The Mediterranean Diet Foundation established in 1996 the Grande Covian Award in memory of the great Spanish researcher Francisco Grande Covian in order to distinguish a personality from the scientific world for their contribution to a better understanding of the influence of the diet on health. This distinction also values the personal and human qualities of the honouree, beyond their professional career. The recipient of the Grande Covian Award becomes an Honorary Chairman of the FDM Scientific Committee.
Dr. Jose M. Ordovas receives the award for his contribution to understanding the interaction between diet and disease, confirming the close relationship that exists between nutrition, genes and the onset of disease. Through his studies he confirms that “the Mediterranean Diet is an excellent accommodation of the genetics of the Mediterranean population to environmental conditions, and is the result of the transmission, generation after generation, of eating habits that ensure greater longevity”.
Dr. Jose M. Ordovas is a pioneer in the disciplines of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, Professor at Tufts University in Boston (USA), Director of the Laboratory of Nutrition and Genetics USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at the same university, and Scientific Director of the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (IMDEA). He is also a researcher at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Spain. He has published over 500 scientific articles.
To date, the following have been honoured with this award:
1996
Elisabeth Helsing, Department of Health (Norway)
1998
Ancel Keys, Redescubridor de la Dieta Mediterránea con su trabajo “The Seven Countries Study” (USA)
Flaminio Fidanza, Università de Roma (Italy)
2000
Gregorio Varela, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)
2002
Antonia Trichopoulou, University of Athens (Greece)
Dimitrios Trichopoulos, University of Harvard (USA)
2004
Walter C. Willet, University of Harvard (USA)
2006
F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, New York Obesity Research Center (USA / Spain)
X Aniversario de la FDM: Valentí Fuster, Cardiovascular Institute, Mount Sinai Medical
Center (USA / Spain)
2008
Carlo La Vecchia, Inst. Di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università di Milano (Italy) and
Silvia Franceschi, International Agency on Cancer Investigation (France)
2010
Serge Renaud, INSERM (France) and Michel de Lorgeril, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France)