The Impact of Nutrition and Statins on Cardiovascular Diseases

Ioannis Zabetakis has studied and worked in Greece, United Kingdom and Ireland. Originally a chemist, he fell in love with food science (sensory and functional properties of food). After an academic career at the Universities of Leeds and Athens spanning 15 years, where he developed a strong interest in lipids and cardiovascular diseases, Ioannis joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland. In UL, the ongoing focus of his work is on the cardioprotective properties of food lipids with a particular emphasis on dairy and marine foods. With >75 papers and two patents, his quest is toward a healthier diet and lifestyle that will render us less dependent on medicines. http://scieng.ul.ie/departments/life-sciences/people/dr-ioannis-zabetakis Twitter Handle: @yanzabet Ronan Lordan carried out his undergraduate studies at the University of Limerick, graduating with a first-class honors Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences and Education in 2015. Ronan taught Leaving Certificate Biology and Chemistry in Irish second-level schools before returning to the University of Limerick in 2016 to begin his PhD scholarship to study the role of dietary polar lipids in inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Ronan has lectured on various topics including lipids chemistry, genetics, and health. Ronan has published several peer-reviewed papers. His research interests include: (a) elucidating the structures of bioactive polar lipids in various foods; (b) developing novel functional foods and nutraceuticals against cardiovascular disease; and (c) discerning the mechanisms of platelet-activating factor-induced systemic inflammation. Ronan is the process of completing his PhD. Twitter Handle: @el_ronan Dr Alexandros Tsoupras studied Chemistry-Biochemistry (BSc, MSc and PhD; Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece), with scholarships, where he also worked as a Postgraduate-Postdoctoral Research-Teaching Associate, and then at the "Albany Medical College" (NY, USA). Alexandros was also a Lecturer in Greek Colleges, a Public Servant-Scientist, and then a Post-Doctoral Research-Teaching Associate at the University of Limerick (Department of Biological Sciences), Ireland, where he was promoted as an Assistant Professor, while since 2023 he is an Assistant Professor at the Democritus University of Thrace (Department of Chemistry, Kavala, Greece). He studies the implications of thrombo-inflammation and oxidative stress in chronic diseases, as well as the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of several natural bioactives and/or synthetic compounds, as ingredients for functional foods, cosmetics and/or drugs with health promoting effects, with participations in more than 80 scientific publications (2500 references, h-index=24, Scopus), in Scientific Conferences and patents-inventions

1. The Origin of Chronic Diseases with Respect to Cardiovascular Disease2. Inflammation3. Inflammation and Cardiovascular Diseases4. The Lipid Hypothesis and The Seven Countries Study5. The Role of Cholesterol in Atherosclerosis, CVD, and Dietary Patterns6. Statins: Rationale, Mode of Action, and Side-effects7. Cardiovascular Risk: Assumptions, Limitations, and Research8. Diet and Cardiovascular Disease: The Mediterranean Diet9. Nutrition Versus Statins in Primary Prevention: Where do we Stand Now?