Speakers

Arne Vernon Astrup, M.D., Dr.Med.Sci.
Head of The Department of Human Nutrition
The Faculty of Life Sciences
University of Copenhagen Denmark

Arne Astrup was awarded a degree in medicine from the University of Copenhagen in 1981, and a Doctorate of Medical Science in 1986. He is Head of The Department of Human Nutrition at The Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he was awarded the Chair in Nutrition in 1990, and Director of the Nordea Foundation funded OPUS research centre 2009-13. He is currently Associate Editor of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Main research areas: physiology and pathophysiology of energy and substrate metabolism, with focus on the etiology and treatment of obesity. Major research collaborations include participation in the EU multicenter studies EUROSTARCH, CARMEN, NUGENOB, DIABESITY, DIOGENES, EMOB, and HEALTHGRAIN.

Consultant or member of advisory boards for European Almond Advisory Board; Communications and Scientific Advisory Board of The Global Dairy Platform, USA; 7TM Pharma, DK; NovoNordisk, DK; NeuroSearch, DK; Basic Research, USA; Kraft Foods Worldwide Health & Wellness Advisory Council; Jennie Craig, USA. Recipient of honoraria as speaker for a wide range of Danish and international concerns.

Dennis M. Bier MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Director of the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Texas Children's Hospital
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
Editor-in-Chief American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Dennis M. Bier, M.D., is Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the USDA Children’s Nutrition Research Center, and Program Director of the NIH General Clinical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine.  He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science (USA) and Chairman of the Institute’s Food and Nutrition Board. Dr. Bier is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition, a member of the American Dietetic Association Foundation Board, and Chairman of the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation Board. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Associate Editor of the Annual Review of Nutrition. Previously, Dr. Bier was President of the American Society for Nutrition (with Dr. Naomi Fukagawa), the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and the American Society of Clinical Nutrition. He has authored more than 260 scientific publications and has received the Nutrition Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the E.V. McCollum Award from the American Institute of Nutrition, and the Grace A. Goldsmith Award from the American College of Nutrition.

Johannes Brug, PhD, MSc
Director EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Chair of Division VI of the VU University Medical Center
Professor of Epidemiology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Brug received a Master of Science degree in human nutrition from Wageningen University and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Dutch Epidemiology Institute. He obtained his PhD (Public Health) at Maastricht University.

At present Johannes Brug is director of the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research and professor of epidemiology at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. The EMGO Institute’s mission is to initiate, conduct and report excellent research in public and occupational health, primary care, rehabilitation and long-term care. Brug is honorary professor at the School of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences of Deakin University, Melbourne Australia.

Brug worked for the Dutch TNO Nutrition Institute, the Dutch Cancer Society, the School of Social Sciences of the Netherlands Open University (as dean of education), for the Faculty of Health Sciences at Maastricht University (as professor of Nutrition Education and director of education), and for the Erasmus University Medical Center (as professor of Determinants of Population Health).

Brug’s main research interests are the development and evaluation of health education and health promotion interventions, with a special interest in behavioral nutrition and physical activity. Brug is the editor of the Dutch handbook on health education and health promotion, and a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Journal of Health Promotion. He co-authored more than 300 international scientific publications.

For additional information, please visit:

http://johannesbrug.blogspot.com/

http://www.emgo.nl/team/476/johannesbrug/personal-information/   

Bruce Griffin
Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom       

Professor Griffin is a biomedical scientist with expertise in lipid metabolism, nutritional biochemistry and cardiovascular disease. After a BSc in medical laboratory science (Portsmouth, 1984), he gained his PhD on the effects of exercise & diet on human plasma lipoproteins at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland (1988), and undertook postdoctoral research in Pathological Biochemistry at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (1988-94). Since then, he has held academic posts as a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Nutritional Metabolism at the University of Surrey, in England. He is active as a teacher, researcher and public speaker in human metabolic nutrition in relation to cardiovascular health. He has published extensively on the topics of blood lipids, dietary fat and cardiovascular risk. His research has been supported by grants from government research councils, health charities and industry.

Tim Lang (via video link)
Professor of Food Policy
Centre for Food Policy
City University
London United Kingdom

Tim Lang has been Professor of Food Policy at City University's Centre for Food Policy since 2002. He was a hill farmer in Lancashire in the 1970s and for the last 35 years has engaged in public and academic research and debate about food policy. He was Commissioner on the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission(2006-11). He’s co-author of Food Policy (Oxford University Press, 2009), the Atlas of Food (Earthscan, 2008) and Food Wars (Earthscan, 2004).

Helen O'Connor, BSc UNSW DipND (USYD) PhD (USYD)
Lecturer, Discipline of Exercise and Sports Science
University of Sydney, Australia

Helen is a Senior Lecturer in nutrition at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney where she teaches public health and sports nutrition to exercise science and nutrition and dietetic students. Helen's research interests include thermoregulation, energy metabolism, body composition and weight management. Helen is an accrediting practicing Dietitian (APD), Fellow of Sports Dietitians Australia and member of the American College of Sports Medicine. Helen is also on the board of the international sports nutrition organisation, Professionals in Nutrition and Exercise for Sports (PINES) an affiliate to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Helen commenced her career in clinical dietetics then completed a PhD through the University of Sydney. She has extensive clinical expertise in the area of weight management and sports dietetics. Helen has consulted to many elite athletes though the NSW Institute of Sport, the Bulldogs National Rugby League (1990-current) and the Sydney Swans (1986-2002) Australian Rules Football teams. She was dietitian to world champion boxer Kostya Tszyu and ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer. Helen was the inaugural president of Sports Dietitians Australia (1996-2000) and has been involved in supporting catering services to athletes at the Sydney Olympic, Melbourne and Delhi Commonwealth Games. In 2000, Helen was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for services to Australian Sport and in 2005, a fellowship with SDA. In addition to numerous scientific papers and book chapters, Helen has published six lay books in sports nutrition.

Jenny Reid
Manager (Food Safety), Science, Information and Risk
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, New Zealand

Jenny’s career in the public sector has spanned more than 20 years.  She worked in the 1990’s in the development of New Zealand’s first national nutrition policy and first set of national food and nutrition guidelines.  She continued to work on the National Plan of Action for Nutrition and then onto the development of Healthy Eating Healthy Action (HEHA) – both key developments for nutrition policy in New Zealand.  She has worked for WHO on a number of short term assignments assisting countries in the development of national nutrition policies.  For the last ten years Jenny has worked in the area of food regulation – playing a key role in the development of the joint food standards with Australia. Jenny has been actively involved in the development of global food regulations through Codex Alimentarius and represents New Zealand at these committees for both Nutrition and Food Labelling.

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

Kylie Ball
Senior Research Fellow, School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences
Deakin University, Australia

Professor Kylie Ball holds a Personal Chair and is a Senior Research Fellow in the area of physical activity, nutrition and obesity in the Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (C-PAN) within the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Professor Ball is currently the recipient of a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Research Fellowship. Her research focuses specifically on understanding and promoting healthy eating and physical activity and preventing obesity, particularly in high-risk target groups such as young women and people who are socio-economically disadvantaged. She has served on numerous scientific and expert advisory committees, including the Obesity Working Group of the National Preventative Health Taskforce; the National Heart Foundation of Australia’s Obesity Working Group, and it’s Physical Activity Committee; and as President (2006-7) of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Kathryn Bicknell
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Faculty of Commerce
Lincoln University, New Zealand

Dr Kathryn Bicknell is a Senior Lecturer in Economics in the Commerce Faculty at Lincoln University. A Fulbright alumni and former President of the New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, Kathryn has a long standing interest in issues of farm animal health and welfare. Since her appointment to the Ministerial National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, Kathryn’s research has focused on economic aspects of animal welfare policy. She is particularly interested in using economic research to better understand issues such as the magnitude and distribution of the cost of improving farm animal welfare, the extent to which choices on food items may influence the welfare of the animals we consume, consumer willingness to pay for better animal welfare, the role of the government in regulating farm animal welfare, the impact of international trade on the welfare of New Zealand livestock and the impact of varying welfare standards on patterns of international trade.

Clare Collins
NHMRC CDA Research Fellow
Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition
The University of Newcastle, Australia

Clare Collins is currently a Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Co-Director of the Priority Research Centre on Physical Activity and Nutrition at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. She holds a National Health and Medical Research Council, Career Development Fellowship and has published over 80 manuscripts. Her main research activity examines the impact of interventions to improve dietary intake and the relationship with changes in weight and health across all ages and stages of life. She has been a member of Nutrition Society of Australia since 1993.

Professor Collins is one of only 6 Fellows of the Dietitians Association of Australian (DAA) and an active member. She chaired the development of the Best Practice Dietetic Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity for Adults and is currently leading the dietetic team at the University of Newcastle in revising the evidence base to inform their revision. She represents DAA on the international working party for the Practice Based Evidence in Nutrition (PEN) in collaboration with Dietitians of Canada and the British Dietetic Association.

Professor Collins is well known in Australia as a DAA media spokesperson and commentator on nutrition and has conducted over 700 media interviews. She has co- authored 5 lay books on weight loss for adults and is the nutrition consultant to the Shine Australia who produce the TV program The Biggest Loser.

Ben Desbrow
BSc(UQ), GD(Nut&Diet) (QUT), MHSc (Deakin), PhD (GU)
Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health
University of Griffith, Australia

Ben is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Senior Lecturer at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. Prior to his academic career he worked as a clinical dietitian at the Wesley Hospital in Brisbane for 8 years focused in the areas of oncology, stem cell transplantation and haemodialysis. In 1999, Ben was awarded the first Nestlé Fellowship in Sports Nutrition at the Australian Institute in Sport. Subsequently he completed a PhD in sports nutrition in 2008 and is currently the program convenor of the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and Nutrition research unit director within the Griffith Health Institute. His research interests span applied sports and clinical nutrition research with particular focus on the effect of food-borne drugs (specifically caffeine and alcohol) on human performance.

Vicki Flood
Nutritional Epidemiologist, Public Health
University of Wollongong, Australia

Vicki Flood is an Associate Professor in Public Health, from the School of Health Sciences, University of Wollongong. Vicki has a background in nutrition and epidemiology and currently conducts research on a wide range of population-based projects, including cohorts and intervention studies. Areas of particular interest include: lifestyle factors associated with healthier outcomes among older people, including eye disease; food access, availability and food security; interventions to reduce chronic disease among children and adults; and supporting indigenous health research. Vicki has published over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and is a regular reviewer of manuscripts and grant submissions. 

David Gerrard
Associate Professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Otago and Director of Development and Alumni Relations in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, New Zealand

David is Chair Emeritus of Drug Free Sport New Zealand, the New Zealand Drowning Prevention Council, and an immediate past Member of the Medical Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) where he chaired the WADA Expert Group on Therapeutic Use Exemption.

His publications and medical research include paediatric sports medicine, injury prevention in sport, bioethics and anti-doping strategies.

 He was an Olympic Team Physician in 1984 and 1988, Chef de Mission of the New Zealand Olympic Team to Atlanta (1996) and Medical Commissioner in Barcelona (1992) Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008).

Robert Henry
Director Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation
University of Queensland, Australia

Professor Robert Henry conducts research on the development of new products from plants. He is Professor of Innovation in Agriculture and Foundation Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), a new Institute of the University of Queensland established in collaboration with the Queensland Government.  He was previously Director of the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University, Research Director of the Grain Foods CRC and Research Program Leader in the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre.  His current research targets plant genome sequencing to capture of novel genetic resources for diversification of food crops to deliver improved food products. 

Professor Henry has been involved in establishing several Cooperative Research Centres in Australia and has contributed to the management of research funding by Rural Research and Development Corporations and is a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts and the Plant Breeders Rights Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland (B Sc (Hons)), Macquarie University (M Sc (Hons)) and La Trobe University (Ph D). He was awarded a higher doctorate (D Sc) by the University of Queensland for his work on variation in plants, is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a recipient of the Guthrie Medal for his contributions to cereal chemistry.  Professor Henry is a senior editor of the Plant Biotechnology Journal and an associate editor of Conservation Genetics.

Sally Poppitt
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Biological Sciences & Department Medicine
University of Auckland, New Zealand

Sally Poppitt is Associate Professor in Nutrition in the School of Biological Sciences and the Department of Medicine at the University of Auckland. She is also the founding Director of the Human Nutrition Unit, which is a residential nutrition intervention trials unit in Auckland city with a focus on obesity, weight control and the regulation of appetite. Originally from the UK, she has been in New Zealand for the past 10 years but prior to that Sally was a research fellow at the MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Unit based in Cambridge, United Kingdom and also at the MRC tropical nutrition research facility in The Gambia, West Africa

David Raubenheimer
Professor of Nutritional Ecology
Institute of Natural Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand

David Raubenheimer is Professor of Nutritional Ecology Massey University, Albany. Born in South Africa, David completed his PhD at Oxford University in 1992, where he stayed on as a lecturer until his move to New Zealand in 2004. In collaboration with Professor Steve Simpson (University of Sydney), David has developed a new approach called the geometric framework for nutrition, and used it to address a wide range of problems in biology from the relationship between nutrition and ageing to the dietary causes of human obesity. His current research focus is on studies of animals in the wild, including marine fish, birds, dolphins, large predators (tigers and snow leopards) and primates including humans. David has been Visiting Fellow at the Smithsonian Institute, a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg) in Berlin, Distinguished lecturer in Behavioural and Brain Sciences at Cornell University, Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Oslo, and visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. David has published more than 140 journal articles and book chapters, and jointly authored a new book “The Nature of Nutrition: a Unifying Framework from Animal Adaptation to Human Obesity” to be published by Princeton University Press early in 2012. He heads the Nutritional Ecology Research Group, and is Programme Director of the Bachelor of Natural Sciences at Massey University.

Rachael Taylor
Karitane Senior Research Fellow in Early Childhood Obesity
Edgar National Centre for Diabetes Research, Dunedin School of Medicine, New Zealand

Rachael Taylor is a Research Associate Professor at the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research, based at the University of Otago. She became the inaugural Karitane Fellow in Early Childhood Obesity in 2007, a position created from an endowment as part of the Leading Thinkers campaign. Her research interests include the assessment of body composition during growth, testing different approaches to the effective prevention of overweight in children, families and communities, and determining suitable strategies for weight management in children. Current intervention projects of interest include POI and BLISS (obesity prevention initiatives targeting the first few years of life), PLAY and Healthy Homework (school-based interventions) and MInT (screening for overweight in young children).