Biosketches
William H.Dietz, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (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 B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1966 and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. Following an internship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he spent three years in the Middle America Research Unit of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in Panama, studying insect borne viruses. After the completion of his residency at Upstate Medical Center, he received a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as a councilor and past president of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and as past president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. 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 1998, Dr. Dietz was elected to the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Dietz’s research has focused on the epidemiology of childhood obesity, the clinical consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity, optimal dietary therapy for overweight children and adolescents, and the implications of re-
duced energy expenditure for the development of overweight in children and adolescents. He is the author of over 150 publications in scientific literature and the editor of three books, including A Guide to Your Child’s Nutrition.
Jeffrey P.Koplan, M.D., M.P.H. is the Vice President for Academic Health Affairs at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University in Atlanta. He received a B.A. from Yale College, an M.D. from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and a M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is board certified in internal and preventive medicine. From 1998 to 2002, Dr. Koplan served as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He worked in the area of enhancing the interactions between clinical medicine and public health by leading the Prudential Center for Health Care Research, a nationally recognized health services research organization. In his 26 years at CDC, Dr. Koplan worked on a broad range of major public health issues, including infectious diseases such as smallpox and HIV/AIDS, environmental issues such as the Bhopal chemical disaster, and the health toll of tobacco and chronic diseases, both in the United States and globally. Dr. Koplan is a Master of the American College of Physicians, an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Public Health Educators, and a Public Health Hero of the American Public Health Association. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1999. He has served on many advisory groups and consultancies on public health issues in the United States and overseas and authored more than 185 scientific papers. Dr. Koplan chaired the IOM Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth.
Shiriki K.Kumanyika, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D. is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Associate Dean for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and the Director of the Graduate Program in Public Health Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She received her B.A. from Syracuse University, M.S.W. from Columbia University, Ph.D. in human nutrition from Cornell University, and
M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University. The main themes in Dr. Kumanyika’s research concern the role of nutritional factors in the primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases with a particular focus on obesity, sodium reduction, and related health problems such as hypertension and diabetes. She directs an NIH-funded EXPORT (Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research, and Training) Center that focuses on reduction of obesity-related health disparities. Dr. Kumanyika is the lead investigator or a collaborator on several federally-funded studies of obesity prevention and treatment in adults and children, of which some focus specifically on African Americans. She has served on a number of expert panels, including the 1995 and 2000 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees, and she served on the NIH Advisory Committee for the National Children’s Study in 2002–2003. She was vice-chair of the Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases in 2002, and also chaired the 2002 WHO Expert Consultation on Appropriate BMI Standards for Asian Populations. Dr. Kumanyika’s current activities include serving on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Food and Nutrition Board, the NIH Clinical Obesity Research Panel, and the Prevention Group of the International Obesity Task Force. She was elected to the IOM in 2003. Dr. Kumanyika served as a member of the IOM Committee on the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth.
Brock Leach is Senior Vice President, New Growth Platforms and Chief Innovation Officer for PepsiCo, an assignment he undertook in March 2003. Mr. Leach is responsible for identifying and developing new platforms for business growth beyond those already being pursued by PepsiCo’s operating units and for building new capabilities to support the innovation work of the divisions. As part of this responsibility, Mr. Leach also directs the company’s strategic focus on health and well-being, in partnership with Dr. Ken Cooper of the renowned Cooper Clinic, Dr. Dean Ornish, and other experts, to broaden PepsiCo’s offerings of nutritious products and to encourage healthy lifestyles. Previously Mr. Leach was president and CEO of Tropicana Products, Inc. and was responsible for
overseeing the operations of the world’s largest marketer and producer of branded juices. Prior to that, he was president of the Frito-Lay Development Group, a global team focused on the company’s innovation and development. He has also served as the president of Frito-Lay North America, the largest operating profit segment of PepsiCo and the largest manufacturer and distributor of snack foods with $7.5 billion in sales in 1998. Mr. Leach joined Frito-Lay North America in 1982 as assistant product manager and assumed positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and sales, including vice president of brand marketing and senior vice president of marketing. Mr. Leach is a member of the National Board of the YMCA and serves on the boards of several Florida children’s agencies. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
