Francesc Xavier
Medina Luque

Francesc Xavier Medina has a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Barcelona (UB), professor of the Anthropology of Food, in the field of Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity in the UOC's Faculty of Health Sciences. Director of the UNESCO Chair on Food, Culture and Development and World President of the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF). He is also principal investigator for FoodLab, a multi-disciplinary group carrying out research into food, nutrition, society and health, and vice president of the Catalan Institute of Anthropology (ICA). As author or editor, he has published some fifteen books and over a hundred scientific articles in international journals and specialized publications. His main areas of research are medical and food anthropology, the anthropology of sport and physical exercise, and heritage, tourism and socio-economic development linked to food and sport. He has carried out field work in Spain (Basque country and Catalonia), Hungary (Budapest and Tokaj-Hegyalja), Mexico, Argentina and Zimbabwe. He was a member of the editorial team for the candidature of the Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO, 2010). He is a member of the Government of Catalonia's Catalan Food Council (CCA) and the Academic Council of the Catalan Institute of Cuisine and Gastronomic Culture (ICCCG). He has been awarded advanced research credentials from the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU), earned two teaching merits and had three six-year periods of research (including one that is current running) officially recognized.