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Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices (2012)

Chapter: Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
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Appendix G

Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Ellen A. Wartella, Ph.D. (Chair), is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Communication, professor of psychology, professor of human development and social policy, and director of the Center on Media and Human Development in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. She is a former executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, Riverside. Prior to that, she was dean of the College of Communication and professor in the Department of Radio-Television Film at the University of Texas in Austin. Dr. Wartella is a co-principal investigator on a 5-year, multi-site research project entitled IRADS Collaborative Research: Influence of Digital Media on Very Young Children, funded by the National Science Foundation. She was a co-principal investigator on the National TV Violence Study and a co-principal investigator of the Children’s Digital Media Center project funded by the National Science Foundation. She serves on the National Educational Advisory Board of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the Board of Directors for the World Summit on Media for Children Foundation, PBS KIDS Next Generation Media Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees for Sesame Workshop, and advisory boards for the Center on Media and Child Health and the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. She has served on the National Research Council/Institute of Medicine (IOM) Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development and is the past president of the International Communication Association. Recent honors include election as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Steven H. Chaffee Career Productivity Award from the International Communication Association. Dr. Wartella received a B.A. with honors in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mass communications from the University of Minnesota, and completed postdoctoral research in developmental psychology at the University of Kansas.

Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc. (Vice Chair), is Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy in the Friedman School and director and senior scientist of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, both at Tufts University. She holds secondary appointments as an associated faculty member in the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center and as a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Lichtenstein’s research group focuses on assessing the interplay between diet and heart disease risk factors.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×

Recent and current work includes addressing in postmenopausal females and older males, issues related to trans fatty acids, soy protein and isoflavones, sterol/stanol esters, and novel vegetable oils differing in fatty acid profile and glycemic index. Selected issues are investigated in animal models and cell systems with the aim of determining the mechanisms by which dietary factors alter cardiovascular disease risk. Additional work is focused on population-based studies to address the relationship of cholesterol homeostasis and nutrient biomarkers on cardiovascular disease risk, and on the application of systematic review methods to the field of nutrition. Dr. Lichtenstein is a member of the American Society for Nutrition and the American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Council and Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Council. She is a past-chair of the American Heart Association Committee on Nutrition and served on the Department of Health and Human Services/U.S. Department of Agriculture 2000 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the IOM Dietary Reference Intake macronutrient panel, and the IOM Food Forum. She currently serves as co-chair of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) Adult Treatment Panel IV (ATP IV) for cholesterol guidelines. Dr. Lichtenstein completed her undergraduate work at Cornell University, holds a master’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. She received her postdoctoral training in the field of lipid metabolism at the Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine.

Lindsay H. Allen, Ph.D., is Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center located on the University of California, Davis campus. The center’s primary focus is prevention of obesity, inflammation, and related chronic diseases through nutrition interventions. She is an expert on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries and has conducted numerous interventions to assess the efficacy of micronutrient supplements and food-based approaches for improving nutritional status, pregnancy outcome, and child development. Dr. Allen has served on 10 IOM committees, including the Food and Nutrition Board and the Standing Committee for the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. She has been an adviser to many bilateral and international agencies, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and she was president of the American Society for Nutrition and the Society for International Nutrition Research. She is vice president of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Allen was awarded the American Society for Nutrition’s Kellogg International Nutrition Prize in 1997 and the Conrad Elvejhem Award for Public Service in Nutrition in 2009. She received her doctorate from the University of California, Davis.

James Crimmins, Ph.D., is adjunct professor at Northwestern University and a marketing consultant. He worked in advertising for 27 years and served for the past several years as Worldwide Brand Planning Director and Chief Strategic Officer of DDB Chicago. In that capacity, he has led strategic planning for a wide array of advertisers including Budweiser, Betty Crocker, Dell Computers, Home Depot, OfficeMax, and JCPenny. He also developed strategic tools for DDB that were taught to DDB personnel around the world. Dr. Crimmins led the DDB team that won 44 EFFIEs—the American Marketing Association’s award for proven advertising effectiveness. He received a B.A. in sociology from the University of Illinois and a master’s in statistics and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago.

Brian Elbel, M.P.H., Ph.D., is assistant professor of medicine and health policy at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Dr. Elbel studies consumer and patient decision-making as it relates to health and healthcare, largely from the perspective of behavioral economics. He has a particular interest in vulnerable groups and the role and influence of public policy on health. He is engaged in research examining consumer choice of health plans and hospitals, including response to quality information. Additionally, he is examining choices that influence health more directly, including how individuals choose which foods to consume. He has studied, and is continuing to study, the impact of public policies mandating calorie labeling in restaurants. His research has been funded by the NIH, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×

Dr. Elbel received a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees in health policy/ health economics from Yale University.

Tracy A. Fox, M.P.H., R.D., is president of Food, Nutrition and Policy Consultants, LLC, in Washington, DC, specializing in food and nutrition policy and programs at the federal, state, and local levels. She works with government, schools, foundations, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations in policy and program enhancements and advocacy to promote positive environmental change. Ms. Fox worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect, analyze, document, and publicize success stories of school- and district-based nutrition and physical activity initiatives. She has worked with CDC to evaluate promising childhood obesity prevention projects across the country in Head Start and day care programs, school districts, community- and state-based food policy councils, and after-school programs. Ms. Fox was a member of the IOM Committee on Nutrition Standards for Foods in School and the IOM Committee on Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. She is president of the Society for Nutrition Education and is active on a number of boards and coalitions. Prior to forming her consulting company, Ms. Fox was with the government relations office of the American Dietetic Association and at the Food and Nutrition Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is a retired Commander from the United States Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps. Ms. Fox received her M.P.H. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and a B.S. in dietetics from Hood College.

Elizabeth Howlett (formerly Creyer), Ph.D., is professor of marketing and logistics in the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She has research expertise in the area of consumer health and welfare issues with a particular emphasis on nutrition-related issues. A large body of her research has examined how the provision of nutrition information affects consumers’ evaluative and choice processes. In particular, she has explored the influence of package claims (nutrient content, structure function) and the effects of the Nutrition Facts panel information. Currently, she is developing a stream of research that focuses on the effects of sodium information provision and front-of-package sodium labeling. Most recently her research has focused on the impact of calorie labeling on restaurant menus and menu boards. Her research was instrumental in helping the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the city of Philadelphia, King County Washington (Seattle), and the state of California formulate and pass restaurant labeling mandates and legislation. These initiatives, in turn, generated national attention, which culminated in the inclusion of a restaurant labeling mandate in the National Health Care Reform bill.

Matthew W. Kreuter, Ph.D., M.P.H., is professor and founding director of the Health Communication Research Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, one of five National Cancer Institute–designated Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research. His research explores strategies to increase the reach and effectiveness of health information in low-income and minority populations to help eliminate health disparities. Dr. Kreuter is a member of the IOM’s Board on Population Health and Public Health Practices. He received his Ph.D. and M.P.H. in health behavior and health education from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Anusree Mitra, Ph.D., is associate professor and chair of the Department of Marketing at the Kogod School of Business at American University. In this role, Dr. Mitra teaches marketing management, consumer behavior, and marketing research. Her research focuses on consumer perceptions of marketing information, such as advertising, nutritional labeling, and other mandatory disclosures, and their public policy implications. She has published scholarly articles in the Journal of Consumer Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Marketing Letters, and Journal of Business Research. Two of her articles in the Journal of Consumer Research won awards from the Association of Consumer Research. Dr. Mitra has a Ph.D. in business from the University of Florida, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, and a B.S. in economics from the University of Calcutta.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×

Frances H. Seligson, Ph.D., R.D., is a consultant on food and nutrition issues and also serves as an adjunct associate professor with the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She is retired from the Hershey Company where she was associate director for nutrition. She earlier worked for the Procter and Gamble Company and was assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Seligson’s professional memberships include the American Society for Nutrition and the American Dietetic Association. She has held leadership positions on committees and activities at such associations as the American Society for Nutrition, the International Food Information Council, the International Life Sciences Institute, and the National Food Processors Association. She was a member of the IOM Committee on Food Marketing to Children and Youth and the IOM Committee on Dietary Reference Intakes in Nutrition Labeling. Dr. Seligson has published extensively in the areas of nutrition and food consumption. She is an advisor on nutrition, scientific, and regulatory issues for the Hershey Company, Coca-Cola Company, Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, and Children’s Advertising Review Unit. She received her Ph.D. in Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mary T. Story, Ph.D., R.D., is professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health and senior associate dean for academic and student affairs in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Story received her Ph.D. in nutrition, and her interests are in the area of child and adolescent nutrition, obesity prevention, and environmental and policy approaches to improve healthful eating. Her research focuses on understanding the multiple factors related to eating behaviors of youth and on environmental, community, and school-based interventions for obesity prevention and healthful eating. She has written nearly 400 journal articles and publications in the area of child and adolescent nutrition and obesity. She is the director of the National Program Office for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research program. She was a member of the IOM Committee on Food Marketing to Children and Youth, the IOM Committee on Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools, and the IOM Committee on Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. She is a current member of the IOM Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention. She was elected to the IOM in 2010.

CONSULTANTS

Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology, professor of epidemiology and public health, and the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. At Yale he served as chair of the Department of Psychology and earlier he was a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His work is focused on environmental factors that contribute to obesity; the specific effects of the “toxic environment” that encourage overeating and physical inactivity; bias, prejudice, discrimination, and obesity; the impact of government policies on food prices and food consumption patterns; interventions in schools; and changing public policy as a means of improving eating and activity in the population. Dr. Brownell is a member of the IOM.

Christopher Casey, B.F.A., M.P.H., is director of communication for the Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL) in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, Saint Louis. He directs visual communications at HCRL, managing and producing print, web, and interactive graphics for intervention materials. He has worked for more than 10 years developing and conducting research in communication-based strategies to improve population health. Mr. Casey has also worked on NIH and CDC-funded programs seeking to increase the reach and effectiveness of health information, particularly in the area of populations most affected by health disparities. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Missouri and his M.P.H. from St. Louis University.

Lila Rutten, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a behavioral scientist with SAIC, Inc., National Cancer Institute (NCI) Frederick, in support of NCI’s Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch. Her current responsibilities include managing/coordinating the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), assisting in the dissemination efforts of the Centers for Excellence in Cancer Communication Research (CECCR), and supporting branch and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×

program activities related to the role of health communication in shaping cancer-relevant behavior. Dr. Rutten has served as an active member of NCI’s team of scientists since 2001, when she joined NCI as a cancer prevention fellow. In addition to her work with NCI, Dr. Rutten currently serves as a methodological consultant to the Center for Human Nutrition and has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Augsburg College and in the Department of Behavioral Science at the College of Mount Saint Joseph. Dr. Rutten received her Ph.D. in psychology from Miami University and her M.P.H. from Harvard University.

Marlene B. Schwartz, Ph.D., is deputy director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Prior to joining the Rudd Center, she served as co-director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders from 1996 to 2006. Dr. Schwartz’s research and community service address how home environments, school landscapes, neighborhoods, and the media shape the eating attitudes and behaviors of children. She has collaborated with the Connecticut State Department of Education to evaluate nutrition and physical activity policies in schools and preschools throughout the state. She co-chaired the Connecticut Obesity Task Force in 2010 and has provided expert testimony on obesity-related state policies. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Food Bank. Dr. Schwartz has received research grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the NIH to study school wellness policies, the preschool nutrition environment, the effect of food marketing on children, the relationship between food insecurity and nutrition, and how federal food programs can improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University in 1996.

Amy Scott, B.F.A., is a graphic designer for UPBrand Collaborative in St. Louis. She works on brand strategy and design for companies around the country, producing print collateral and web graphics showcasing each organization’s unique story. She previously worked with the Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL) at Washington University in St. Louis on grant-funded research projects developing informational graphics and print collateral for public health materials. She received her B.F.A. from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University.

Virginia Wilkening, M.S., R.D., is a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) career nutrition scientist. She joined FDA in 1983 and retired in 2004. At retirement she was deputy director of the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. In that position, Ms. Wilkening shared responsibility for developing policy and regulations for dietary supplements, nutrition labeling, food standards, infant formula, and medical foods as well as for compliance and enforcement actions and scientific evaluation to support such regulations and related policy development and analytical database research. Prior to holding this position, she served as team leader for a multidisciplinary group responsible for implementing that part of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 that pertained to nutrition labeling, Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs), Daily Reference Values (DRVs), serving sizes, and format for the nutrition label. She had a similar role in implementing the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. In 2007 Ms. Wilkening joined the EAS Consulting Group as a senior consultant on a contract basis. She also worked for 12 years as a nutritionist with the Nutrition and Technical Services Staff in the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA. Her work included developing nutrition standards and goals and evaluating the effectiveness of such goals for the National School Lunch Program and other child nutrition programs. She was also chief dietitian at Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, New York. Ms. Wilkening earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in nutrition at the University of California, Davis.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Committee Member and Consultant Biographical Sketches." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13221.
×
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During the past decade, tremendous growth has occurred in the use of nutrition symbols and rating systems designed to summarize key nutritional aspects and characteristics of food products. These symbols and the systems that underlie them have become known as front-of-package (FOP) nutrition rating systems and symbols, even though the symbols themselves can be found anywhere on the front of a food package or on a retail shelf tag. Though not regulated and inconsistent in format, content, and criteria, FOP systems and symbols have the potential to provide useful guidance to consumers as well as maximize effectiveness. As a result, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to undertake a study with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to examine and provide recommendations regarding FOP nutrition rating systems and symbols.

The study was completed in two phases. Phase I focused primarily on the nutrition criteria underlying FOP systems. Phase II builds on the results of Phase I while focusing on aspects related to consumer understanding and behavior related to the development of a standardized FOP system.

Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols focuses on Phase II of the study. The report addresses the potential benefits of a single, standardized front-label food guidance system regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, assesses which icons are most effective with consumer audiences, and considers the systems/icons that best promote health and how to maximize their use.

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