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Camille Lassale is Head of the NutriEpi team and leads a pioneering research programme advancing a new paradigm in the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Her work demonstrates that both diet quality and meal timing are fundamental regulators of cardiometabolic, cancer, and mental health outcomes. Her research spans nutritional epidemiology, chronobiology, nutritional psychiatry, sustainable diets, and nutritional epigenetics, integrating large-scale population studies with exposome science and multi-omics approaches. Throughout her career across France, the United Kingdom, and Spain, she has developed and sustained strong international collaborations across Europe and beyond, bringing together multidisciplinary teams and enabling ambitious cross-national research initiatives.

As Principal Investigator, she has secured more than €1 million in competitive funding, including prestigious fellowships. She currently leads major initiatives such as the CUPID project on epigenetic signatures of chrononutrition and cardiometabolic health, and the SHE-WORK project on shift work and women’s health. She has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals. Beyond scientific advances, she is recognised for translating research into policy impact. Her team’s work linking diet quality to depression risk directly contributed to a resolution approved by the Parliament of Catalonia to integrate nutritional education into clinical mental health settings.

Her long-term vision is to translate scientific knowledge into precision nutrition prevention strategies that align human biology with modern lifestyles to improve population health globally.

Línies de recerca

• Nutritional epidemiology
• Epigenetics
• Chrono-nutrition and circadian disruptions
• Cardiovascular health
• Nutritional psychiatry

Publicacions principals

• Pons-Muzzo L, de Cid R, Obón-Santacana M, Straif K, Papantoniou K, Santonja I, Kogevinas M, Palomar-Cros A, Lassale C. Sex-specific chrono-nutritional patterns and association with body weight in a general population in Spain (GCAT study). Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2024 21, 102 10.1186/s12966-024-01639-x
  
  Role: She originated the idea for this study, provided access to the data, and supervised its development on the relationship between timing of food intake, sleep, and cardiometabolic health.
  Results: This study is the first to use a Catalan population-based cohort of adults (GCAT) to describe chrononutritional patterns separately in men and women and to examine their relationship with body weight. The findings showed that an earlier timing of the first and last meal, together with a longer overnight fasting period, were prospectively associated with lower weight gain. These results laid the foundation for the ongoing CUPID project, which investigates meal timing, risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and the mediating role of DNA methylation.
  Relevance & Reach: The study was published in a journal with an impact factor of 5.6 and ranked 13th out of 113 journals in the Nutrition & Dietetics category (89th percentile). It generated substantial media attention, including a dedicated blog post, television and radio interviews, and more than 100 press articles, reaching an Altmetric score of 539 and reflecting broad engagement beyond academia.
  Justification: This is a pioneer chrono-nutrition population-based study to describe meal timing patterns with a gender perspective, and their relationship with sleep and adiposity.
  
  
• Lugon G, Hernáez A, Jacka FN, Marrugat J, Ramos R, Garre-Olmo J, Elosua R, Lassale C. Association between different diet quality scores and depression risk: the REGICOR population-based cohort study. Eur J Nutr 2024 10.1007/s00394-024-03466-z
  
  Role: Camille supervises the PhD project of Gabriela Lugon on “Nutrition as a risk factor for depression”, in collaboration with the Mental Health Service of Hospital del Mar. She originated the study idea and supervised the analysis. This publication constitutes the first paper of the doctoral thesis.
  Results: It is the first population-based cohort study in Spain to describe different dietary patterns and their relation to depression risk, assessed by questionnaires and by linkage with electronic health records. The authors found that particularly the Mediterranean diet and a diet low in sugar were associated with lower risk of incident depression.
  Relevance & Reach: If 4.3, ranking 26/113 in the NUTRITION & DIETETICS category (77th percentile), 17 citations, an Altmetric 126, reflecting significant academic and public engagement. The study received national media coverage, including a blog post and publication in El País. This visibility attracted the attention of a Member of the Parliament of Catalonia and contributed to Resolució 407/XV, aimed at strengthening nutritional education in schools and mental health centres, which was unanimously approved on October 16, 2025.
  Justification: It is the first population-based cohort study in Spain to describe different dietary patterns and their relation to depression risk. Based on this study, the authors reached a policy impact milestone in nutritional psychiatry: a resolution was approved by the Parliament of Catalonia to improve nutritional education in schools and mental health centres.
  
  
• Domínguez-Barragán J, Fernández-Sanlés A, Hernáez Á, Llauradó-Pont J, Marrugat J, Robinson O, Tzoulaki I, Elosua R, Lassale C. Blood DNA methylation signature of diet quality, and association with cardiometabolic traits. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2024. 10.1093/eurjpc/zwad317
  
  Role: Camille obtained funding from La Caixa Junior Leader fellowship, ideated and supervised the largest epigenome-wide association study of diet quality, while using causal inference methods (Mendelian Randomization) to causally link the epigenetic signature of diet with cardiometabolic traits.
  Results: Using data from 4 cohorts from Spain, the UK and the US, the authors found that diet quality (Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, plant-based diet) was associated with 18 methylation sites previously related with cardiovascular risk factors: 6 with inflammation, 7 with adiposity, 2 for lipids, 7 with type 2 diabetes, and 7 with smoking. Potential causality was confirmed by the Mendelian Randomization analyses.
  Relevance & Reach: IF 7.5, ranking 23/231 in the CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS category (90th percentile), 24 citations. Notably, the publication was accompanied by an invited editorial by Pedro Marques-Vidal entitled “The epigenome, the missing link between diet and cardiovascular disease?”, further underscoring its scientific relevance. It positioned me as a reference leader on nutri-epigenetics and was invited to contribute a book chapter to the Handbook of Public Health Nutrition : Linking Diet Quality and a Key Epigenetic Mechanism: DNA Methylation.
  Justification: This is the largest epigenome-wide association study of diet quality using 4 cohort data from Spain, the UK and the US, and Mendelian Randomization methods to causally link the epigenetic signature of diet with cardiometabolic traits. This is a landmark in the field of nutri-epigenetics.
   
• Llauradó-Pont J, Stratakis N, Fiorito G, Handakas E, Neumann A, Barros H, Brantsæter AL, Chang K, Chatzi L, Felix JF, Grazuleviciene R, Jaddoe VWV, Karachaliou M, Lecorguillé M, Lopes C, Millett C, McEachan RRC, Papadopoulou E, Slama R, Vamos EP, Vineis P, Vrijheid M, Wright J, Voortman T, Bustamante M, Robinson O, Lassale C. A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of ultra-processed food consumption with DNA methylation in European children. Clin Epigenet 17(1) 2025. 10.1186/s13148-024-01782-z
  
  Role: Camille supervised the first and largest study to describe the epigenetic signature of ultra-processed food intake in children.
  Results: Combining the data from 9 European birth cohorts, the authors found suggestive changes in methylation at 7 CpGs associated with UPF intake in children aged 5-11 years. These epigenetic marks are related to thyroid and liver function.
  Relevance & Reach: IF 5.8, ranking 34/192 in the GENETICS & HEREDITY category (83th pctile), 14 citations. Communication to broader audiences was ensured through a blog post.
  Justification: In a context of ever-growing evidence of adverse health outcomes linked to ultra-processed food intake, we conducted the first and largest study to describe the epigenetic signature of UPF in school-aged children.
  
  
• Palomar-Cros A, Straif K, Romaguera D, Aragonés N, Castaño-Vinyals G, Martin V, Moreno V, Gómez-Acebo I, Guevara M, Aizpurua A, Molina-Barceló A, Jiménez-Moleón JJ, Tardón A, Contreras-Llanes M, Marcos-Gragera R, Huerta JM, Pérez-Gómez B, Espinosa A, Hernández-Segura N, Obón-Santacana M, Alonso-Molero J, Burgui R, Amiano P, Pinto-Carbó M, Olmedo-Requena R, Fernández-Tardón G, Santos-Sánchez V, Fernández de Larrea-Baz N, Fernández-Villa T, Casabonne D, Dierssen-Sotos T, Ardanaz E, Dorronsoro A, Pollán M, Kogevinas M, Lassale C. Consumption of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners and risk of cancer in the Spanish multicase-control study (MCC-Spain). Int J Cancer 2023. 10.1002/ijc.34577
  
  Role: Camille ideated, conducted the analyses and supervised this important study, with the aim to contribute to the high priority evaluation of carcinogenicity of aspartame.
  Results: In a multi-centre case-control study of cancer across Spain (MCC-Spain study), the authors found that, overall there was no association between aspartame and cancer risk. However, among people with diabetes, high consumption of aspartame was associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer, but a decreased risk of breast cancer.
  Relevance & Reach: IF 7.3, ranking 54/322 in the ONCOLOGY category (83.4th percentile), 41 citations. The findings contributed to the IARC evaluation of aspartame carcinogenicity for Volume 134 of the IARC Monographs. The study also generated public dissemination through a blog post and has an Altmetric score of 100, indicating broader engagement beyond academia.