Grande Covian Award
Professor Francisco Grande Covián (1908-1995 Asturias, Spain), is considered one of the world’s leading experts in biochemistry and nutrition and a strong advocate of the Mediterranean Diet and the benefits of the variety of different foods that constitutes it. Endowed with great communications skills, he was able to popularize his extensive scientific knowledge on nutrition, disseminating in a simple and precise way two basic facts: 1) that the healthiest diet “is to eat everything but in moderation” and 2) that olive oil is highly beneficial.
On February 15th, 1996, the Spanish Government, considering his dedication to the study of nutrition, his scientific contributions and his defence of the Mediterranean Diet, awarded in memoriam the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit in Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
In order of the same merits, in 1996 the FDM decided to institute the Grande Covian Award, in order to distinguish a personality from the scientific world for their contribution to a better understanding of the influence of the Mediterranean Diet on health. This distinction also values personal qualities beyond their career. The Grande Covian Award recipient becomes an Honorary President of the FDM Scientific Committee.
1996
The first edition of the Grande Covián Award was granted to Dr. Elisabet Helsing (Norway), whose work as Director of Nutrition in the WHO European Office contributed to the acknowledgement of the properties of the Mediterranean Diet and its contribution to good health.
1998
Prof. Ancel Keys (USA), internationally recognised as the rediscoverer of the Mediterranean Diet with his “Seven Countries Study”, was the winner of the second edition of the Award.
Also, a special mention was made for Flaminio Fidanza (Italy), who collaborated with Prof. Keys in the above mentioned study. The reunion of the two old colleagues was one of the most notable event of the II Congress.
2000
The third edition of the Grande Covian Award was granted to Prof. Gregorio Varela, Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Food Science of the University Complutense of Madrid, for his scientific contributions to the research, dissemination and promotion of the Mediterranean Diet.
2002
The fourth edition of the Grande Covian Award was granted to the Greek couple, Prof. Antonia Trichopoulou and Prof Dimitrios Trichopoulos, experts in nutrition and oncologic prevention respectively.
They have shown an outstanding role in the research and dissemination of the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet in the improvement of the quality of life of people who practice these dietary patterns and in cancer prevention.
A tribute was made in the memory of Prof Grande Covian, granting a representative statue of the award to his daughter, Ms. Gloria Grande Mingo.
2004
The V Grande Covian Award was granted to Dr. Walter C. Willet, prestigious professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition of the University of Harvard, for his research trajectory on the effects of the diet on the appearance of chronic diseases.
2006
The VI Grande Covián Award was granted to Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, director of the Centre of Investigation of Obesity, Head of the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition Unit of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, and professor of medicine at the University of Columbia (New York).
X Anniversary
On the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary, on December 14th 2006 the Grande Covian Award was granted to Dr. Valentín Fuster, for his extensive scientific trajectory in the investigation of cardiovascular diseases and the dissemination of the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet in their prevention.
2008
This year the award was jointly granted to two Italian researchers: Dr. Carlo La Vecchia, Head of the Department of Epidemiology of the Mario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute in Milan and Dr. Silvia Franceschi, researcher of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon.
The Grande Covián Award instituted by the FDM in honor of Francisco Grande Covián, Asturian researcher and biochemist, strong advocate of the Mediterranean Diet, was awarded by the scientific committee of the foundation referred to the two scientists for their work and their support to the Diet Mediterranean as a healthy lifestyle.
2010
The IX Grande Covian Award was granted jointly to Dr. Serge Renaud, Director of Reserach at INSERM in Bordeaux and professor at the Université de Montreal, and Dr. Michel de Lorgeril of the National French Centre for Scientific Research and professor at the school of Medicine of Grenoble, for their long career in the field of research, which has resulted in numerous articles and scientific publications that support the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet as a healthy lifestyle that contributes to disease prevention.
2012
The 2012 Grande Covian Award was granted to Dr. Jose M. Ordovas of Tufts University in Boston (USA) for contributing to increasing knowledge of the interaction between diet and disease, not only enhancing the momentum of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics in the field of nutrition research, but also to promote a healthy lifestyle such as the Mediterranean Diet among the general public.
