Michel Lucas

Michel Lucas is a full professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University, where he teaches epidemiology, critical reading, and culinary medicine. As a researcher at the CHU de Québec – Laval University, Professor Lucas holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics, a master’s degree in public health, and a doctorate in epidemiology from Laval University. He completed postdoctoral studies in nutritional epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health under the guidance of Dr. Walter Willett, the most cited person globally in medicine and nutrition. With three decades of experience in nutrition, he has enhanced his skills by obtaining a chef’s diploma from the École Hôtelière de la Capitale.

Professor Lucas defines himself in two words: a positive catalyst, meaning someone who dares and works positively and concretely for change, regardless of the field. Thanks to his rare expertise as an epidemiologist/nutritionist/chef, he approaches caring through good eating with unique expertise, thus fostering connections between various fields and stimulating the emergence of innovative ideas. His innovative spirit and ability to think outside the box naturally lead him to seek and implement innovations conducive to population-based changes focused on kindness and sustainability. In recent years, he has implemented creative and unifying projects such as culinary medicine and the extensive VisezEau® intervention project.

Professor Lucas’s research domain falls within planetary health and particularly focuses on population health interventions, notably caring through good eating, including culinary medicine. He has received several grants, scholarships, and awards in recognition of his work. Over his career, he has supervised the work of more than 44 graduate students. As a member of several editorial boards and a reviewer for prestigious scientific journals, Professor Lucas has authored more than 300 publications and presentations on nutrition. His expertise, scientific achievements, distinctive character, and communication skills make him a highly sought-after speaker by the media. He has given over 150 interviews to various media outlets.

The aim of his career is to promote nourishment as a vital mission for oneself and others and to promote cooking as a privilege for the senses and the health of all. According to him, “we must first focus on strengthening individuals’ capabilities and skills to make them active agents, actors, and not spectators of their diet. In short, healthy eating and a healthy relationship with food require culinary know-how and practical skills to be applied, maintained, and shared”. Moreover, “knowledge is acquired through experience; everything else is just information (Albert Einstein)”. Professor Lucas strongly encourages people to vote with their fork and to value the food resources of the territory because “our purchases will make our jobs, our landscape, and our health (Chef, Olivier Roellinger)”.