Michel Lucas

Professor of Epidemiology and Culinary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University; Researcher, CHU de Quebec Research Center; Quebec City, Canada

Dr. Michel Lucas is a Full Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at Université Laval and a researcher at the CHU de Québec. He holds a unique academic and professional background spanning over 30 years, including a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, a Master’s in Public Health, a Ph.D. in Epidemiology (Université Laval), a postdoctoral fellowship in Nutritional Epidemiology (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), and a professional chef diploma from the École hôtelière de la Capitale.

He is the founder of the Culinary Medicine program at Université Laval, where he leads the world’s most comprehensive university-level course in the field (135 hours of integrated training). Dr. Lucas has received numerous research grants and awards, authored over 300 scientific publications and presentations, supervised more than 44 graduate students, and has given over 150 media interviews as a recognized expert.  

His cross-disciplinary expertise in nutrition, public health, epidemiology, and culinary arts provides him with a rare and integrative perspective on food and health. His work embodies a transformative vision of healthcare through food, moving from passivity to praxis, from prescription to action—by activating knowledge through experience, embodied practice, and compassionate guidance within a relational system that enhances agency and capacity to act.