Unité de Nutrition, HOPITAUX UNIVERSITAIRES DE GENEVE, Geneve, Switzerland

Initially specialized in Internal medicine and Gastroenterology, Claude PICHARD studied the field of Clinical Nutrition with the group of Prof. K.N. Jeejeebhoy (Toronto, Canada) in the early eighties. Returning to Europe, he became Professor in nutrition and created the Nutrition Unit at the Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland.

Besides his clinical activities, he is currently teaching at the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Sciences and at the School of Dietetics.

His group of research is involved in a number of subjects such as: modulation by nutrients of colon cancer cell growth, relationships between catabolic diseases (e.g. critical illness, cancer, HIV infection) and nutritional support, manipulations of stress-related catabolism by growth factors, development of body composition techniques, analysis of ergonomics and economy of clinical nutritional support. He has published over 485 papers (>280 referenced in Pubmed), presented over 256 abstracts and delivered more than 445 lectures at national and international level meetings. His latest work on the contribution of nutrition on the control of infections in ICU patients is published in The Lancet.

Claude PICHARD is active in 11 academic societies inside and outside Europe. He is the Founder (2005) and past Chairman of the European Nutrition for Health Alliance. He was the President, then the Chairman of the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) until 2006, and the Director of the ESPEN Life-Long Learning educational programme until 2012.

Claude PICHARD is the President’s advisor of the French National Institute for Agronomic Research.

Disclosure of Interest: C. Pichard Grant / Research Support from: Abbott, Baxter, B. Braun, Cosmed, Fresenius-Kabi, Nestle Medical Nutrition, Novartis, Nutricia - Numico, Pfizer, and Solvay