Scientific and Research Boards

Advisory Board

Volunteer Staff

 

Scientific and Research Boards

 
Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
Director of Research

Joel Fuhrman M.D. is a board-certified family physician, nutrition researcher, best-selling author, and one of the country’s leading nutritional medicine experts. Dr. Fuhrman is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and he is presently involved in research trials of his nutrient-rich, plant-based diet with physicians and scientists at the University of Pennsylvania health system.

Dr. Fuhrman created the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) scoring system that evaluates the levels of micronutrients and antioxidants in food to aid people in making healthier food choices. Dr. Fuhrman is the author of six books, including Disease-Proof Your Child and his best-selling book, Eat To Live which has gone through 18 printings and several foreign language translations. His most recent book, Eat For Health was published in April 2008.

Dr. Fuhrman teaches that nutritional excellence is not only preventative, but is also the safest and most effective therapeutic interventions for most chronic medical conditions. Dr. Fuhrman is on the board of directors of the American Academy of Lifestyle Medicine and active in educating physicians and health professionals on nutrition and lifestyle medicine. His lectures have been approved for CME credit by the American Academy of Family Physicians. 

 

Michael Greger, MD

A founding member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Michael Greger, MD, is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues.  He has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the International Bird Flu Summit, the National Institutes of Health, testified before Congress, and was invited as an expert witness in the defense of Oprah Winfrey in the infamous "meat defamation" trial. He is a graduate of Cornell University School of Agriculture and Tufts University School of Medicine. Currently Dr. Greger serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States. Hundreds of his nutrition videos are freely available at NutritionFacts.org

 

Kristine Kelsey, PhD, RD

Kristine Kelsey, PhD, RD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Nutrition Department at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Her research interests include health promotion and disease prevention, obesity prevention, and community-based participatory research.  She has been Co-investigator for five CDC-funded health promotion projects focused on women’s health in eastern North Carolina beginning in 1993 with Health Works for Women and including the current project, Seeds of Hope (2010-2015).  She has experience in grant proposal writing, survey development, project evaluation, intervention development and writing for scientific publications. She also has extensive clinical experience with nutrition assessment and planning for children with developmental disabilities and their families. Dr. Kelsey is an avid gardener and cook.

 

Michael Klaper, MD

Dr. Michael Klaper is a practicing physician with over 40 years experience in general practice and acute care medicine. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, served his medical internship at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia and undertook additional training in surgery, anesthesiology, orthopedics, and obstetrics at the University of California Hospitals in San Francisco.

Dr. Klaper believes strongly that proper nutrition and a balanced lifestyle are essential for health and, in many cases, make the difference between healing an illness or merely treating the symptoms.

Dr. Klaper serves on the staff of the True North Health Center in Santa Rosa, CA, a nutritionally-based medical clinic specializing in therapeutic fasting and health improvement through a whole-foods, plant-based diet. He is Director of the non-profit Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, to further the education of physicians and other health professionals on the importance of nutrition in clinical practice. He is also a member of the Nutrition Task Force of the American Medical Student Association. 

Dr. Klaper has served as an advisor to the NASA project on nutrition for long-term space colonists on the moon and Mars. An author of successful books and videos on cholesterol-free nutrition, he has contributed to the making of two PBS television programs, "Food for Thought," and the award-winning, "Diet for a New America."

 

David Nanus, MD

Dr. Nanus is an internationally recognized leader in the treatment and care of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers, including cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder and testes. He is actively involved in clinical, translational and basic research in GU malignancies, serving as principle or co-investigator on a variety of clinical research trials that incorporate novel targeted therapies for his patients. Since 2004, Dr. Nanus has served as Co-Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University and Clinical Chief of the Division. He is the recipient of numerous awards including membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.

 

Barbara Sarter PhD, APRN, FNP-C, DiHom

Dr. Barbara Sarter is currently an Associate Professor in Advanced Practice Nursing at the University of San Diego. Previously she was an Associate Professor of Nursing and Family Medicine at the University of Southern California. She obtained her Ph.D. in Nursing from New York University. Dr. Sarter is the author of three books and numerous articles. She is a family nurse practitioner in active practice. She had an internship in nutritional medicine with Dr. Fuhrman and in 2004 completed a fellowship in clinical cancer genetics at the City of Hope Medical Center, where she investigated the biological mechanisms by which herbs and foods can help prevent various cancers. Dr. Sarter specializes in integrative treatment of health problems in men, women and children.

 

Advisory Board

Jerry Deutsch
Board President

Jerry Deutsch is the President of the Board of Directors for the National Health Association.  He became President after serving three terms on the Board and has led the organization into the 21st century by enhancing its web presence and revitalizing the Annual International Healthy Living Conferences.  Jerry attended Cornell University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development.  He did graduate research and received advanced degrees from Aarhus University in Denmark and Purdue University.  

Jerry founded Deutsch Organization as its President and CEO.  The company built, developed, and operated 15 retail jewelry stores (Deutsch Jewelers, John Gerald Jewelers, and Keepsake Diamond Center) and 5 card and gift stores (Hallmark and Cardtech).

Jerry has worked as a business coach with MCA consulting, and as an independent consultant in both business and health.  His work with Solutionbox.com helped develop programs for hundreds of professional coaches in the areas of business, health and wellness, family counseling, and personal development.

Currently Jerry works in real estate land development and has multiple projects on the Big Island of Hawaii.  He and others are working towards developing a sustainable green community on the Big Island.

 

K. Emily Bond

K. Emily Bond is a writer who has worked for O, The Oprah Magazine, Ladies’ Home Journal and The Village Voice.  She has also written for iVillage, The New York Observer, BUST, NewYorkMagazine.com, the Huffington Post and a host of other publications in the US and abroad. In addition, she reported on and researched Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins’s book, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (Harper Collins, 2006) and The Teen Vogue Handbook (Razorbill, 2009). She got her start in media at Discovery Networks International working with the communications and publicity teams for the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

 

Joe Cross

Joe Cross is an Australian entrepreneur and investor who invests in early stage high potential growth companies. These include investments in the fashion, transportation, private equity finance, derivatives, trading, early childhood education, structural steel distribution and health and wellness sectors.

Joe began his business career as a trader on the Sydney Futures Exchange where he worked from the early 1980s until 1998. During this time, Joe founded several companies in the derivatives trading and technology space.

From the late 1990s until 2003, Joe managed a diverse portfolio of assets in telecommunications, media, technology and financial services for Queensland Press Ltd, a wholly owned company of News Corp.

During 2003, Joe began investing his own capital through his investment vehicle Jaymsea Investments Pty Ltd. A number of these businesses have gone from a start up to a thriving and successful business in a few short years.

Today, Jaymsea has a diverse portfolio of active investments with financial and managerial stakes in high potential growth companies. The portfolio includes: Thakoon a leading US based high end fashion label; Willow a high end Australian based fashion label; and Citibabes, a club and education centre for families with small children.

Most recently, Joe founded Reboot Media; a health and lifestyle brand that creates entertaining and actionable educational media for anyone that is sick and tired of being sick and fat. Joe is the Chairman and CEO of Reboot Media, as well as the Co-Director, Executive Producer, and the host and subject of Reboot Media's first feature length film, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead". Joe lives in New York and Sydney.

 

Mark Huberman

Mark Huberman has been involved with the National Health Association for most of his life, having attended his first annual conference with his parents Max and Ruth Huberman, in 1964 when he was 13 years old. He began his service to the NHA (then called the ANHS) as a national Board Member at age 18, and has served the Association for the past 29 years on just about every level.  He was elected the Association's youngest President in 1977 and served two consecutive two-year terms. He returned to serve two terms as President in the mid-1990's and currently serves as a Member of the Executive Committee.

Outside of his work for the NHA, he is currently serving his 7th year as Chief Magistrate and Court Administrator of the Mahoning County Domestic Relations Court. Prior to that he was in the private practice of law for over 20 years, 10 of which were as a Part-Time Referee-Magistrate of his local Juvenile Court. Mark is also currently serving as President of his Local Board of Education, a position to which he was elected 20 years ago. He was recently elected President of the Ohio Association of Magistrates.

Mark loves sports, the theater and, in the summer time, his organic garden! He and his wife Wanda are the proud parents of daughters, Heather, a Sophomore at Youngstown State University, and Lisa, a Junior at Boardman High School, who are both Century Club Members of the NHA.

 

Robert Mac

Robert Mac is a second generation film maker and writer. His work has been screened at Festivals all over the world, including the Sundance Film Festival. His documentary “Small Poppies” featured academy award winning actor, Geoffrey Rush performing at the Dublin Theatre Festival. He is also the founding director of the world’s first writing marathon, Once Upon A Deadline. From 2006 to 2009 he was the Executive Director and Co-Creator of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, a documentary exploring nutrition and natural health featuring Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Joe Cross.

 

Deborah Morin

Deborah Morin has been an entrepreneur, environmental activist, and software consulstant. She has worked with non-profit organizations worlwide advising on organizational strategy. For the past 20 years her passion has been exploring health through yoga and diet. In addition to her personal studies, she has also hosted and taught at yoga and meditation workshops around the world. Deborah currently serves on the Tapovan Maharaj Trust in India.

 

Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith created and introduced to the U.S. market the first patient education and marketing medical software system for a variety of medical practices including Dentistry, Plastic Surgery and many others. This platform is now an integral part of medical offices throughout the world.

Bobby then entered the Direct Sales Industry with a start up telecommunications company and achieved the Vice President position in less than 18 months. His company reached the status of the 2nd most profitable privately held company on the Inc. 500 list and Bobby became one of the top income earners in the world in that industry. He began to create and implement training systems and protocols that have been utilized by many industry leaders.  His public speaking and trainings have reached millions of individuals throughout the North America and Europe. Bobby became a consultant for cutting edge Direct Sales Companies and continued to develop his public speaking and business and motivational training techniques. Today he is one of the most respected and sought after public speakers and trainers in the industry.

Six years ago Bobby started and currently administers the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer Foundation, one of the most impactful non profit cancer foundations in the world. His Foundation has contributed to significant reductions in colon cancer deaths. Most recently he has strategically developed an education grant with Google, a multi million dollar grant with Time Warner, and has successfully created the first ever USA Today feature on Colon Cancer Prevention and Treatment that has reached millions of households.

 

Volunteer Staff

Abigail Mahnke
Volunteer Coordinator

Abigail Mahnke has been eating a high nutrient dense diet for 4 years, since reading Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live. She is a passionate advocate for healthy eating and joined NRP to help make these critical research studies a reality. She is overseeing volunteer activities and event coordination, as well as managing many of the day-to-day aspects of the organization. 

Abigail owns a staffing agency, providing administrative and bookkeeping support to small companies. She worked for 17 years in publishing, performing many roles, including Production Director, and was the host for 6 years of the award-winning interview show Inner Views. She lives in Austin, TX.

 

Ronni Arno Blaisdell

Ronni Arno Blaisdell is a Holistic Health Counselor, and the co-creator of Improve Your Groove, a virtual integrative wellness center.  Ronni has worked for several cancer-related non-profit organizations, and is the founder of Team Survivor Tri-State, a non-profit organization that provides free exercise programs and health education to women with cancer.  After seeing how nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle changes can affect cancer survivors, she began to focus on how those same changes may prevent disease from recurring…  or from ever even happening in the first place.  

Ronni is also a writer and contributor to numerous health-related magazines, newsletters, websites, blogs, and television and radio shows.

 

Carrie Forrest

Carrie is a graduate student in public health nutrition and a future registered dietitian. Before making a career change to the field of nutrition, she earned an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California and worked for several years in non-profit healthcare fundraising. Carrie was inspired to adopt a nutritarian lifestyle in 2010 after reading Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live and writes the popular blog, Carrie on Vegan.