January 11, 2022

IFIC Elects 2022-2023 Trustees

Public-Private Board to Oversee Promotion of Evidence-Based Information on Nutrition, Food Safety & Agriculture

(Washington, D.C.) — The International Food Information Council (IFIC) confirmed a diverse group of Trustees at the organization’s annual meeting in December. IFIC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes science-based information on nutrition, food safety and agriculture. IFIC is led by a public-private Board of Trustees comprised of academic and food industry leaders with expertise in nutrition, food safety, risk communications, biotechnology and epidemiology. The majority of IFIC’s board is comprised of independent academic researchers. 

“IFIC’s mission is to communicate the best available evidence-based information at the intersection of food and health,” said IFIC CEO Joseph Clayton. “In too many cases, today’s consumer is inundated with inaccurate information and claims about food. Through consumer research and education, IFIC staff experts look forward to working with our Trustees to offer accurate and actionable information about food, ingredients, production, diets and health.” 

The 2022 IFIC Board of Trustees includes:  

Regan Bailey, PhD, MPH, RD, Professor, Faculty Associate, Purdue University (Co-Chair) 

Regina Benjamin, MD, Bayou Clinic, Inc. & Former U.S. Surgeon General  

Susan Bond, Vice President Regulatory & Scientific Affairs, Kerry, Inc.  

Jessica Campbell, PhD, Senior Nutrition Manager, Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, General Mills 

Russ Dyer, SVP, Chief Communications Officer and Head of Public & Government Affairs, Mondelez International (Co-Chair) 

Mario Ferruzzi, PhD, Director, Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Chief, Section of Developmental Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences  

Don Jones, Senior Vice President, Quality, Simply Good Foods (Co-Vice Chair) 

Simin Meydani, D.V.M, PhD, Senior Scientist and Director of Nutritional Immunology Team, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Professor of Nutrition and Immunology, Tufts University  

Amy Preston, PhD, Senior Manager, R&D Regulatory, Nutrition and Agile Innovation, The Hershey Company  

Tia Rains, PhD, Vice President, Customer Engagement & Strategic Development, Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America  

Dojin Ryu, PhD, Professor, Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences, University of Idaho  

Barbara Schneeman, PhD, Professor Emerita, Department of Nutrition University of California, Davis  

Timothy Sellnow, PhD, Professor, Strategic Communication, Nicholson School of Communication and Media, University of Central Florida  

Anna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD, Dean & Professor, Departments of Nutrition and Biostatistics & Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts – Amherst (Co-Vice Chair) 

Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD, Professor of Cooperative Extension: Animal Biotechnology and Genomics Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis  

Jeffrey Zachwieja, PhD, Senior Director, Global R&D Nutrition Sciences, PepsiCo (Treasurer/Secretary) 

Additionally, the organization welcomed two new public experts to the IFIC Assembly: Jamy Ard, MD, Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention at Wake Forest School of Medicine, and Jeneen Fields, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University. Along with the Trustees and Public Liaisons, who represent various federal agencies in U.S. and Canada, these individuals will lend their knowledge and expertise to science communications programs that aim to inform the public on nutrition, food safety and agriculture topics.  

A full list of IFIC Trustees and Public Liaisons can be found here. 

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The International Food Information Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes science-based information on nutrition, food safety and agriculture. For more information, visit https://ific.org/.