Scientific Forum Speaker's Biographies
Adam Drewnowski, PhD, MA Professor, Epidemiology and Medicine Director, Nutritional Sciences Program, University of Washington in Seattle
Adam Drewnowski is a world-renowned leader in innovative research approaches for the prevention and treatment of obesity. He is Director of the Nutritional Sciences Program and Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also serves as Director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition and the Exploratory Center for Obesity Research and is a Joint Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Dr. Drewnowski's current research is focused on the relationship between poverty and obesity and the links between obesity and diabetes rates in vulnerable populations and access to healthy foods. He is the author of over 100 research papers, numerous reviews and book chapters, and is a frequent invited speaker at scientific meetings, conferences, and symposia.
His interests are in taste and food preferences, dietary choices, studies on obesity and eating disorders, new tools for assessing quality of the total diet, nutrition and cancer prevention.
Dr. Drewnowski obtained his MA degree in biochemistry from Oxford University in the UK and his PhD in psychology from The Rockefeller University in New York. Following post-doctoral training at the University of Toronto, he returned to Rockefeller as Assistant Professor. He later moved to the University of Michigan, where he became Professor of Public Health, Psychology and Psychiatry, and Director of the Program in Human Nutrition at the School of Public Health.
Dr. Drewnowski joined the University of Washington in 1998.
Eileen Kennedy, DSc, RD Dean, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
An international nutrition policy expert, Eileen Kennedy was named dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in May of 2004. Throughout her career, Dean Kennedy has championed nutrition research and its application to policy, from her seven years as a leading voice for nutrition at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to her studies of maternal and child health and nutrition in Africa, Asia, North and Central America.
Her policy leadership has included involvement with the United Nations, the National Academy of Sciences, the White House National Science and Technology Council, the White House Biotechnology Subcommittee, the Surgeon General's Task Force on Health Disparities, among others. While serving as deputy under-secretary and then acting under-secretary at the USDA, Dean Kennedy created the "Healthy Eating Index," a validated measure for researchers monitoring nutrition, which earned her a worldwide reputation. Recently, Kennedy was president of the Global Nutrition Institute, which seeks to link science-based nutrition research to action through public/private partnerships.
A graduate of Hunter College, Dr. Kennedy holds two masters degrees from Pennsylvania State University and Harvard University and earned her Doctor of Science in Nutrition from Harvard's School of Public Health.
Victor Fulgoni III, PhD, Senior Vice President, Nutrition Impact, LLC
Victor Fulgoni is currently senior Vice President of Nutrition Impact, LLC. Nutrition Impact is a consulting firm that helps food companies develop and communicate aggressive, science-based claims about their products and services. To date Nutrition Impact has been successful in helping one client successfully complete a new health claim petition, in helping another client successfully complete a FDAMA notification authorizing another new health claim, and in helping a third client obtain a new nutrient content claim. Thus Nutrition Impact was integrally involved in the last three nutrition health claims authorized by the US FDA.
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 Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee with a major in animal nutrition and a minor in statistics.
Dan Kraemer Principal, IA Collaborative
Dan Kraemer is co-founder and Creative Director of IA Collaborative, a user-centered design firm dedicated to helping companies prosper through brand and marketplace innovation. Under his leadership, IA Collaborative has gained recognition as one of the world's leading design innovators, working with clients including Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Miller Brewing Co., Gatorade and Caterpillar. As Creative Director, Kraemer has spent 17-years perfecting IA Collaborative's proprietary User Driven Design process, which starts with immersive ethnographic research and results in truly innovative design and powerful design thinking.
His ability to connect with the core of a brand through communication and interactive design solutions has delivered huge dividends for IA's clients from financial performance to cultural change. Following the mantra, 'only by living a design problem can you start to solve it,' Kraemer takes an immersive approach to his creative work, and by facilitating a collaborative design process with his clients, he is able to better frame solutions, build alignment and articulate a common vision. This proven design method is more than a competitive advantage for IA, it's a passionate ethos in IA's downtown Chicago office where Kraemer leads a team of strategists, researchers, designers and writers.
Kraemer has proven that, by observing and understanding user behavior, emerging technology, and brand potential, today's most innovative thinkers can not only define business opportunities, but translate key insights into inspiring, future-focused brand, product and service experiences.
