Rate My Professor Carlos Monteiro

Carlos Augusto Monteiro is Emeritus Professor of Nutrition and Public Health at the School of Public Health, Universidade de São Paulo. He earned his medical degree from the University of São Paulo in 1972, a master’s degree in preventive medicine in 1977, and a doctorate in public health in 1979, all from the same institution. He completed postdoctoral research at Columbia University from 1979 to 1981. Appointed full professor at the Faculty of Public Health in 1989, he headed the nutrition department of the World Health Organization in Geneva from 1990 to 1992 and served as a visiting professor at the universities of Bonn and Geneva. Since 1992 he has directed the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (NUPENS) at USP, which he founded.

Monteiro’s research focuses on public health nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, and the prevention of obesity and related diseases. He developed the NOVA food classification system, which categorizes foods by the extent and purpose of industrial processing and has been adopted globally to study the rise of ultra-processed foods. He has authored or co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and is among the most highly cited researchers in his field. Monteiro has held editorial roles including scientific editor-in-chief of Revista de Saúde Pública and co-editor of Public Health Nutrition and BMC Public Health. He serves on the WHO Expert Advisory Board on Nutrition Issues. Among his honors are the Abraham Horwitz Prize from the Pan American Health Organization, membership in the Brazilian Academy of Sciences since 2008, and the full membership in the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo.