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Foundation Board of Advisors
Jacob C. Seidell; Ph.D.
Dr. Seidell, PhD is a Professor of Nutrition and Health, and Director of the Institute for Health Sciences at the School of Health & Life Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit and the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is also scientific Director of the Research Center on Obesity Prevention Zwolle (OPOZ), board member of the Information Center for Overweight (KCO), chairman of the Partnership Overweight Netherlands (PON), chairman of the scientific advisory board of the European EPODE Network (integrated prevention of overweight in children) and chairman of the scientific committee of the Choices Foundation (on food labelling and nutrient profiling). At the VU University, Dr. Seidell is responsible for research and academic training (BSc, MSc, PhD) in health sciences at the VU University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Some of his research topics include: epidemiological studies on the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity and related disorders; and the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity and related disorders. Disciplines of research include genetics, endocrinology, physiology, epidemiology, psychology, behavioral sciences, health economics, and public health. Earlier, Dr. Seidell held senior management positions at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment and was a senior research fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and was an intern in the UK (Cambridge University), and spend a sabbatical in Canada (Laval University, Quebec). He was past editor-in-chief of the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition" and is member of the editorial board of the "International Journal of Obesity" and "Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases" and associate editor of "Public Health Nutrition". Dr. Seidell is a honorary professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and he was awarded with the bi-annual Nutritition Prize (Liga Voedingsprijs) in The Netherlands and in 2004 he delivered the Boyd Orr Lecture to the Nutrition Society in the United Kingdom. He has served as President-elect and as President of the European Association for the Study of Obesity and is currently president of the Netherlands Academy of Nutritional Sciences (NAV) and secretary of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS: 2007-2011). Dr. Seidell serves as a member of and advisor to various national and international scientific and governmental organizations including the Netherlands Health Council, the World Health Organization and the International Obesity Task Force. Dr. Seidell has over two hundred and fifty-two contributions to peer reviewed journals these include: Seidell JC, Bjorntorp P, Sjostrom L, Kvist H, Sannerstedt R., Visceral fat accumulation in men positively associated with insulin, glucose, and c-peptide levels but negatively with testosterone levels. Metabolism 1990; 39:897-901. (citations: 316); Hans TS, Van Leer EM, Seidell JC, Lean MEJ. Waist circumference action levels in the identification of cardiovascular risk factors: prevalence study in a random sample. Brit Med J 1995; 311:1401-5 (citations: 306); Deurenberg P, Westsrtrate JA, Seidell JC. Body Mass Index as a Measure of body fatness: age and sex specific prediction formulas. Br J Nutr 1991; 65:105-14 (citations: 268); Van der Kooy K, Seidell JC. Impairment of health and quality of life in people with large waist circumference. Lancet 1998; 351: 853-6 (citations: 216); Seidell JC, Oosterlee A, Thijssen MAO, et al. Assessment of intra-abdominal and subcutaneous abdominal fat-relation between anthropometry and computed tomography. AM J Clin Nutr 1987; 45:7-13. (citations: 212); and Visscher TLS, Seidell JC. The Public Health Impact of Obesity. Annu Rev Publ Health 2001; 22; 355-375 (citations: 200). Dr. Seidell holds Ph.D. and MSc. degrees from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He had two postdoc's appointments, one in Sweden at the Sahlgrens Hospital, in Göteborg and the other in the United States at Johns Hopkins, NIA, in Baltimore, MD.
