The professor and director of the URV’s Unit of Human Nutrition is on the list of most influential scientists in the world thanks to the impact of his research, according to the list “Highly Cited Researchers 2019”

“Highly Cited Researchers” is the list of scientists who can be regarded as the most influential in the world in each field of study. It is drawn up from an analysis of the articles written by each researcher that are in the top 1% of highly cited papers and which were published in the period 2007 to 2017. The methodology that determines who is on this list uses data and analyses provided by expert bibliometricians from the Institute of Scientific Information of the Web of Science group. The list for 2019 contains 6,217 researchers from almost 60 countries and 21 different scientific research fields, of whom 38 work in Catalan research centres and institutions. Among them is the URV professor of Nutrition and Bromatology and the director of the University’s Human Nutrition Unit, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, who has been included on the list for the second consecutive year.

Jordi Salas is the Clinical Director of Nutrition of the Internal Medicine Service of the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, the principal investigator of the CIBERobn and the deputy director of the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute. He is also a member of the Network of Experts of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, which depends on the Catalan Government and plays a leading role in assessing food risks. He is the Director of the Catalan Nutrition Centre of the Institute of Catalan Studies (CCNIEC), the main aim of which is to contribute to the progress of basic and applied research into nutrition and improve the quality of the information and training given to society in this area. He is a full member of the Section of Biological Sciences of the Institute of Catalan Studies, a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia and Chairman of the World Forum for Nutrition Research and Dissemination, an international committee of experts under the International Nut Council (INC) for the promotion and development of research into nuts and health.

At present, he is also director of chair World Forum for Nutrition Research on Tree Nuts and Dried Fruit (WFNR), whose mission is to promote the transfer of knowledge about nuts and dried fruit through research into health and nutrition, and the promotion of trade and consumption.

One of his main lines of research is the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular risk and metabolic diseases and he has been a driving force behind the Predimed study, the most extensive clinical trial undertaken to date on nutrition, which has shown that the Mediterranean diet supplemented with virgin olive oil and nuts can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular problems. After practically five years, it has been seen that this diet reduces the risk of myocardial infarction, ictus and cardiovascular death by up to 30%.

United States, top of the list

Of the 6,217 names on the list, the United States is the most represented country with 44% of all the scientists, and the University of Harvard, with 203 people, is the institution that has the highest concentration of highly cited researchers, followed by the University of Stanford and the campuses of the University of California in Berkeley, San Diego and Los Angeles. The list for 2019 contains 23 Nobel prize winners, three of whom were awarded the prize this year: Gregg L. Semenza, of the Johns Hopkins University; John B Goodenough, of the University of Texas and Esther Duflo, of MIT (Massachusetts).