Thomas is a scientist and consultant with over 30 years experience in the field of natural product development, registration, and licensing, for medicine, food, and cosmetics. He is an expert in botanical research, product innovation, regulatory affairs, and sourcing of raw materials. He holds a PhD in Botany from the University of Johannesburg and has published more than 60 papers and books on topics related to ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, phytotherapy, and natural product regulation.

Marc Brush is a frequent contributor to industry publications and a frequent advisor to industry companies on brand strategy and development. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Nutrition Business Journal.

Rob is the author of Scale Passion and founder of ScalePassion, helping leaders grow without losing their soul. A former CEO of Garden of Life and MegaFood, he led both to rapid growth, B-Corp certification, and successful exits. Garden of Life ranked #14 on the Inc. 500. Recognized as a Top Conscious Business Leader, Rob helps founders align personal purpose with business performance. He lives in Jupiter, Florida.

Andy is CEO of Reliance Vitamins, a manufacturer of premium supplements for retail and brand partners. He is an experienced Consumer Packaged Goods leader known for building and scaling premium brands in the Food, Nutrition, Supplements and Health and Wellness category. Prior to Reliance he was CEO of MegaFood a branded leader in the Natural and Organic supplement category. He started his career at General Mills, working on brands such as Cheerios, Green Giant and Larabar.

Steven, a subject matter expert and owner of Dentali Botanical Sciences, has served as a Research Fellow at Herbalife and the Science Officer for the American Herbal Products Association. He holds a PhD specializing in Natural Products, and focuses on botanical ingredient authenticity. He has provided botanical science solutions for industry marketing, operations, legal, regulatory, quality, and purchasing departments. Volunteer activities include involvement with the American Botanical Council, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, AOAC, NSF, and USP Expert Committees.

Afif is the founder and CEO of CPG Radar, which helps consumer brands and ingredient suppliers accelerate innovation using big data and AI. CPG Radar works with some of the largest ingredient companies and brands in the industry. Since 2010, Afif has developed and licensed products in the OTC and supplement space, with launches in more than 27,000 retail locations, and licensed IP from his work has resulted in products now found in over 100,000 stores.

Steve has been an executive and consultant in the nutrition industry for over 25 years. Steve is CEO of his own consulting business Nutrasocial along with serving on advisory boards for leading nutrition companies. Steve is an expert in marketing and business development having led the growth of many foundational ingredients while pioneering categories such as lutein, Ester-C®, omega-3s, curcumin, and prebiotics. Steve is a sought-after voice at industry conferences and authored over 35 articles and research reports.

Enterprise merchandising and commercialization executive with 25+ years driving portfolio strategy, category growth, and margin expansion across leading retail and consumer brands. Proven leader across multi-division businesses with deep expertise in assortment scaling, innovation incubation, and retail integration. Currently advises founders and executives through Platinum Performance Consulting on strategy, retail readiness, and high-impact commercialization.

Ralf is a postdoctoral scholar in bio-organic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Bonn, Germany. A Fellow of the IISSN and Certified Sports Nutritionist, he is an inventor, award-winning speaker, and recognized expert in sports nutrition and microbiome research. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and serves on scientific advisory boards for both public and start-up companies.

David Keller, DPM, MBA, of the Keller Consulting Group. The Keller Consulting group is focused on foods (ingredients and finished products), dietary supplements and cosmetics. The company helps plan and execute all IP, regulatory, due diligence and clinical study projects. Previously, Dr. Keller was the Vice President of Scientific Operations with Ganeden Biotech.

Dr. Susan Kleiner is a trailblazer and visionary leader in the nutrition and human performance industry. Her illustrious career significantly improved the performance and well-being of professional teams, Olympians and elite athletes in countless sports. Dr. Kleiner is co-host of the “Your Food Matters Podcast”, and the author 10 books, including the bestseller The New Power Eating®. She is a Registered Dietitian, co-founder and fellow of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, fellow and member of several other scientific societies.

During his three decades as an elite biomedical researcher & Medical School Professor Dr. Miller made numerous major discoveries that changed how we approach health and disease. In the business world, He has led a path of transformative disruption as a successful entrepreneur, product developer, marketer, key opinion & strategic business development leader. Mark is a self-described historical futurist, a possibility aficionado, an unrepentant coddiwompler, avid smirker & story-teller.

Chris is an internationally recognized expert on performance nutrition and wellbeing, with a career that blends science, communication, and real-world impact. As co-owner of Mohr Results, he has delivered keynotes and workshops everywhere from the White House to the CIA, and across nearly all 50 states and more than 10 countries. His partners have included Johnson & Johnson, Deloitte, Gatorade, Delta Airlines, CVS, Barilla, Marriott, and many others. A trusted voice in the media, Chris has written for or been featured in hundreds of outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Men’s Health, and Men’s Journal, among others.

Nilufer, PhD, is a pharmacist specializing in pharmacognosy and botany. She is an advisory board member of the American Botanical Council and has contributed to the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program since 2021. A former professor at Gazi University, she has authored over 40 research articles and multiple book chapters. Her research focuses on medicinal plants, natural products, and quality control of botanicals. She also serves as a consulting editor for ABC’s HerbClip and is active in professional societies.

Simon is a beauty and personal care communications specialist with more than two decades of industry experience across journalism, market intelligence and PR. He founded CosmeticsDesign, establishing it as a leading B2B trade journal and media platform serving formulators, suppliers and brand executives worldwide. As a market analyst, he has written in-depth trend and innovation reports for Mintel and Innova Market Insights, translating complex data into commercial insight.

Guru is also an Adjunct Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He is a globally recognized expert on Innovation Management in the Health and Wellness Industry, and he currently serves on Corporate and Advisory Board’s for established and early-stage companies in Global Food, Nutrition, Pharma, OTC, Digital Health and Primary Care Medicine industry sectors. He earned his Ph.D. from Tufts University and his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Kantha is Principal of Corvus Blue and Senior Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. An IFT Fellow and internationally recognized food scientist, she advises C-suite executives on competitive intelligence, regulatory strategy, and new product development. Specializing in ingredient science, nutrition, and regulatory compliance, she is a trusted authority on translating complex food science rapidly into commercially viable innovation and advocates for evidence-based understanding of food processing technologies.

Paula is a industry consultant with a background in biochemistry, clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, and integrative dermatology to drive innovation across medical, wellness, and personal care sectors. Recognized as a leader in natural beauty and nutricosmetics, she translates science into high-performance wellness brands. A microbiome specialist and author of Good Bacteria for Healthy Skin, she is a sought-after media contributor and founder of Nutribloom Consulting, advising nutricosmetics and healthy aging companies on strategy, innovation, and product development.

Dr. Sudipta Veeramachaneni is President of SV Scientific LLC, an advisory company in the Food & Supplement industry. With over 20 years of experience, she previously served as Chief Science Officer at GNC. Her expertise spans the innovation spectrum, from ideation to commercialization including the scientific evaluation of ingredients and products, clinical trials, product design and development, claims substantiation, regulatory affairs and product compliance for the US and global markets. She earned a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University.

Crystal is a Registered Dietitian, Food Biochemist and Founder of Formulation Innovations Group (FIG). With more than 20 years of experience in the natural products industry and over 100 products launched in US and global markets, she loves supporting ingredient manufacturers and retail brands of all sizes in the creation of finished products with a focus on fortified gummy development. She has served as a Board Member for Women in Nutraceuticals, the Naturally Proud Network, and CPG companies.