Dr. Marcel Alexander Juillerat graduated from the University of Geneva in Switzerland in 1977 and was between 1978 and 1982 a research associate at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA and then an assistant professor at the University of Geneva before joining Nestlé in Switzerland in 1985 as a research scientist. He was then a group leader heading respectively the raw material section and the enzymology group. He also was the deputy head of the Nestlé Plant Science research, Tours, France between 1995 and 1998 before returning to Switzerland to lead successively the Biotransformation group, the Bioscience department and then finally the Food-Consumer interaction Department from 2003 to 2008. Since January 2009 Dr. Juillerat is heading the Science and Research at the Nestlé R&D Center Beijing. His scientific background is protein chemistry and biophysics, enzymology, food science, plant science, flavour (bio) chemistry and nutrition. He was author of more than 50 papers and also directed many PhD students in several European universities.

Peter van Bladeren, Head of Nestlé Science & Research was appointed in 2002. He studied Organic Chemistry at the University of Leiden where he obtained a PhD in Toxicology. In 1991, he was appointed part time professor of Toxicology at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. He published over 200 scientific papers, in the fields of inter-individual differences in risk and mechanistic toxicology. Prior to joining Nestlé, Peter was Director of TNO, Nutrition and Food Research Institute in the Netherlands. At Nestlé his main challenge is to translate scientific innovations into consumer benefits.

Dr Wu Zhaosu was the director of Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases (BIHLBD) from 1989 to 2003 and is now the professor of Department of Epidemiology of Beijing An Zhen hospital. He graduated from Beijing Union Medical University in 1967. From 1967 to 1977 he worked in west China as a clinician. Since 1978 he has worked in Beijing and been involved in epidemiology and community control programs of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in China. His main research interest is CVD epidemiology and community control, with special reference to population monitoring of trends and risk factors of CVD. From 1990 to 1992 he took up the post of regional advisor of non-communicable diseases in WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila. Since 1993, after his returning back to Beijing, he has resumed the capacity of the director of BIHLBD. Since 2003 he stepped down from this post and has worked as a general staff in the Department of Epidemiology of Beijing An Zhen hospital and also a member of Chinese Hypertension League. He was elected in 2005 and has served as the Executive President of Chinese Hypertension League. In 2006 he has became the council member of International Society of Hypertension.

Currently, Professor of Functional Food at University of Leeds, UK in the School of Food Science and Nutrition since August 2007. Research interests in Nutritional and Food Biochemistry with over 250 refereed scientific publications, and ISI highly cited author in Agricultural Sciences with a H factor of 51 (more than 51 papers cited 51 or more times each). Visiting Professor of Food Safety at University of Surrey, UK, and Honorary Chair at Harbin Medical University, China. Invited assessor for University Departments: University College Cork, Ireland, Research Quality Review, February 2009, Panel D, Biological Sciences. University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, Research Quality Review, June 2009. Invited assessor for reviewing European Research Council Advanced Research Grants, July 2009. Chairman and organizer of 4th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, December 2009. Postgraduate tutor, with responsibility for all PhD students (around 25-30) in the department.

Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD, is Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. He also serves as Director of the Epidemiology Core of NIH-funded Boston Obesity and Nutrition Research Center. Dr Hu’s research has focused on epidemiologic studies of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is the Principle Investigator of the diabetes component of the Nurses’ Health Study. Dr. Hu has published more than 300 original papers and 45 reviews and chapters. He has recently published a textbook, “Obesity Epidemiology” by Oxford University Press. He is the recipient of an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award and an American Diabetes Association Research Award. Dr. Hu serves on the editorial board of Diabetes Care and on grant review panels for NIH, the American Diabetes Association, and the Wellcome Trust.

Professor Keyou Ge was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. He graduated from Beijing Medical College in 1958, and continued his nutrition studies at the Nutrition Department, Columbia University, USA. He studied pathology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, and Massachusetts General Hospital, USA. He began his career in the area of nutritional pathology, and continued investigating the relationship between selenium and Keshan disease and the prevention of the disease via nutrition. Since the 1980’s, Prof. Ge’s work and research focus on public nutrition. Prof. Ge worked as a senior official at the Food Policy and Nutrition Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOUN) in Rome from 1987 to 1990. Then, he was appointed as the director of the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, until his retirement in 1998. Since 1996, Prof. Ge has been elected as Chairman of the 4th, 5th and 6th Councils of the China Society of Nutrition. Furthermore, he was also a Committee Member of 5th, 6th and 7th China Association for Science and Technology. In 2001, he was elected as a Council Member of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). Currently, Prof. Ge is Honorary President and Principal Consultant of the Chinese Nutrition Society, the consultant of the State Food and Nutrition Consultant Committee and of the Chinese Association for Student Nutrition & Health Promotion.

Dr. Zhang graduated from China Medical University in 1983 and received PhD from Peking Union Medical College in 1992. In 1993 he was promoted to associate professor at Cardiovascular Institute and Fu Wai Hospital, Chinese academy of Medical Sciences. From 1993-1996, he had postdoctoral fellowship at Gothenburg University and Karolinska Institute in Sweden and from 1996-1997 he had another postdoctoral training at University of Ottawa Heart Institute in Canada. In 1997, he got a faculty position at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas, as instructor and from 2001 he was assistant professor and director of hypertension research lab. He joined Guidant Corporation (St Paul, MN) in 2005 as principal scientist. In 2007 he founded Cardiovascular and Neurological Consulting Institute (Irving, TX). Since 2008 he has served as guest professor of Chongqing Hypertension Institute. He has been a fellow of High Blood Pressure Research Council of American Heart Association since 2000. He is also a member of several professional associations including the American Society of Hypertension, the American Society of Physiology, and the International Society of Hypertension. He joined Nestlé in 2008 and has been in charge of cardiovascular research program. He has published 10 scientific articles in Chinese and 33 in English in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Olivier Ballevre is the Head of Nestlé R&D Centre Beijing, China, which concentrates on fundamental nutrition and health research, with a specific emphasis on research and innovation for and from China. Dr. Ballevre studied Veterinary Medicine at the University Claude Bernard, France, and continued his education with Ph.D. studies in life sciences and environment from the University of Rennes I, France, and the Rowett Research Institute, UK. After the completion of his PhD and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine certificate, Dr. Ballevre took a postdoctoral position in animal nutrition at the INRA, France. In 1991, Dr. Ballevre joined the Nestlé Research Center, Switzerland, as a research scientist working in the area of pet nutrition. Throughout his time at the NRC, Dr Ballevre was a team leader in protein nutrition and a group leader in applied nutrition. And, in 1998, he became the head of the nutrition & health department of NRC, directing research programs in a wide range of topics in nutrition and health, and advancing nutrition innovation within Nestlé’s product portfolio. In 2004, Dr. Ballevre began his work in China at the Nestlé R&D Centre Shanghai, China, as the head of the nutrition & scientific support department. He acted as a nutritional advisor for product development and performed quality and safety evaluations for new products. In 2008, Dr Ballevre joined the Nestlé R&D Centre Beijing, China, as the head of the Centre, leading the research and development team in nutrition and health research in China. He has authored 26 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 19 scientific articles and book chapters, and has successfully acquired 18 patents.

Lisheng Liu received her MD from Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China in 1954, and completed her post-doctorate research at the Hypertension Research Centre, Medical College of Alabama University in Birmingham, USA in 1981. Since 1985, she has been spearheading many cardiovascular-related trials in China, such as the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly: Chinese trial (Syst.-China), the Post-Stroke Antihypertensive Treatment Study (PATs), the INTERHEART study, and the Felodipine Event Reduction (FEVER) study, CCS-1, CAST, CREATE, ONTARGET, POSIE, RELY, HYVET. She currently serves as Vice Director of the National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, China, Director of Beijing Hypertension League Institute and is a professor of medicine at Fu Wai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.