speakers

The following is a list of selected speakers and not a complete list. This page will be updated as more information becomes available.

John M. Auerbach, MBA

Commissioner,
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

John Auerbach was appointed Massachusetts's Commissioner of Public Health in April, 2007 by Governor Deval Patrick and Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Judyann Bigby. As Commissioner he heads a Department with 3,100 employees that includes four public health hospitals, the Hinton State Laboratory, several regulatory bodies, and numerous programmatic units addressing chronic and infectious disease, substance abuse, environmental health, tobacco control, children and adolescent health and emergency preparedness. He is the Chair of the Public Health Council, the State's health policy board, and a member of the Governor's Anti-Crime Council.

Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Auerbach had been the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission for 9 years. He oversaw the City's Emergency Medical Services Department, several substance abuse treatment facilities and the second largest homeless services program in New England. Under his leadership, the Commission implemented the strongest tobacco control regulations in the nation and developed new initiatives on cancer, heart disease, asthma, obesity, emergency preparedness as well as a broad-based and comprehensive campaign to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.

Mr. Auerbach had previously worked at the State Health Department for a decade, first as the Chief of Staff and later as an Assistant Commissioner overseeing the HIV/AIDS Bureau. In this latter capacity, he had oversight of the state's HIV policy development, planning, program implementation, and evaluation during a critical period in the AIDS epidemic.

He began his career in public health as an administrator in the Uphams Corner Community Health Center after which he became a manager at Boston City Hospital and the Boston University School of Medicine.

Mr. Auerbach received his BA from Clark University and his MBA with a concentration in health care administration from Boston University School of Management.

Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, PhD

George H. Bray Professor of Neuroscience
Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Dr. Hans-Rudolf Berthoud is the George H. Bray Professor of Neuroscience at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A leader in obesity research, Dr. Berthoud has been a pioneer in studying the neurobiology of nutrition. Dr. Berthoud's major research interests include investigating interactions between the "metabolic" and "hedonic/cognitive" brain in the control of appetite, neural mechanisms involved in the coordination of energy intake with energy expenditure, pathways and specific functions of gut-brain communication, and central and peripheral autonomic nervous system pathways controlling energy expenditure.

Leann L. Birch, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Human Development
Pennsylvania State University
Director, Center for Childhood Obesity Research

Dr. Birch's research investigates factors that influence the developing controls of food intake from infancy through adolescence. This research focuses on both predictors and consequences of eating behavior, including a focus on the development of food preferences, and on problems of energy balance, particularly obesity, dieting, and disordered eating. Our ongoing research investigates individual, familial, and other contextual factors, which influence the developing controls of food intake. Ongoing projects include an investigation of relations among feeding, sleeping and growth in infants during the first year of life, and their subsequent influence on children's eating, growth, and weight status. Other ongoing projects include research on the effects of altering energy density and portion size of meals and snacks on preschool children's energy intake. A third project is a 10 year longitudinal study of the development of the controls of food intake among young girls, with a focus on the emergence of weight concerns, dieting, and problems of energy balance, including childhood obesity and disordered eating. This research is also designed to contribute to our understanding of how girls' weight status is linked to their developing sense of self during middle childhood. While dieting and eating disorders have been viewed as problems that emerge during adolescence, our research with 5 to 11 year olds reveals that these problems begin much earlier, prior to puberty, and that they are linked to parents' own eating, weight issues, and to parents' child feeding practices. Currently, the project has longitudinal data on nearly 200 families with daughters from age 5 to 15. We are particularly interested in the family resemblances in eating and weight status, in the transmission of dieting and weight concerns from mothers to daughters, and in understanding the mediating processes involved in the inter-generational transmission of eating and weight status. These ongoing projects are funded by NIH, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USDA, and the National Dairy Council.

Jeffrey B. Blumberg, PhD, FACN, CNS

Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Senior Scientist and Director, Antioxidants Research Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University

Jeffrey Blumberg received Bachelor of Science degrees in Pharmacy and Psychology from Washington State University and a PhD in Pharmacology in from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He also received postdoctoral training in cyclic nucleotide metabolism at the Tennessee Neuropsychiatric Institute and the University of Calgary.

Dr. Blumberg is a Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and also serves as the Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. His research has focused on the biochemical basis for the role of antioxidant nutrients and their dietary requirements in promoting health and preventing disease during the aging process via changes in status of oxidative stress. He has published more than 230 scientific articles and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Dr. Blumberg also participates in activities relevant to the incorporation of sound nutrition science into public health policy and has served as a member of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Health Promotion and Aging, Sports Medicine Committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee, WHO/FAO Consultation on Preparation and Use of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, Food Advisory Committee of the FDA, and other committees.

William H. Dietz, MD, PhD

Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
Center for Diseasse Control, CDC

Dr. Dietz is the Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC. Prior to his appointment to the CDC, he was a Professor of Pediatrics at the Tuft's University School of Medicine, and Director of Clinical Nutrition at the Floating Hospital of New England Medical Center Hospitals.

He received his BA from Wesleyan University in 1966 and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. After the completion of his residency at Upstate Medical Center, he received a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a councilor and past president of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and past president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. From 2001-2003 he served as a member of the Advisory Board to the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. In 1995 he received the John Stalker award from the American School Food Service Association for his efforts to improve the school lunch. Dr. Dietz served on the 1995 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. In 1997, Dr. Dietz received the Brock Medal of Excellence in Pediatrics from the New York Academy of Medicine. In 1998, Dr. Dietz was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2000, he received the William G. Anderson Award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and was recognized for excellence in his work and advocacy by the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the American Dietetic Association, and received the Holroyd-Sherry award for his outstanding contributions to the field of children, adolescents and the media. In 2005 he received the George Bray Founders Award from the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. In 2006, he received the Nutrition Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for outstanding research related to nutrition of infants and children. In 2008 he received the Oded Bar-Or award from the Obesity Society for excellence in pediatric obesity research.

He is the author of over 200 publications in the scientific literature, and the editor of five books, including Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children, and A Guide to Your Child's Nutrition.

Christina Economos, PhD

Associate Director, John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition
New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition

Christina Economos is the Associate Director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition, the New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition, and an Assistant Professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. Dr. Economos received a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, a Master of Science in Applied Physiology and Nutrition from Columbia University and a doctorate in Nutrition Science from Tufts University.

Dr. Economos’s research efforts have addressed the interaction between exercise, diet, body composition, bone health, and the built environment aimed at preventing osteoporosis and obesity, starting in early childhood. She is the principal investigator of multiple large-scale studies examining childhood nutrition and physical activity with the goal of inspiring behavior, policy, and environmental change to improve the health of America’s children. She has worked effectively with diverse communities and has crafted, implemented, and evaluated physical activity and nutrition education curriculum. Dr. Economos’s work engages theory and scientific evidence as vehicles to spark systemic, community-based change. 

The research interventions that she has led include The BONES (Beat Osteoporosis: Nourish and Exercise Skeletons) Project funded by NICHD, Shape Up Somerville, EAT SMART, PLAY HARD funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The CHANGE Project with Save the Children, and Assessing and Preventing Obesity in New Immigrants, funded by the National Institutes for Health (NIH). Results from Shape Up Somerville, published in the May 2007 issue of Obesity, showed that study participants—public schoolchildren in grades 1-3—in Somerville, gained significantly less weight over the course of the 2-year intervention than their peers in two control communities.

Dr. Economos currently serves as an appointed member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on an Evidence Framework for Obesity Prevention Decision-Making.

Victor L. Fulgoni, III, PhD

Senior Vice President
Nutrition Impact, LLC

Victor Fulgoni, III, is currently senior Vice President of Nutrition Impact, LLC, which is a consulting firm that helps food companies, develop and communicate aggressive, science-based claims about their products and services. Nutrition Impact was intimately involved in filings with the US FDA that resulted in three new health and nutrition claims, namely plant sterol esters reducing heart disease, potassium reducing the risk of stroke, and claims regarding choline, the first new nutrient content claim in almost ten years. Nutrition Impact also performs analyses of government food, nutrition, and health databases like the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys for clients evaluating the contribution certain food and beverage products (e.g., dairy products, bean and bean products, 100% juices, etc.) make to nutrient intake and their effect on certain health parameters. Recently, Nutrition Impact has worked with the Nutrient Rich Foods Coalition helping to develop and validate various approaches to a nutrient density scoring system for foods.

Prior to joining Nutrition Impact, Dr. Fulgoni worked for the Kellogg Company as Vice President of Food and Nutrition Research. At Kellogg he helped develop their long-term research program and was intimately involved in the company's research and regulatory efforts to gain health claim approval from the US FDA regarding soluble fiber from psyllium and the risk of heart disease. Dr. Fulgoni completed his Bachelors degree at Rutgers University and his PhD at the University of Tennessee with a major in animal nutrition and a minor in statistics.

Matthew Gillman, MD, SM

Director, Obesity Prevention Program
Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Gillman is a Professor and Director of the Obesity Prevention Program in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School. His research interests include early life prevention of obesity, asthma, and adult chronic disease; behavior change interventions to prevent obesity; and childhood cardiovascular risk factors. He directs Project Viva, an NIH-funded cohort study of pregnant women and their offspring, focusing on effects of gestational diet and other factors on outcomes of pregnancy and childhood. He participates in several other federally-funded studies of diet, activity, obesity, and cardiovascular risk in children and adults. He serves in leadership roles in the U.S. National Children's Study and the International Society for Study of the Developmental Origins of Health and Adult Disease. He is an active teacher of medical students and mentor to research trainees. Trained as a primary care internist and pediatrician, Dr. Gillman's clinical work is in preventive cardiology among children.

Elizabeth Goodman, MD

Director, Child and Adolescent Obesity Program,
Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center

Elizabeth Goodman, MD, is Director of the Child and Adolescent Obesity Program at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center and a Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health and Nutrition at Tufts University. Dr. Goodman's research focuses on the processes through which social inequalities in health develop, especially in relation to obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease. She is Principal Investigator of the PSD Study, an NIH-funded longitudinal study of social status impact on adolescent health. She is also the Principal Investigator on an award from the Bingham Trust to develop a multi-level adolescent obesity outreach and treatment program at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Goodman has leadership positions in a number of Massachusetts obesity prevention efforts. She was an elected member of the Massachusetts Partnership for Healthy Weight's Executive Committee and a member of Massachusetts' Statewide Obesity Task Force in 2008. She is currently appointed to the MA DPH's Wellness Promotion Advisory Board. Dr. Goodman also chairs the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committees on Obesity. Nationally, Dr. Goodman works closely with the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality and its Childhood Obesity Action Network (COAN) and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the state of Arkansas' BMI initiative. Dr. Goodman, a Network Associate of the MacArthur Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health and former William T. Grant Scholar, was previously Professor of Child and Adolescent Health at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. At Brandeis she also served as Associate Chair of the Health: Science Society, and Policy Program, and was Principal Investigator on an NIH Roadmap award to support this new interdisciplinary program for students interested in studying the complex interplay of the biological, social, economic, and political determinants of health. Dr. Goodman also previously served on the faculties at Harvard Medical School and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She received her general pediatric and Adolescent Medicine specialty training at Children's Hospital, Boston. She received further fellowship training as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UCSF and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Joint Program in Society and Health at New England Medical Center and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Andrew S. Greenberg, MD

Director, Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory
Jean Mayer USDA HNRCA at Tufts University
Holder of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Professorship in Metabolism and Nutrition, Tufts University School of Medicine

Andy Greenberg is Director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at the JM-USDA HNRCA at Tufts University, recipient of the Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Professorship in Nutrition and Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. Dr. Greenberg received a B.A. from Amherst College, M.D. from New York University and performed his Endocrinology and Metabolism training and postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Greenberg has been involved in investigating and clinical care related to obesity and its complications since his fellowship at NIH.

Since coming to Tufts in 1993, he has been appointed Director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at the Nutrition Center where his research has focused on adipocyte metabolism, the basis of obesity, and its complications. He has been PI on funded grants from NIH, the American Diabetes Association, and industry. Dr. Greenberg has published over 70 papers, review articles, book chapters, and a book. He has been involved in clinical and teaching duties in the Endocrinology and Metabolism and Clinical Nutrition Divisions at Tufts School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center. He also participates in teaching at the Medical School, the Nutrition Center, and has doctoral graduate students from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts.

Professionally, Dr. Greenberg is also a member of the executive committee of the NIH funded Boston Obesity-Nutrition Research Center.

Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD

Director, General Clinical Research Center
Director, Bone Health Care Clinic and the Heliotherapy, Light, and Skin Research Center at Boston University Medical Center
Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics

Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D. is Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics; Director of the General Clinical Research Center; and Director of the Bone Health Care Clinic and the Heliotherapy, Light, and Skin Research Center at Boston University Medical Center.

After earning a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry, a medical degree, and completing a research postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dr. Holick completed a residency in medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Holick has made numerous contributions to the field of the biochemistry, physiology, metabolism, and photobiology of vitamin D for human nutrition.  He determined the mechanism for how vitamin D is synthesized in the skin, demonstrated the effects of aging, obesity, latitude, seasonal change, sunscreen use, skin pigmentation, and clothing on this vital cutaneous process. Dr. Holick has established global recommendations advising sunlight exposure as an integral source of vitamin D. He has helped increase awareness in the pediatric and medical communities regarding vitamin D deficiency pandemic, and its role in causing not only metabolic bone disease, and osteoporosis in adults, but increasing risk of children and adults developing common deadly cancers, autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and heart disease.

Dr. Holick is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and a member of numerous organizations including the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the American Association of Physicians.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the American Skin Association’s Psoriasis Research Achievement Award in 2002, the American College of Nutrition Award in 2002, the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award in Clinical Nutrition from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition in 2003, the Annual General Clinical Research Centers’ Program Award for Excellence in Clinical Research in 2006, and most recently the Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award from the Institute for Functional Medicine in 2007 and the Eli Lilly Award from the Canadian Endocrine Society in 2007.  Dr. Holick serves on a number of national committees including NIH and NASA, editorial boards, has organized and/or co-chaired several international symposia and is Editor in Chief for the Journal for Clinical Laboratories and Laboratories Related to Blood Transfusion.  He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, and written more than 250 review articles, as well as numerous book chapters.  He has acted as editor and/or co-editor on 11 books, and has written the book entitled, The UV Advantage.

Michael F. Jacobson, PhD

Executive Director
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., is co-founder and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit health advocacy organization supported largely by the 900,000 subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter. CSPI is a key player in battles against obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems, using such tactics as education to legislation to litigation. Jacobson has written numerous books and reports, including Nutrition Scoreboard, Six Arguments for a Greener Diet, "Salt: the Forgotten Killer," and "Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health."

Dr. Jacobson holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cathy Kapica, PhD, RD, LD, FACN, CFCS

Vice President / Director
Ketchum Global Health & Wellness

Dr. Cathy Kapica is Vice President of Global Health and Wellness at Ketchum Communications.  With over 20 years experience in health and nutrition, she counsels clients on strategies and tactics to incorporate science and wellness into their business plans. She is also Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at Tufts University. She developed and leads the Ketchum Nutrition Certification Program for Public Relations Professionals developed in collaboration with Tufts University, the first of its kind global program designed to educate account teams on the basics of nutrition to help provide better client service. Most recently, she co-stars as ‘The Lazy Cook’ in the YouTube video series ‘The Lazy Cook and the Crazy Cook’ where she shares her unique approaches to food preparation. As a nutrition scientist with a doctorate in public health, she has had a distinguished career in nutrition and health promotion.

Dr. Kapica is the former Global Director of Nutrition for the McDonald’s Corporation where she led the nutrition effort for McDonald’s worldwide. She worked closely with a multidisciplinary team, including menu management, product development, supply chain, marketing and communications to develop and promote their health and wellness initiative --Balanced, Active Lifestyles-- in the 118 countries where McDonald’s restaurants serve over 50 million customers everyday. She led the Food and Menu Committee of the Global Advisory Council on Balanced Active Lifestyles, an advisory board of 16 distinguished scientists from around the world.

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Dr. Kapica served as Senior Scientist and Director of Nutrition Education at the Quaker Oats Company where she educated consumers, health professionals and the media on the health benefits of oats. She led the efforts on gathering and communicating the scientific evidence on the efficacy of oats to nutrition scientists and health practitioners through liaisons with their professional organizations. 

Her academic career includes prior faculty appointments at Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School and the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. She is a former media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Her extensive knowledge of health professional organizations began when she worked at the American Medical Association promoting nutrition in medical education.

Dr. Kapica is a Registered Dietitian, licensed to practice in the state of Illinois; a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition; and Certified in Family and Consumer Science. She is a current member of the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the American College of Nutrition, the American Society of Nutrition, the Institute of Food Technologists and the Society for Nutrition Education.

Dr. Kapica is a graduate of Loyola University, Rush University and the University of Illinois, all in Chicago.

David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP

Chief Science Officer, NuVal

David L. Katz MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP is a nationally recognized authority on nutrition, weight control, and the prevention of chronic disease.

He is Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health Practice, and formerly the Director of Medical Studies in Public Health, at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Katz directs the Yale Prevention Research Center, which he co-founded in 1998.

Dr. Katz has published over 100 scientific articles and chapters; innumerable abstracts, newsletter articles, health columns, and essays, and eleven books to date.

Dr. Katz is formerly a medical contributor for ABC news, the nutrition columnist to O, The Oprah Magazine, an on-line expert blogger for Prevention Magazine, and a syndicated health/nutrition columnist for The New York Times. He is also a frequent contributor of expert opinion on nutrition and obesity to publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, HealthDay News, and The Associated Press.

The visionary behind the NuVal^™ Nutritional Scoring System, Dr. Katz convened and led the 12-member scientific panel that developed the ONQI^™ (Overall Nutritional Quality Index) algorithm that powers the NuVal System.

Dr. Katz also is the Chief Science Officer for NuVal LLC and liaison to the independent Scientific Advisory Board that oversees the ongoing management of the ONQI algorithm.

Ian Lockwood, P.E.

Principal and Senior Transportation Planner
Glatting Jackson

Ian Lockwood, P.E., is a Principal and Senior Transportation Planner with Glatting Jackson. Mr. Lockwood has Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering from Carleton University in Canada. He is a pioneer and leader in the fields of context-sensitive solutions and traffic calming. Mr. Lockwood's work has won awards from the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the American Planning Association, and the American Society of Landscape Architects. He is well published and has been an expert panelist and speaker at conferences and seminars in the United States and abroad. Mr. Lockwood formally headed the City of West Palm Beach's Transportation Planning Division, where, with the goal of revitalizing a "challenged" inner city, he emplaced community-oriented transportation policies. He also was the lead on some of the most comprehensive and attractive community-oriented street plans in the nation, and he worked with developers to shelve their standard site plans in favor of urban versions. Ian led the CSS plan for State Route 50 in Middleburg, VA and is wrapping-up thirteen pilot projects on integrating land use and transportation for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Mr. Lockwood is a nationally recognized expert in the growing field of traffic calming. In 1997, Mr. Lockwood won the Past Presidents' Award of the Institute of Transportation Engineers for his Traffic Calming Plan for Route 50. He is well published and has been an expert panelist and speaker at conferences and seminars both in the United States and abroad. Mr. Lockwood also enjoys giving guest lectures at universities; conducting workshops for various professional organizations; and reviewing transportation planning research.

Joanne R. Lupton, PhD

Distinguished Professor, University Faculty Fellow
William W. Allen Endowed Chair in Nutrition, Texas A&M University

JOANNE R. LUPTON, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor, Regent's Professor and University Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University and holder of the William W. Allen Endowed Chair in Human Nutrition. She chaired the Macronutrients Panel for the Dietary Reference Intakes, Food and Nutrition Board, National Academy of Sciences, that determined the intake values for protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber and energy and she also chaired the National Academy panel to determine the definition of dietary fiber. She was a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Committee. Dr. Lupton spent one year at the Food and Drug Administration helping to develop levels of scientific evidence required for health claims. She is a lifetime associate of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Lupton has mentored more than 50 MS and Ph.D. students while at Texas A&M, and received the Dannon/American Society for Nutrition mentoring award in 2004. In 2007 she received the Texas A&M University distinguished achievement award for research. Dr. Lupton is immediate Past President of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), the nutrition research organization. For the past two and ½ years she has been an active member of the Keystone Food and Nutrition Roundtable that developed the Smart Choices Program, and a key person for the development of the nutrition criteria for the program. Dr. Lupton's research is on the effect of diet on colon physiology and colon cancer with a particular focus on dietary fiber and n-3 fatty acids. Her research is supported by grants from the NIH/NCI, NASA, and NSBRI.

Her undergraduate degree is from Mt. Holyoke College and her Ph.D. in Nutrition is from the University of California at Davis.

Miriam E. Nelson, PhD

Director, John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition)

Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. is director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition and associate professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.  She is also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, an honor reserved for those who have demonstrated leadership and research in the field of exercise.  For the past 19 years, Dr. Nelson has been principal investigator of studies on exercise and nutrition, work supported by grants from the government and private foundations. In 2007 to 2008, Dr. Nelson was appointed to serve as the vice chair of the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee.  The report was used to develop the inaugural Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans released in October of 2008.  She is currently serving on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for the US Department of Agriculture. 

Dr. Nelson is the founder and director of the StrongWomen Program, a community strength training program for midlife and older women. Forty states currently run not for profit StrongWomen Programs.  She has helped people learn how to stay younger, healthier, and stronger; and her research has revolutionized how people understand nutrition, strength training, aging, and health.

Dr. Nelson is the author of the international best-sellers, Strong Women Stay Young, Strong Women Stay Slim, Strong Women, Strong Bones, Strong Women Eat Well, Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis, the Strong Women’s Journal, Strong Women, Strong Hearts, Strong Women, Strong Bones, and Strong Women, Strong Backs.  These titles, published in 14 languages, have sold more than a million copies worldwide.  Strong Women, Strong Bones received the esteemed “Books for a Better Life Award” for best wellness book of 2000 from the Multiple Sclerosis Society. 

Dr. Nelson has appeared in her own PBS special entitled Strong Women Live Well.  She has also been featured on other television and radio shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC Nightly News, CNN, Fresh Air, and the Discovery Channel.

Barbara O. Schneeman, Ph.D.

Director of the Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Dr. Barbara O. Schneeman is currently Director of the Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this position, she oversees the development of policy and regulations for dietary supplements, nutrition labeling and food standards, infant formula, and medical foods and serves as the U.S delegate to two Codex committees. From 1976-2007, she was Professor of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis, and served in several administrative roles, including Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She has been a visiting scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Assistant Administrator for Nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She received her B.S. degree from the University of California, Davis, Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and postdoctoral training in gastro-intestinal physiology at Children's Hospital in Oakland, California. Professional activities include participation in Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees, the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Science (NAS), committees for NAS and for the State of California, USDA, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization, the American Society for Nutrition, and the Institute of Food Technologists. She has been Associate Editor for the Journal of Nutrition and on the editorial boards for Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Food and Nutrition Series of Academic Press, Nutrition Reviews, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Food Science, and California Agriculture.

Professional honors for Dr. Schneeman include Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Carl Fellers Award from the Institute of Food Technology, the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation and the Harvey W. Wiley Medal, the Samuel Cate Prescott Award for research, the Future Leader Award, and several honorary lectureships. She has published over 220 journal articles, book chapters and abstracts, and is recognized for her research contributions in the areas of gastrointestinal function, dietary fiber, lipid metabolism and food-based dietary guidelines.

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