Martijn Bernard Katan (born 1946) is a Dutch nutritionist, an emeritus professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

and author of two popular science books on nutrition.

Career

Katan was born in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

in 1946. He studied chemistry and biochemistry at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. He obtained his PhD in

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

in 1977 under

Piet Borst Piet may refer to: People *Piet (given name), a common name in the Netherlands and South Africa *Henri Piet (1888–1915), French lightweight boxer *Tony Piet (1906–1981), American Major League Baseball player Schools *Purushottam Institute of ...

from the same university. Katan started working at

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

in 1976 where he researched "Nutrition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease". In 1998, he was appointed professor of human nutrition at the university. He was also the "Nutrition Foundation Professor" at the

University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

from 1985 to 1998. Between 1998 and 2003 he was scientific director of the Nutrition and Health program of the Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences. In 2003 Katan became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2005 he moved from Wageningen University to the

where he was appointed professor of nutrition. Katan is a member of the

Dutch Health Council The Health Council of the Netherlands or the Dutch Health Council ( nl, Gezondheidsraad) is an independent Dutch scientific advisory body with the task of advising the government and parliament about matters in the areas of public health Pub ...

. He took up emeritus status in 2011.

Research

Katan's research focuses on the relationship between nutrients and their effects on the heart. Katan gained notoriety for his research on cholesterol and

trans-fat Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in meat and milk fat. It became widely produced as an unintentional byproduct in the industrial pr ...

s. He demonstrated, among other things, that boiled coffee creates a cholesterol burden that filtered coffee does not. His research on the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids has encouraged the food industry to minimize the use of trans-fats in the food supply.

Honors and awards

* 2001: The Epstein Award; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology * 2003: European Nutrition Award; Federation of European Nutrition Sciences. * 2004: European Lipid Science Award; European Federation for the Science and Technology of Lipids. * 2005:, named by the Thomson Society (formerly the

Institute for Scientific Information The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) was an academic publishing service, founded by Eugene Garfield in Philadelphia in 1956. ISI offered scientometric and bibliographic database services. Its specialty was citation indexing and analysi ...

) as a Highly Cited Researcher "in the art of Agricultural Science," which means that he is among the 250 most cited scientists in that field

Bibliography

''What is Healthy?: Myths and Facts About Nutrition (2008). Uitgeverij Bert Bakker. (Edition 1) & (Edition 2) ''Voedingsmythes. Over valse hoop en nodeloze vrees''. (2016). Uitgeverij Bert Bakker.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katan, Martijn 1946 births Living people Dutch biochemists Dutch health and wellness writers Dutch nutritionists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Arnhem Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research