodologies to improve understanding of paediatric body composition in malnutrition and its response to public health interventions or clinical treatment.
Klaas R. Westerterp, PhD, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Klaas R. Westerterp is professor of Human Energetics in the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences and the School of Nutrition & Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM) at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. His MSc in Biology at the University of Groningen resulted in a thesis titled 'The energy budget of the nesting Starling, a field study'. He received a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (FUNGO, NWO) for his doctorate research in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Groningen. His PhD thesis was titled 'How rats economize, energy loss in starvation'. Subsequently, he performed a three-year postdoc at Stirling University in Scotland supported by a grant from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and a two-year postdoc at the University of Groningen and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO, KNAW) with a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (BION, NWO) in order to work on flight energetics in birds. In 1982 he became senior lecturer and subsequently full professor at Maastricht University in the Department of Human Biology. Here his field of expertise is energy metabolism, physical activity, food intake and body composition, and energy balance under controlled conditions and in daily life.
Tom Wolever, PhD, DM, University of Toronto, Canada
Dr. Wolever obtained a medical degree from Oxford University in 1980, a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto in 1986 and a Doctorate in Medicine from Oxford in 1993. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, and Principal Scientist & Medical Director at INQUIS Clinical Research. Dr. Wolever’s research centres on the effects of dietary carbohydrates on human physiology and metabolism. He has written or co-authored over 380 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and written a book entitled: The Glycaemic Index: A Physiological Classification of Dietary Carbohydrate.In 1997, Dr. Wolever founded Glycaemic Index Testing, Inc. to provide confidential GI testing services to industry. To cope with increased demand and provide a wider range of clinical research services, INQUIS (formerly GI Labs) was formed in 2004. Dr. Wolever is married with 3 children and enjoys cycling, orienteering and playing the recorder.
Hiroshi Yatsuya, MD, PhD, Fujita Health University, Japan
Hiroshi Yatsuya is Professor of Public Health in the School of Medicine and Advisor to the President of Fujita Health University, Japan. He obtained his MD in 1996 and PhD in 2003 from Nagoya University, Japan. He was a visiting Associate Professor of Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, USA from 2008 to 2010. He has been engaged in epidemiological studies of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He is currently Chair of Committee for non-communicable disease prevention, Science Council of Japan.
Bing Zhang, PhD, National Institutr for Nutrition and Health, China
Bing Zhang is currently Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control. He graduated with a BA in Preventive Medicine from Shanxi Medical University, China, in 1985. And then he worked for Nutrition and Public health in China. He obtained Master degree in Nutrition from Tongji Medical University, China, in 1994 and PhD of Public Health from School of Medicine in Shinshu University, Japan, in 2000. As a PI, Bing Zhang has the expertise, leadership and motivation necessary to successfully carry out China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), a 30 ys longitudinal cohort study(1989-2019) since 2008. His research interesting is dietary pattern, nutritional transition and physical activity in related to change of Chinese population’s nutrition, health and obesity.
Shankuan Zhu, PhD, Zhejiang University, China
Dr. Zhu is a Qiushi Professor at Zhejiang University, the China Medical Board (CMB) Distinguished Professor, a Professor at the University of Toronto (Status Only), and a PI of the National Key R&D Program of China. He is the Founding Director of Chronic Disease Research Institute, the Chair of Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at Zhejiang University School of Public Health, the Founding Director of Obesity and Body Composition Research Center at Zhejiang University School of Medicine, the Vice Director of National Center for Child Health, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and the Director of Zhejiang University - Stanford University Collaborative Laboratory for Health. Dr. Zhu served as Executive Dean and Vice Dean of Zhejiang University School of Public Health from 2009 to 2017. Dr. Zhu’s research interests are nutrition and chronic disease epidemiology with focuses on body composition and related chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sarcopenia, osteoporosis, etc. Dr. Zhu is listed as the Most Cited Chinese Researchers (Elsevier) in Medicine/Public Health in 2014 to 2022, and Stanford University World Top 2% Scientists in 2021 and 2022.
Dr. Zhu graduated from Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan, and obtained his PhD in 1997. He was an Assistant Professor at Nagoya University from 1997 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Zhu received Post-doctoral training at Obesity Research Center, Human Nutrition Institute at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) from 2003 to 2007 and Adjunct Associate Professor from 2008 to 2010 at Medical College of Wisconsin, WI USA.
