Little Beans, Big Opportunities: Realizing the Potential of Pulses to Meet Today's Global Health Challenges

Speakers

Scientific Organizing Committee

Julianne Curran, PhD

Pulse Canada

Julianne Curran has a PhD in Human Nutritional Sciences from the University of Manitoba and has worked at Pulse Canada since 2005 as part of a team to position pulse crops (beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas) as a healthy and environmentally sustainable ingredient solution for the food industry. In her current role of Vice President, Food & Health, Julianne identifies strategic priorities for research related to health, nutrition, processing and utilization of pulses through outreach with a broad range of stakeholders including scientists, government, health professionals, food and pulse processing industries. Julianne also works to facilitate projects and funding partnerships to address these research priorities. Using existing research, Julianne works on developing credible, science-based nutrition and health marketing messages and health claims and provides support for food regulatory initiatives.

Anna Lartey, PhD

United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization

Anna Lartey is the Director of Nutrition at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome Italy. She joined FAO in October 2013. Prior to that she was a Professor of Nutrition at the University of Ghana. Dr. Lartey attended the University of California, Davis, USA, as a Fulbright student and received her Ph.D. in International nutrition. She obtained her MSc and BSc degrees from the University of Guelph and University of Ottawa, Canada respectively. She worked as a researcher in Sub-Saharan Africa for 27 years. Her research focused on maternal child nutrition. Dr Lartey won the University of Ghana’s “Best Researcher Award for 2004”.  She held the International Development Research Center (IDRC, Canada) Research Chair in Nutrition for Health and Socioeconomic Development in sub-Saharan Africa (2009-2014). She is the recipient of the Sight and Life Nutrition Leadership Award for 2014. Dr Lartey currently wears two global hats: i) as Director of Nutrition at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and ii) as President of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS, 2013-2017).

John McDermott, PhD

International Food Policy Research Institute

John McDermott is the Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by IFPRI since January 2012. Previously he was Deputy Director General and Director of Research at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi from 2003-2011. John has lived and worked in Africa for 25 years.

As a researcher, John’s research career has focused on public health, animal health and livestock research in developing countries, primarily Africa. He has led projects on zoonotic and emerging diseases in Asia and Africa. John has a strong background in quantitative methods (modeling, study design, statistics).

He has earned a PhD in quantitative epidemiology from the University of Guelph, a Master’s Degree in Preventive Veterinary Medicine from the University of California – Davis, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Guelph. During his research career, John authored or co-authored 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and conference papers and has advised over 30 post-graduate students, including 20 PhD graduates. He was a visiting Lecturer at the University of Nairobi and a Professor at the University of Guelph. He has also served as an advisor to FAO, WHO, OIE, and other international agencies, served as a non-executive Director o the Global Alliance for Livestock Vaccines and Medicine (GALVmed), and is a member of the advisory committee of veterinarians with Borders in Canada.

Sara F. Rose

Bush Brothers & Company

Sara Fortune Rose is Vice President and Director of Industry and Government Affairs at Bush Brothers & Company, a Knoxville-based family-held food maker best known for its leading brand of bean-based products. Although currently focused on strategic initiatives that impact the growth of both the industry and the company, she has also held roles in Marketing, Manufacturing, Product Development, and Research in her 20 years at the company.

A strong supporter of the bean industry, Sara served as the first President of the Beans for Health Alliance, an international consortium of organizations supporting the link between bean consumption and improved health status, funded by U.S.A.I.D.. She also served on the Board of Directors of the American Pulse Association in its initial 5 years, and currently represents Bush Brothers on the Board of the U.S. Dry Bean Council.

Sara graduated magna cum laude with a BA in History and Economics from Vanderbilt University, and holds an MBA from Indiana University.

Janice MW Rueda, PhD

ADM Edible Bean Specialties, Inc.

Janice MW Rueda earned a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Science from Wayne State University and has worked extensively in child nutrition research and policy. She joined the Edible Bean Specialties group of Archer Daniels Midland in September 2014. In addition to working to develop new market opportunities for bean ingredients, Dr. Rueda continues to collaborate with her science and policy colleagues to establish research priorities, develop grant proposals and facilitate policy to increase the availability of bean-based foods in the food supply. Dr. Rueda is a tireless promoter of beans and their potential to improve both agricultural systems and public health. Dr. Rueda loves her industry, she loves working, and wholeheartedly admits to being one of those people that extends work life into their spare time as much as possible. Dr. Rueda serves on several organizing committees for the International Year of Pulses, she is an active member of several professional organizations, and holds adjunct faculty positions at Washington State University and Wayne State University.

Irvin Widders, PhD

Michigan State University

Dr. Irvin Widders.  Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis.  Joined the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University in 1982 and currently holds the rank of Professor.  The focus of his research program has been on vegetable crop physiology, the regulation of ion transport, and plant responses to abiotic stresses.  Dr. Widders has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Environmental Physiology, Vegetable Crop Production, and Plant Mineral Nutrition.  He also coordinated semester-long study abroad programs in Peru and Costa Rica (1996-2010).

Dr. Widders has been actively engaged in international programs at Michigan State University, having worked in such diverse countries as Honduras, Uruguay, Zimbabwe and Vietnam.  He has served as Director for the Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) (2000-2007), the Dry Grain Pulses CRSP (2007-2012), and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Grain Legumes (2013-2017).  MSU is the Management Entity of this Title XII research and institutional capacity strengthening program funded by the USAID’s Bureau for Food Security in partnership with U.S. universities and agriculture research institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.  Under Dr. Widders’ leadership, the program has expanded in technical scope to include research on human nutrition, has developed ties with the CG’s Grain Legume Research Program, and has improved the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially those which produce, market and consume grain legumes in developing countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Amy R. Beaudreault, PhD

The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science

Currently, Dr. Beaudreault works as associate director of The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, which is dedicated to advancing nutrition science research and knowledge, mobilizing communities and translating this work into the field. She holds a BS in Journalism from the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and an MS in Agricultural Communication, a PhD in Agricultural Education and Extension, and a graduate certificate in survey research from The Ohio State University. Her career spans 15 years’ in strategic communication, quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, and program development, implementation, and evaluation. Prior to joining the Academy, Dr. Beaudreault managed the Ohio State University Extension Agricultural and Safety Health Program and The Great Lakes Center for Agricultural Safety and Health; used her public relations background while working in research communication at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, with an initiative to translate research to practice in biobehavioral health, perinatal research, and injury research and policy; and directed several U.S. Department of Education contracts in Washington, DC.

Julie Shlisky, PhD

The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science

Julie joined the Sackler Institute at the New York Academy of Sciences in 2014 as Program Manager after a postdoctoral fellowship at the New York Obesity Research Center where she examined postprandial energy expenditure. She earned her doctorate in Nutritional Science from Penn State in 2012 where she conducted a 6-month diet and physical activity lifestyle intervention investigating an energy-restricted diet on body composition, metabolic parameters and bone health in premenopausal women. She brings experience from industry and the laboratory to her position at the Academy, having worked in research and development at DuPont after her undergraduate education in molecular biology.

Speakers

Seth Adu-Afarwuah, PhD

University of Ghana

Dr. Seth Adu-Afarwuah is a faculty at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. He obtained his PhD and Post-Doctoral training in International Nutrition from the University of California in Davis, California. Before joining the University of Ghana, he worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Dr. Adu-Afarwuah’s research is in the area of maternal and infant nutrition, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of malnutrition. Since 2009, he has been is a member of a team of international collaborators from the University of California, Davis, the University of Tampere, Finland, and the University of Ghana, Legon investigating the efficacy of micronutrient supplements made using groundnut paste, vegetable oil, powdered milk, and micronutrients for improving the nutrient intakes of women and children in low-income settings. Dr. Adu-Afarwuah has deep knowledge on issues about meeting the nutritional needs of women and infants during the first 1,000 days and beyond.

Vincent Amanor-Boadu, PhD

Kansas State University

Vincent Amanor-Boadu is an agribusiness economics and management professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University and Principal Investigator of the USAID-funded METSS project in Ghana and the Legume Innovation Laboratory’s Consumer Choice Economics project in Eastern Africa. . He received his PhD from the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada. He was a managing director of AgriFood Innovations, an agri-food technology commercialization company he co-founded. He is currently a Managing Editor of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review (IFAMR) and on the editorial advisory board of the International Journal of Chain and Network Science (JCNS). He is a reviewer for a number of journals, including the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Food Policy. His research activities encompass entrepreneurship and business development, inter-organizational relationships and governance and the enterprise of science. Vincent sits on a number of corporate boards and says balancing academics with service to industry ensures his ability to bring real-world situations into his classroom.

Richard Black, PhD

PepsiCo

Richard Black joined PepsiCo in January, 2013 as Vice President of Global R&D Nutrition Sciences, leading PepsiCo’s dynamic nutrition team to develop and drive a nutrition strategy that fuels PepsiCo’s innovation and portfolio transformation through nutrition science. Richard and his team work closely with PepsiCo’s sector R&D organizations and the Global Nutrition Group to leverage nutrition science for the PepsiCo brands.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Richard worked for Mondeléz International, where he served as Vice President, Nutrition & Chief Nutrition Officer. He brings a wealth of leadership and technical expertise from the consumer packaged and pharmaceutical industries to PepsiCo. In his twenty year career, Richard has held nutrition and health and wellness leadership positions at Nestle, Kellogg’s, Novartis, and Kraft with a focus on dairy, sports nutrition, and micro/macro ingredients. In addition, Richard was an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Nutrition Sciences. Richard also served on Health Canada advisory panels, developing policies on health claims and addition of micronutrients in food. He holds his PhD in Psychology of Eating Behavior and has a dual BS degree in Chemistry and Psychology from McMaster University.

Richard is a member of the American Society of Nutrition, Institute of Food Technologists, The Obesity Society, as well as various food industry trade associations.

Laurette Dubé, PhD

McGill University

Laurette Dubé is Full Professor and holds the James McGill Chair of consumer and lifestyle psychology and marketing at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University, which she joined in 1995. Dr. Dubé’s lifetime research interest bears on the study of affects and behavioral economic processes underlying consumption, lifestyle, and health behavior, and how such knowledge can inspire more effective behavioral change and ecosystem transformation. Beyond scientific publications in the leading scientific journals of her field, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Management Information System Quarterly and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, her work has been presented in leading general audience and business publications such as Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and The Economist.

Dubé is also the founding chair and scientific director of the McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics. The center has pioneered a unique integrative approach to foster convergence between disciplinary and sectoral science, policy and innovation, such that single and collective action throughout society target human and economic development at the same time. Convergent innovation propounds that a comprehensive redress of complex societal problems requires technological innovation to be synergistically bundled with other types of innovation such as social, organizational, financial and institutional innovations, creating convergent outcomes. In partnership with the  Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program) and the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (the INCLEN Trust International), the Center is spearheading the formation of a convergent innovation coalition, with roadmap projects targeting food and nutrition security, prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, as well as technology-enabled affordable food, health and healthcare.

Dr. Dubé received the YMCA Women of Distinction Award for the social sciences in 2011 and The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Allan Hruska, PhD

United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization

Allan J. Hruska is Plant Production and Protection Officer of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He has been based in the Sub-regional Office for Mesoamerica in Panama since 2008 and previously was based in the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Santiago, Chile.

He earned a PhD in entomology from North Carolina State University under Dr. Fred Gould, an MSc in genetics from Duke University and a BS in biology from the University of Michigan. He is the author of over thirty refereed publications, many FAO publications and has made dozens of presentations internationally.

Dr. Hruska has dedicated his professional career to the promotion of sustainable agriculture and food security in Latin America. He has lived and worked in Panama, Chile, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica for over thirty years. He has lead projects, programs, and institutions, taught, conducted research and provided technical and policy advice in seed systems, crop disease and pest management, early warning systems for emerging problems, pesticide management, sustainable crop production and food systems, family farming and local development. Previous to his career with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization he worked with CARE, Zamorano and NicaSalud, and the National Agricultural University of Nicaragua.

P. K. Joshi, PhD

International Food Policy Research Institute

Dr. P K Joshi is the director for IFPRI South Asia. Previous to this, he held the positions of the director of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad, India, and the director of the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi. Earlier, Dr. Joshi was South Asia Coordinator at the International Food Policy Research Institute and senior economist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Patancheru. His areas of research include technology policy, market, and institutional economics.

Dr. Joshi has received the following awards: Dr. MS Randhawa Memorial Award of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2009–11), DK Desai Award of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, and RT Doshi Foundation Award of the Agricultural Economics Research Association for outstanding contribution in social science and agricultural economics research. He is a National Academy of Agricultural Sciences Fellow.

Dr. Joshi has also served as the chairman of the SAARC Agricultural Centre’s governing board in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2006–08); chairman of the UN-CAPSA governing board in Bogor (2007); and member of the intergovernmental panel on the World Bank’s International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (2007–08). He served as a member of the International Steering Committee for the Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security Challenge Program, led by the ESSP Science Community and the CGIAR (2009–11).

He was also a member of the core group of the Indian government’s “Right to Food” National Human Rights Commission and the secretary-general of the Fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture. Currently, Dr. Joshi is the trustee of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (since 2008) and secretary of the Agricultural Economics Research Association in India.

Mark J. Manary, MD

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

My professional goal is to ‘fix malnutrition for kids in Africa’. To this end, I have developed ready-to-use therapeutic food and used the food in home-based therapy. Ready-to-use therapeutic food is a novel lipid-based food which has been accepted as the standard of care for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition by the UN agencies. I did the first clinical trial with this food in 2001. I am currently formulating and evaluating new foods designed to augment the therapy of HIV in Africa, and treat moderate childhood malnutrition. I also recognize the importance of work to prevent childhood malnutrition, and to that end am exploring the use of lipid nutrient supplements to as complementary foods for children 6-24 months in Malawi.  I believe the ultimate solution for malnutrition will incorporate improved agriculture. I continue to explore the basic pathophysiology and metabolism of malnutrition, and I am currently looking at the gut microbiota and metabolome in kwashiorkor and marasmus, and well as zinc homeostasis. I love engaging students in my work, as they can be inspired to embrace global health issues and bring fresh perspectives to the problems.

Danielle Nierenberg

Food Tank

Danielle Nierenberg is President of Food Tank and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She has written extensively on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world and innovations in sustainable agriculture. Danielle co-founded Food Tank, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, in 2013 as an organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Prior to starting Food Tank, Danielle spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America, meeting with farmers and farmers’ groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, along with journalists, documenting what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while protecting the environment. Danielle has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

Sonny Ramaswamy, PhD

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Sonny Ramaswamy was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as director of the United States Department of Agriculture’s extramural science agency, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) on May 7, 2012. Through its portfolio of funding, NIFA catalyzes transformative discoveries, education, and engagement to address agricultural challenges.

Ramaswamy has previously held a number of academic positions, including: dean of Oregon State’s College of Agricultural Sciences; director of Purdue’s Agricultural Research Programs; distinguished professor and head of Kansas State’s Entomology Department; professor of entomology at Mississippi State; and research associate at Michigan State. As an insect physiologist, he worked on integrative reproductive biology of insects.

Sonny has received grants from many federal agencies, including NIFA, NSF, NIH, EPA, and USAID. He has published over 150 papers, book chapters, and a book. His many awards include: Fellow of AAAS and Entomological Society of America; Frazier Lecturer, American Society for Horticultural Science; and Presidential Award, Soil Science Society of America.

Dr. Ramaswamy received his BSc (Agriculture) and MSc (Entomology) from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India; PhD (Entomology) from Rutgers. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska’s New Academic Chair’s Program and Harvard’s Management Development Program.

John L. Sievenpiper, MD, PhD, FRCPC

FRCPC, University of Toronto

Dr. Sievenpiper completed his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship training in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He completed his MD at St. Matthew’s University, School of Medicine followed by Residency training in Medicial Biochemistry at McMaster University. Dr. Sievenpiper is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, where he holds the PSI Foundation Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship and a Canadian Diabetes Association Clinician Scientist Award. He is also a Consultant Physician in the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Scientist in the La Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and Knowledge Synthesis Lead of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis & Clinical Trials Unit at St. Michael’s Hospital. His research is focused on using randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses to address important questions in relation to diet and chronic disease prevention. He has authored over 110 scientific papers and 12 book chapters. Dr. Sievenpiper is directly involved in knowledge translation with appointments to the nutrition guidelines’ committees of the Canadian Diabetes Association, European Association for the study of Diabetes (EASD), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and American Society for Nutrition (ASN).

Joanne Slavin, PhD

University of Minnesota

Joanne is a professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota and teaches Advanced Human Nutrition. With the help of current and former graduate students (n=65), she has authored more than 250 scientific articles on dietary fiber, carbohydrates, whole grains, protein, and the role of diet in disease prevention. Joanne was a member of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). She is a Science Communicator for the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and a member of numerous scientific societies, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). Dr. Slavin grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin which she still owns with her 2 sisters. She is a proud Badger graduate with BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.