The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
The Scientific Advisory Board has been established to advice the JPI HDHL in all scientifically and technologically relevant issues.
The Scientific Advisory Board consists of 15 scientists, top researchers in the field of Nutrition and Health and is chaired by professor Edith Feskens. The members are elected based on their individual research experience, not as a representative of their organisation The expertise of the SAB is equally divided between the following three areas of the SRA – five scientists for each research area:
- Citizens, Diet and Behaviour
- Food for Health
- Diet, Health and Disease
The MB requests advice from its advisory boards on their strategic and implementation plans as well as on communication and dissemination of its results. Please click here for the Terms of Reference of the Scientific Advisory Board of JPI HDHL.
Members of the Scientific Advisory Board
Name: Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot
Organisation: Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center Sorbonne
Paris Cité, Nutritional Epidemiology Group (EREN), Inserm (U1153); Inra (U1125); Cnam; University of Paris 13
Title-Position: Research Director at INRA – Human Nutrition Department
Country: France
Expertise: Epidemiology, Public health, nutrition, diet, dietary patterns and health, selective diet. Chronic diseases and aging
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Member of the Scientific Committee of the “French Nutrition Society”
- Member of the Standing committee on Nutrition at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Anses)
- Member of the Internal Organic food Committee, INRA
Name: Aida Turrini
Organisation: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, research Centre Food and Nutrition
Title-Position: Executive researcher
Country: Italy
Expertise: Individual dietary survey, nutritional database system, epidemiology, research infrastructure, food system
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Coordinator of the 4th nationwide dietary survey
- Editorial board member of The Scientific World Journal; Review Editor Frontiers in Nutrition and Sustainable Diet, Guest Associate Editor Frontiers in Methodology, Guest Editor for Nutrients - Special Issue "Dietary Assessment in Human Health and Disease"
- Strategic Working Group on Food System (SCAR)
- Food Chain Analysis Network (OECD)
- Network on Food Consumption Data (EFSA)
Name: Katarina Bälter
Organisation: Mälardalen University
Title-Position: Professor of Public Health
Country: Sweden
Expertise: Nutritional epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, diet-related greenhouse emissions, sustainable diet, physical activity, citizen science.
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Member of the board of research at School of Health, Care and Social Welfare at Mälardalen University and served as its vice research leader during the academic hear of 2019-2020.
- Member of the working group for the National Network for Nutritional epidemiology in Sweden, NEON.
- Spokesperson and expert on nutrition for the Swedish Cancer foundation.
- Member of the Swedish Society for Epidemiologists, SVEP.
- Member of the Association of Members of the Swedish Parliament and Researchers, RIFO.
Name: Carl Lachat
Organisation: Ghent University
Title-Position: Dr. Prof.
Country: Belgium
Expertise: Nutrition, diet, nutrition epidemiology
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Member of Belgian Nutrition Society
- Member of the Section Food and Nutrition of the European Public Health Association
- Deputy Editor of Public Health Nutrition
- Advisory Board member of Nutrition Bulletin
- Over the last decades he provided services for IFAD, FAO, United Nations Standing Committee for Nutrition, World Health Organisation, European Commission Action against hunger and Save the Children UKn
Name: Molly Byrne
Organisation: National University of Ireland, Galway
Title-Position: Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Health Behaviour Change Research Group
Country: Ireland
Expertise: Dr Molly Byrne is a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. In 2014 she was awarded a significant Health Research Board (HRB) Research Leadership Award (2014-2019) to establish and direct the Health Behaviour Change Research Group (HBCRG). This group aims to improve population health by developing and promoting an evidence-based behavioural science approach to health behaviour change interventions. The team are currently running a number of intervention development studies, pilot trials of interventions and definitive intervention trials. Studies are focused on areas including: self-management among young adults with Type 1 Diabetes; attendance at structured education programmes for people with Type 2 Diabetes; delivery of sexual counselling within hospital cardiac rehabilitation; interventions to increase physical activity among overweight pregnant women and interventions to promote healthy infant feeding delivered in primary care.
Name: Daniele Del Rio
Organisation: University of Parma
Title-Position: Head of the School of Advanced Studies on Food and Nutrition, Professor of Human Nutrition
Country: Italy
Expertise: Dietary phytochemicals and human health. Bioavailability, metabolism and bioactivity of plant polyphenols. Molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of plant foods in human disease prevention.
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Scientific Director, The Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro), Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge, UK
- Editor in Chief, International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
- Visiting Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University
- Management Committee Member,BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health Journal
- Founding Fellow and Trustee – EUFoDiN - European Foundation for Dietetics and Nutrition
- Member of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) working group (WGs) on “External communication and public trust”
Name: Catherine Stanton
Organisation: Teagasc and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork
Title-Position: Senior Principal Research Officer and Research Professor
Country: Ireland
Expertise: Nutrition, food and health, dairy foods, probiotics, gut microbiota
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Member (and Rapporteur) of Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Evaluation of Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria, Córdoba, Argentina, 1-4 October 2001
- Member (and Rapporteur) of Working Group convened by FAO/WHO to develop Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food, London, Ontario, Canada, April 30 and May 1, 2002, and /IDF/ISO (2004-2006)
- Member (and Facilitator) of European Technology Platform (ETP) WG Food Quality & Manufacturing (2005-2007)
- Member of Utrecht Group (Dairy Nutrition) Dutch Dairy Foundation since 1997
- Member IDF Standing Committee Nutrition and Health
- Member ILSI Expert Group on Beneficial Aspects of Food Processing (2008-2010)
- Member Agropolis Foundation Science Council, France (2011-2013)
- Member of Scientific Advisory Panel Member for the MBIE programme "Accelerated Evolution: a step change in food fermentation", AgResearch New Zealand 2018-date)
Name: Eva Falch
Organisation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Title-Position: Vice Dean at Faculty of Natural Sciences/Associate professor at Institute of Biotechnology and Food Science
Country: Norway
Expertise: Scientific area: Main area of expertise is food lipids; stability, functionality, processing, purification, up-concentration, bioactivity and high-resolution spectroscopy methods. Further, expertise in utilization of marine rest raw material, seafood processing, food peptides and fibers, functional food, food chemistry, food technology, applied biotechnology and marine bioeconomy
Industry: Considerable experience from working many years with research, development and innovation in food and biotechnology industry and research institute. Expertise in food production from an industry perspective including food industry framework, expertise in nutrition and research strategy, documentation of health effect and food law, cardio-protective food, innovation processes, consumers insights, product development, up-scaling of processes, shelf-life determination and general challenges for the food and biotechnological industry
Education: Education management, strategic education planning, establishing new study programs, synergies academia and industry, student work practice and students in research and development, innovation in education
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Board member in different advisory boards for education (nutrition, engineering (B.eng.), co-operation between academia and industry, innovation etc.)
- Board member in companies in the food and innovation sector.
Name: Kaisa Poutanen
Organisation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Title-Position: Research professor
Country: Finland
Expertise: Food technology, food and health, cereals, dietary fibre, bioprocessing
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters
- Member of Academy of Technical Sciences, Finland
- Board member of Company Leipurin, Finland
- Chair of Supervisory Board of North-East CLC of EIT Food
- Member of advisory committee of the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA) of CSIC, Spain
- Member of stakeholder advisory board of Innovative Food System program of Natural Resources Institute Finland
Name: Mark Bücking
Organisation: Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME
Title-Position: Prof. Dr., Head of Department Environmental & Food Analysis & Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Food Chain Management Alliance & Associate Professor Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Country: Germany
Expertise: Fate of bioactive compounds like food nutrients, flavours, residues & contaminants during food processing and digestion, Analytical chemistry incl. fast detection & human sensory analysi, Food Chain Management.
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Chairman of the Food-Processing Initiative, Germany
- Member of BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) Committee for Contaminants in the Food Chain
Name: Dirk Haller
Organisation: Technical University of Munich
Title-Position: Full Professor and Chair of Nutrition and Immunology, Director of the Institute for Food & Health (ZIEL)
Country: Germany
Expertise:
- Inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer
- Microbe-host interactions in gnotobiotic mouse models
- Microbiome analysis of human populations and patients
- Metabolic regulation of intestinal epithelial cell homeostasis
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Coordinator the DFG Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1371 – Microbiome Signatures
- Coordinator of the DFG Priority Program (SPP) 1656 – Intestinal Microbiota
- Member of the DFG Senate Commission on Food Safety (SKLM)
- ERC Panel Head, Infection and Immunity, Consolidator
- ICREA Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies Evaluator Committee
- Associate Editor Mucosal Immunology and Journal of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Board Member of the German Society of Nutrition (DGE)
Name: Christophe Matthys
Organisation
- Nutrition & Obesity Unit, Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Chronic diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, KU Leuven (University of Leuven)
- Clinical Nutrition, Department of Endocrinology, UZ Leuven (University Hospitals Leuven)
Title-Position: Associate Professor & Scientific Coordinator Clinical Nutrition
Country: Belgium
Expertise:
- Clinical nutrition
- Obesity and obesity-related diseases
- Diet & lifestyle interventions in the context of primary and secondary prevention as well as treatment option of chronic diseases
- Health/nutrition based interventions at population and patient level
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Board Member of the Belgian Nutrition Society
- Board Member of the Flemish Society of Clinical Nutrition
- Co-Chair Task Force on Dietary Intake and Exposure (ILSI Europe)
- Member Task Force on Nutrient Intake Optimisation (ILSI Europe)
- Member of the working group on Food-Based Dietary Guidelines of the Belgian Superior Health Council
- Board Member KU Leuven LFoRCe (Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Research Centre)
- Associate Editor of Clinical Nutrition ESPEN
- Associate Editor of Frontiers in Nutrition
- Associate Editor of Frontiers in Nutrition
- Editor in Chief of Food Science & Law
Name: Edith Feskens
Organisation: Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition
Country: The Netherlands
Expertise:
Name: John Mathers
Organisation: Newcastle University, Human Nutrition Research Centre
Country: UK
Expertise:
- Human nutrition and health
- Nutrition and ageing
- Personalised nutrition
- Nutrition and epigenetics
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
- Chair, Rank Prize Funds Nutrition Committee
- Board of Trustees, British Nutrition Foundation
- Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
- Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship Panel
- Editor-in-Chief, British Journal of Nutrition
Name: Jean-Michel Oppert
Organisation: University Pierre et Marie Curie – UPMC – Sorbonne Universités
Title-Position: Professor of Nutrition at University Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC); head Department of Nutrition, and Physical Activity unit, Pitie-Salpetriere university hospital (Asssistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, AP-HP)t
Country: France
Expertise: obesity and associated conditions, obesity management, lifestyle and physical activity, NCD prevention, environmental determinants, built environment
Other activities (e.g., membership of other advisory boards)
past president European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), member expert group for the definition of the WHO Europe Physical Activity Strategy, partner EU projects (Spotlight, Dedipac, Metacardis…)
