Martijn Katan

Martijn Bernard Katan (born 1946) is a Dutch nutritionist, an emeritus professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and author of two popular science books on nutrition.

Early life Katan was born in Arnhem in 1946.

Education He studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Amsterdam. He obtained his PhD in molecular biology in 1977 under Piet Borst from the same university. In 2005 he moved from Wageningen University to the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam where he was appointed professor of nutrition.

In 2022, he was elected a member of the Academia Europaea.

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-fats.

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) 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