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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
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D
Speaker Biosketches

Dana Carr is the Director for the US Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools’ Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health and Physical Education team, which oversees the Carol M. White Physical Education Program Grants. Ms. Carr has M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Prior to working at the Department of Education, Ms. Carr worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Kevin Concannon is the current Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in the US Department of Agriculture. Mr. Concannon was nominated by President Obama and Secretary Vilsack and confirmed by the US Senate in July 2009 to serve as Under Secretary. Over the past 25 years, he has served as Director of State Health and Human Services departments in Maine, Oregon, and Iowa. He has championed expanded services, improved access, alternatives to institutions, consumer choices, affordable health care, diversity in workplace and programs, and modernization of public information technology systems. He has served in a number of national organizations, including serving as President of the American Public Welfare Association, President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, trustee of the American Public Human Services Association, board member of the American Humane Association, and co-chair of the Milbank Memorial Fund state steering committee. Mr. Concannon has received a number of awards, including the Lifetime Human Services Award from the American Public Human Services Association in 2007. He is a graduate of Saint Francis Xavier University, Nova

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

Scotia with both B.A. and M.S.W. degrees. He continued his studies at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Connecticut Graduate School of Social Work.


Jonathan E. Fielding is the Director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the County Health Officer, responsible for all public health functions including surveillance and control of both communicable and non-communicable diseases, and of health protection, including emergency preparedness, for the County’s 10 million residents. He directs a staff of 4,000 with an annual budget exceeding $800 million. He is also a Commissioner of the Los Angeles First 5 Commission, which grants more than $100 million per year to improve the health and development of children 0–5. Dr. Fielding chairs the US Community Preventive Services Task Force and was a founding member of the US Clinical Preventive Services Task Force. He also chairs the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020 and was appointed to the California Department of Public Health Advisory Board. Dr. Fielding is a Professor in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, and has authored over 175 peer reviewed publications, editorials, and book chapters on public health, health policy, health economics, emergency preparedness, and evidence-based public health practice issues. He is editor of the Annual Review of Public Health and Chairman of Partnership for Prevention. He also serves on the Board of the American Legacy Foundation and is an elected member in the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. He received his medical and public health degrees from Harvard University, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of Business. He formerly served as Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health Massachusetts and Vice President of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Fielding has received numerous awards, including the Sedgwick Memorial Medal from the American Public Health Association, the Distinguished Alumni Achievement award from the Harvard School of Public Health, and the UCLA Medal, that University’s highest honor.


Richard A. Gephardt is President and CEO of Gephardt Government Affairs. He provides strategic advice to clients on issues before the House, Senate, and Executive Branch in the federal government. Mr. Gephardt has brought successful resolution for clients on issues related to negotiations, crisis management, and strategic communications. He represents a broad array of Fortune 100 clients on Capitol Hill and before the Administration, in addition to serving as public spokesperson for clients on coalitions to bring about policy solutions to healthcare reform and climate change. Mr. Gephardt served for 28 years in the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 2004, representing Missouri’s third Congressional

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

District, home to his birthplace St. Louis. In his role as Leader, Mr. Gephardt emerged as one of the leading strategists of the Democratic Party’s platform and chief architect to landmark reforms ranging from healthcare, pensions, education, energy independence, and trade policy. In his first year in Congress, he was appointed to both the House Ways & Means and Budget Committees. He was elected to serve as House Democratic Leader for more than 14 years, as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. Widely known for his advocacy for international human rights, Mr. Gephardt currently serves as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, a private, nonprofit organization that endeavors to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. He is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and an Advisory Board member to the International Conservation Caucus Foundation. He also serves as Advisory Board chairman at the Richard A. Gephardt Institute for Public Service at Washington University in St. Louis. The Library and Research Center of the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis recently opened The Richard A. Gephardt Collection to represent the life and career of his tenure in Congress. Mr. Gephardt began his career in public service in 1968 as a precinct captain to St. Louis’ 14th ward. From 1971 to 1976, he served as Alderman for the city’s 14th ward. In 1976, he was elected to the US Congress, succeeding 24-year incumbent Leonor Sullivan. Mr. Gephardt earned a bachelor’s degree in Science from Northwestern University in 1962 and juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1965.


Judy Hargadon joined the School Food Trust in April 2006 as its Chief Executive. Under Ms. Hargadon’s leadership, the School Food Trust has built working relationships with the many parties who influence children’s food, to give children better life chances. Prior to this post, she had a 30-year career in health care management, with a special focus on innovation, improvement, and workforce. She was a Harkness Fellow in 1992 to 1993 based at the Harvard School of Public Health. As well as working in hospitals, she was Chief Executive of an NHS Community Trust, which included managing school health and other preventive services. Ms. Hargadon was actively involved in the Take Our Daughters to Work scheme, and chaired the trustees for 5 years. She has been a governor for two schools. Her children, now young adults, inspired her to become involved in food issues. She is determined that parents nowadays are better supported to help their children eat healthily than she was, strongly believing that parents and schools should work together on this crucial change agenda.


Anne Jackson is Director for Child Wellbeing at the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). As Director for Child Wellbeing,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

Ms. Jackson is responsible for the DCSF’s joint work with other English government departments on improving child health, tackling child poverty and wider aspects of child wellbeing. She covers policy on children’s rights and sponsorship of 11 Million, the office of the Children’s Commissioner for England. She is the co-Director, with her counterpart at the Department of Health, of the Cross-Government Obesity Unit. Ms. Jackson spent her early career in the UK Diplomatic Service working on East-West relations and arms control with postings in the British Embassy Moscow in 1980 to 1982, the UK Delegation to NATO 1982 to 1985, and posts in the arms control and Eastern Departments of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since joining the Department for Education in 1994, she has worked on a range of schools and children’s policies including teachers’ pay and performance management. A period as Head of the Department’s Strategy and Innovation Unit led to her work as Bill Manager for the Children’s Act 2004 and Director of Strategy for the “Every Child Matters” reforms. Ms. Jackson was born and educated in Northern Ireland and holds an M.A. in Modern Languages from Newnham College, Cambridge.


Sian Jarvis is Director General of Communications at the UK Department of Health. As Director, Ms. Jarvis has wide-ranging responsibilities for media relations, public health marketing, and NHS workforce communications. The Communications team at the Department has won acclaim for a number of their public health campaigns. Most recently the team launched the Government’s new drive to tackle obesity, Change4Life. Over the past few months, the communications team has been heavily involved in handling the swine flu pandemic. Last month, Ms. Jarvis was recognized for her achievements winning the PR professional of the year, voted for by the industry. Ms. Jarvis joined the Department of Health in October 1999 from GMTV where she was the political correspondent and newsreader, reporting regularly from the United States. She trained as a journalist with the BBC working on programmes including Today, World Tonight, and In Business.


Susan Jebb is Head of Nutrition and Health Research at the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research Unit (HNR) in Cambridge. She trained in nutrition and dietetics prior to her Ph.D. at the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit. Her research focuses on the role of dietary factors in the aetiology and treatment of obesity and its related metabolic diseases. Dr. Jebb also leads the HNR Communications team who focus on the translation of nutrition science into policy and practice, working with policy makers, industry, health professionals, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the media across a broad range of activities. She is an advisor to government on issues related to obesity and to nutrition. Currently

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

she is Chair of the cross-government Expert Advisory Group on Obesity and a member of the Change4Life Board. She was an Expert Advisor to the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit Review on Food and now sits on the FSA Food Policy Strategy Advisory Group.


Chip Johnson is currently serving his second term as Mayor of the City of Hernando, Mississippi. Before being elected to his first term as Mayor, he served 4 years on the Board of Aldermen. Mayor Johnson served with distinction in the United States Submarine Service for 6 years. Prior to his honorary discharge in 1990, he received the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Expeditionary Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal along with numerous other ribbons and letters of commendation. After his Navy service, he returned to Desoto County and purchased a franchise that he has owned for the last 19 years. Mayor Johnson has become a spokesperson for what local governments can do to improve the health of residents. His city has adopted policies and provided facilities and programs that improve accessibility to physical activity, among other initiatives. His speaking engagements have included: the Mississippi Governor’s Health Summit, the RWJF’s Annual Southern Obesity Summits in Birmingham and Austin, the “Weight of the Nation” obesity conference in Washington, DC, and the Missouri Obesity Summit. He attended, as a special guest, the RWJF’s National Childhood Obesity Summit.


Tim Marsh is an Associate Director at the National Heart Forum (NHF) in England. Current roles include as a member of the NHF Modeling team, which was responsible for the quantitative modeling for the Foresight Report Tackling Obesities. He is currently on the board of the European Agriculture and Health Consortium and Food Matters, which supporting individuals and organizations working towards more sustainable, equitable food systems. A trained social scientist, his previous roles included Head of Policy at the UK Public Health Association and Child Poverty Action Group. Mr. Marsh is a Fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health and member of Society of Social Medicine.


Ailsa McGinty is the Policy and Stakeholder Manager on the Cross Government Obesity Team at the UK Department of Health. Ms. McGinty is an experienced health policymaker and implementer, who has worked in the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally for over 15 years. Professionally qualified as a public health microbiologist, she has a wide breadth of health policy experience including primary and secondary care services, as well as service management and improvement. Most recently she has joined the Cross Government Obesity Unit at the UK Department of Health as Policy and Stakeholder Manager to lead on policy development

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

on England’s Obesity Strategy “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross Government Strategy for England.”


Klim McPherson is the Chair of the National Heart Forum, an alliance of health related NGOs concerned to prevent premature mortality from cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. He has a Visiting Professorship in the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and is a Fellow of New College, Oxford University. His research is in epidemiological methods and women’s health. He runs an option in Health and Disease for final year undergraduates in Human Sciences, and teaches in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His current commitments are: Chair of the NICE CVD Population Program Development Group reporting late in 2009; member Expert Advisory Group on Women’s Heath of MHRA; and a past member of the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee of NICE and their Heavy Menstrual Bleeding guideline development group. He has served as an expert advisor on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He was Co-Author of the recent Foresight Report Tackling Obesities—Future Choices with Government Office for Science, for which he was responsible for epidemiological modeling. He is currently on the expert working group advising the Cross Government Strategy on obesity prevention. With the National Heart Forum he has a research group examining the role of micro simulation in better understanding public health interventions. He is a member of the Legal and General’s Longevity Science Advisory Panel chaired by Sir Derek Wanless. He has chaired the British Breast Group, the European Public Health Association and the Society for Social Medicine among other research bodies. Dr. McPherson’s particular interests are coronary heart disease prevention and the causes of breast cancer, particularly the health implications of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). He has a longstanding research interest in the treatment of women with menstrual problems, particularly conservative methods of treating uterine fibroids in order to retain or enhance fertility. He has some 400 peer reviewed publications in academic journals. He is concerned with public health policy as it affects primary prevention of disease.


Cynthia Ogden is an epidemiologist in the NHANES group at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her research interests relate to nutrition, and in particular, growth and obesity in children. She worked on the revision of the 2000 CDC growth charts for children that are used to define obesity in US children and has published extensively on both obesity and growth. She joined CDC as a member of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS). Before joining CDC, she worked in the Nutrition Division at the New York State Department of Health where she researched obesity among school children in New York

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

counties. She has also worked on nutrition-related projects for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and has recently been an instructor at the George Washington School of Public Health. She earned her Ph.D. and masters degrees from Cornell University where her research focused on malnutrition among young children in Kigali, Rwanda.


Julie Paradis is Administrator for the Food and Nutrition Service at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Food and Nutrition Service administers the food and nutrition assistance programs in the USDA. The agency provides children and needy families with better access to food and a more healthful diet through its programs and nutrition education efforts. Between August of 2001 and October of 2006, she served as Senior Washington Counsel for America’s Second Harvest (currently known as Feeding America), the nation’s largest organization of emergency food providers, comprised of 215 regional food banks and food recovery organizations serving 50,000 local food pantries and soup kitchens. She was actively engaged in working with federal officials to formulate federal food assistance and human services policy, with an emphasis on federal policies necessary to help create a hunger free America. Ms. Paradis also previously served at USDA as Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services from December 1997 until January 2001. She was responsible for policy and program development for the 15 federal nutrition assistance programs, including Food Stamps, school meals, WIC, and commodity donations. Prior to this appointment, she held various staff positions with the US House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture beginning in March of 1989. From 1995 until the end of 1997, she served as Deputy Democratic Counsel for the House Agriculture Committee, providing legal oversight for legislative issues including the Food Stamp provisions of both the welfare reform and balanced budget acts. Ms. Paradis also has served as Assistant Democratic Counsel for the House Agriculture Committee, providing legal support for the reauthorization of the National School Lunch Act and the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act; Staff Consultant to the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee; and Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition. Prior to her Capitol Hill experience, Ms. Paradis served for nine years as a staff attorney in USDA’s Office of General Counsel.


Lynn Silver has been Assistant Commissioner of the New York City (NYC) Department of Health for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control since 2004. She coordinates the Department’s response to obesity and chronic disease and in that capacity, led NYC policy initiatives such as the NYC trans fat ban, calorie labeling in chain restaurants, day care nutrition and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×

physical activity regulations, and helped develop the city’s food procurement guidelines. The chronic disease team has recently launched a national initiative to reduce salt in processed and restaurant foods, created the NYC Bodega initiative and is supporting the roll-out of the NYC Green Carts program. Dr. Silver also initiated the joint Department-American Institute of Architects FIT-CITY built environment collaboration. Dr. Silver was previously Visiting Scholar of International Health at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and is Associate Professor and former Director of the School of Health Sciences of the University of Brasilia. She has worked widely internationally on health policy issues as well as food and drug regulation as a researcher and with the consumer movement. She received her M.D. and M.P.H. and pediatric training from the Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. Her work received the Rockefeller Foundation’s International Award for Health Research for Development in 2000.


Tim J. Smith is Chief Executive at the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom. Mr. Smith took up post as Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency on April 1, 2008. Mr. Smith is the former Chief Executive of Aria Foods UK plc. The company, which is responsible for a number of major food brands, is now part of Aria Foods amba, Europe’s largest dairy manufacturer. He was appointed Chief Executive of Aria Foods in early 2005. Mr. Smith graduated from Leeds University with a degree in microbiology and zoology. He has spent his entire career in the food business: from 1979 to 1994 he was at Northern Foods, finishing his career there as a Divisional Director. After 5 years at Sara Lee Corporation, where he was President of UK operations, he joined Express Dairies plc as Executive Director. Express Dairies merged with Aria Foods in October 2003. He sits on the UK Government’s Council of Food Policy Advisors.


Harriet Tregoning is the Director of the Washington, DC, Office of Planning, where she works to make Washington, DC, a walkable, bikeable, vibrant, eminently livable, globally competitive and sustainable city. Prior to this she was the director of the Governors’ Institute on Community Design and co-founder, with former Maryland Governor Glendening, and executive director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. Ms. Tregoning developed her expertise in state level action in the State of Maryland where she served Governor Glendening as both Secretary of Planning and then as the nation’s first state-level Cabinet Secretary for Smart Growth. Prior to her tenure in Maryland state government, Ms. Tregoning created the Smart Growth Office at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Tregoning’s academic training is in engineering and public policy. She was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design for 2003 to 2004.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 79
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 80
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 81
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 82
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 83
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 84
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 85
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Speaker Biosketches." Institute of Medicine. 2010. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12861.
×
Page 86
Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary Get This Book
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Both the United Kingdom and the United States are grappling with nationwide epidemics of obesity. Obesity contributes to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers, among other diseases. Although many people are aware of obesity's causes and consequences, few see it as a problem for their own families--despite clinical evidence to the contrary. Given this disconnect between perception and reality, policy makers in both countries struggle to find a way to reach people to encourage change.

The IOM brought together policy makers from the U.K. and U.S. for a workshop on October 22, 2009, to discuss the challenges of and promising approaches to the struggle against obesity. Presenters spoke about current policies, programs, and partnerships that are addressing the obesity epidemic and evidence for effective strategies to change perception and behaviors. The workshop, summarized in this document, provided an opportunity for both countries to learn from each other's efforts and to consider how to apply new strategies at home.

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