Appendix D
Planning Committee Biosketches
Gordon L. Jensen, Ph.D., M.D. (Chair), is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Medicine and Nutrition at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Dr. Jensen’s research interests have focused largely on geriatric nutrition concerns. A major limitation in the identification of elders at nutritional risk has been the lack of valid methodologies that have been tested in rigorous research studies with well-defined outcome measures. His team has therefore emphasized the development and testing of nutrition screening and assessment tools in relation to specific functional and health care resource outcomes for older persons. In particular, he has focused on the impact of obesity on these outcomes. Dr. Jensen is the current president of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), past president of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), and a current member of A.S.P.E.N.’s Foundation Board. He also is a past chair of the Association of Nutrition Programs and Departments. He has served on advisory panels, study sections, or work groups for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Dietetic Association, and the Food and Nutrition Board. Dr. Jensen received a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Cornell University and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College.
Ucheoma O. Akobundu, Ph.D., R.D., is the Director of Project Management and Impact at the Meals on Wheels Association of America and currently serves on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Healthy Aging Dietetics Practice Group. Dr. Akobundu has more than 10 years of experience working in community nutrition and aging services research,
in addition to program management and evaluation within academia and nonprofit organizations. She received her Ph.D. in Nutrition at the University of Maryland and completed her Dietetic Internship at Hunter College, New York. She earned an M.S. in Nutrition with a concentration in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts and a B.S. in Biology with a minor in French from the State University of New York.
Susan J. Crockett, Ph.D., R.D., is an Adjunct Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Until January 2013, she was Vice President and Senior Technology Officer for Health and Nutrition at General Mills, where she led the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. She was responsible for health and nutrition strategy for General Mills’ businesses, health and nutrition regulatory affairs and issues management, nutrition science and health professional communication. Dr. Crocket has published research about nutrition education in schools, effectiveness of nutrition interventions in rural medical clinics and communities, and influence of environments on the eating behavior of children. She chaired the Board of Directors of the International Food Information Council from 2009 to 2013, was active in the International Life Sciences Institute, and was a member of the Food and Nutrition Board’s Food Forum. Dr. Crockett is a Registered Dietitian and received a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and an M.S. and B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Minnesota.
Julie L. Locher, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her primary area of research focuses on social and environmental factors, including the role of formal and informal support on influencing health-related behaviors and outcomes related to nutrition. She is particularly interested in nutritional issues of vulnerable older adults. Her recent studies focus on interventions aimed at improving patient-centered outcomes by providing meals to frail older adults who are being discharged from the hospital, and implementing lifestyle changes in older adults with obesity. She serves as the Director of the UAB Translational Nutrition and Aging Program and as the Associate Director for Enrichment within the UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center. Dr. Locher earned her Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from UAB.
Robert C. Post, Ph.D., M.Ed., M.Sc., is Senior Director for Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs at Chobani, LLC. Dr. Post’s mission is to help drive nutrition strategies around the brand’s current and future offerings and navigate critical nutrition issues, such as dietary guidance, marketing, and food labeling. He leads work to translate nutrition science into meaningful messages about the contributions of yogurt and dairy foods to diet, health,
and wellness. Dr. Post recently served as key nutrition advisor to the White House and First Lady Michelle Obama and collaborator on the White House Let’s Move! initiative. He also served as Director of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) and most recently as Chief Science Officer for FoodMinds, where he advised major food companies on changes in the nutritional affairs environment, including dietary guidance, marketing, and nutrition and food labeling. At CNPP, Dr. Post led the efforts for establishing national dietary guidance, leading the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, designing the USDA’s Nutrition Evidence Library, and directing the MyPlate (ChooseMyPlate.gov) initiative. Dr. Post currently serves on American Society for Nutrition research advisory groups, including the Food and Nutrition Science Solutions Task Force, the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Board of Directors for the International Food Information Council. He is an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Institute of Food Technologists, where he is co-director of the Food Labeling for Foods Marketed in the United States, and Food Laws and Regulations short-courses. From 2004 until 2013, he was an adjunct professor in the Nutrition and Food Science Department at the University of Maryland. He holds Ph.D., M.Ed., M.Sc., and B.S. degrees from the University of Maryland.
Mary Pat Raimondi, M.S., R.D.N., is Vice President of Strategic Policy and Partnership at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She brings methodical and strategic expertise in public policy, marketing, and nutrition education to her position at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her focuses are on federal government relations and lobbying, including federal regulatory relations, alliance and coalition building, public policy strategy development, and identification of the new policy and program opportunities. Before joining the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ms. Raimondi was the Program Director for Health and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota Extension, where she helped shape the university’s federal and state legislative public policy key messages and managed multiple grants and innovative programming. Ms. Raimondi is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and received her M.S. in Nutrition from the Loyola University Chicago.
Katherine L. Tucker, Ph.D., is Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology in the Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She also holds adjunct appointments at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, and the Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. Dr. Tucker has
contributed more than 250 articles in scientific journals. Her research focuses on dietary intake and risk of chronic disease, including osteoporosis, cognitive decline, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease. She is the Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)–funded center on Population Health and Health Disparities, studying the roles and interactions of stress, social support, diet, health behavior and genetic predisposition in relation to health disparities in Puerto Rican adults. She has collaborated for many years with the Framingham Studies, particularly the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, and she serves as a scientific adviser for, and leads a Vanguard data analysis center with, the Jackson Heart Study. She is the Editor-in Chief of Advances in Nutrition, the review journal of the ASN, and currently serves on the NIH study section for Kidney, Nutrition, Obesity and Diabetes. She is also an associate editor for Public Health Nutrition, and was a co-editor of the recently published 11th edition of the textbook Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. She is a past-chair of ASN and past Associate Editor of the Journal of Nutrition. Dr. Tucker is a member of the Food and Nutrition Board and also served on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Implications of Dioxin in the Food Supply. Dr. Tucker received her Ph.D. in International Nutrition from Cornell University.
Elaine Waxman, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at The Urban Institute. Her expertise includes food insecurity, nutrition and the food assistance safety net, the social determinants of health disparities, as well as broader issues affecting low-income families and communities. Her current research includes a health care utilization study as part of a randomized controlled trial of a diabetes intervention and a planning project for longitudinal research on food insecurity and housing insecurity. Before joining the Institute, Dr. Waxman served as the Vice President of Research and Nutrition at Feeding America, where she oversaw research on food insecurity, the intersection of hunger and health, and the circumstances and experiences of individuals seeking food assistance. In that role, Dr. Waxman supervised Hunger in America 2014, the largest study ever conducted of charitable feeding in the United States, and collaborated on the development of Map the Meal Gap project, the first county-level estimates of food insecurity in the United States. She has co-authored numerous research and policy reports and articles in scholarly journals, including Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, Social Service Review, Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, and Journal of Food Law and Policy. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, where she is currently a Lecturer. She also holds a
Master’s degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Health Policy from the University of Chicago.
Nancy S. Wellman, Ph.D., R.D., is Adjunct Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Professor (retired) of Dietetics and Nutrition in the School of Public Health at Florida International University, the public research university in Miami. She is the former director of the National Resource Center on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Aging. Dr. Wellman is a past President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and has been a member of committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Wellman’s research areas and nutrition expertise include aging, public policy, sports, nutrition screening, and marketing, as well as consumer education and food labeling. She is a Registered Dietician and received her Ph.D. from the University of Miami, School of Education and Allied Professions and her M.S. from Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition.
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