#Facultyseminar: Impact of (poly)phenol exposure on health outcomes. Findings from the EPIC cohort study

(Poly)phenols are bioactive compounds widely distributed in plant-based foods, such as fruit and vegetables, coffee, tea, wine, and cocoa. In cellular and animal models, they have demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties among others. Therefore, they may play a relevant role in the prevention of several chronic diseases. In this talk, I will present a summary of the findings of the group from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, a cohort of more than half a million adult participants from 10 European countries. I will cover from the (poly)phenol exposure assessment to the associations with chronic diseases, including strengths and limitations of these investigations, and future research lines.

Hosted by Laura Costas – Infections and cancer

Raul holds a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology from the University of Barcelona in 2008. During his postdoc, he spent 3 years in the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO, Lyon, France) and 9 months in the MRC-Epidemiology Unit in the University of Cambridge (UK). In February 2016, he got a Miguel Servet contract in the Unit of Nutrition and Cancer at IDIBELL. Currently, he is the co-Head of this Unit and Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. He has published more than 160 articles (>50% as main author and >70% in Q1 journals) and 10 book chapters. He has been leading 7 national projects and led a working package in 3 international projects, and 2 non-competitive. He is also the the co-leader of a website (www.menjardurantelcancer.cat) aimed at providing easy nutritional information and videorecipes for cancer patients during their treatment. To date, he has co-supervised 6 PhD thesis and >20 master thesis. In 2019, he received the prestigious award Jesus Serra (Second Edition) for young scientist specialized in the area of Nutrition, Diet and Health.