Jean-Pierre Despres
Dr. Després is a professor at the Department of Kinesiology at Université Laval in Québec City, Canada. He established himself as a research scholar at Université Laval in 1986. He was Assistant Director of the Lipid Research Centre at the CHUL Research Centre from 1991 to 1999. He then acted as Director of Research in Cardiology at the Québec Heart and Lung Institute from 1999 to 2018. In 2019, he was named Scientific Director of the Centre de recherche sur les soins et les services de première ligne (Research Centre on Primary Health Care and Services) located in a large university affiliated health care network (CIUSSS-Capitale-Nationale of Université Laval). He was also appointed in 2005 as the Scientific Director of the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk. In 2015, he was named Director of Science and Innovation at Alliance santé Québec, a multisectorial organisation which aims at federating all stakeholders relevant to the various dimensions of health under the theme of sustainable health.
Dr. Després is one of the most cited researchers in the world in his field (over 107,000 Google Scholar citations; H index: 142) and is one of the most productive researchers (732 scientific articles and 59 book chapters) at Université Laval.
Dr. Després' research interests include obesity, adipose tissue distribution, visceral obesity, type 2 diabetes, lipids, lipoproteins, cardiovascular disease and their prevention through physical activity and healthy living. More than 30 years ago, he was the first to report that an excess of fat in the abdominal cavity (visceral obesity), was particularly harmful to health. He is personally involved in major education and mobilization activities to prevent chronic societal diseases.
He has received numerous prestigious awards, was named “Grand Québécois” by the Québec Chamber of Commerce and was awarded the title of Knight of the Ordre national du Québec (the highest distinction of the Québec government).
Abstracts this author is presenting: