Dr. Rolf Smeets is Managing Director and Board Member of Dutch Medical Food BV.
Dr. Smeets is a globally recognized industry expert in Medical Nutrition and Functional Foods with broad ranging experience in the design and development of new innovative science-based nutritional products, clinical trials for product safety and efficacy, establishment of industry quality, market access, medical affairs, corporate affairs and regulatory compliance.
Dr. Smeets industry experience spans over two decades and his most recent appointment was with Danone as its Chief Medical Officer and member of the executive board of the medical food division. In this role, he worked with governments and healthcare providers from all over the world, implementing and ensuring access to the right nutritional regimens for patients.
He also was, as Head of Research for Medical Food, responsible for the full innovation pipeline. Dr. Smeets holds an MBA degree from the University of Groningen with modules at INSEAD, Yale and Wharton. He earned his Ph.D. from the Radboud University Nijmegen in Medical Sciences.
Dr. Guru Ramanathan is Managing Director and Board Member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Ramanathan is a globally recognized expert on Innovation Management and his advisory concentrations include Scientific Affairs, Regulatory Compliance, Quality Assurance and Control, Clinical Trials Design & Management, Technology Acquisition, Alliance Management, Product Development and Manufacturing in the Global Health and Wellness Industry.
Dr. Ramanathan's industry experience spans Clinical care, Pharma, Consumer health, Animal health and the Retail sectors. His most recent appointment was with Pittsburgh based General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) as its Chief Innovation Officer, Senior Vice President and Member of the Executive Committee.
Prior to that Dr. Ramanathan was a Senior Director for the US subsidiaries of Nutricia (Danone). Before this he was Medical Director for the US subsidiary of Scotia Pharmaceuticals. He has also held various industry consulting, research and teaching appointments in India and the US.
Dr. Ramanathan holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business focused on global business practices. He earned his Ph.D. from Tufts University in Healthcare Innovation Management.
Negar Esmailzadeh MSc, RD is VP of Sales & Marketing and Board Member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Negar Esmailzadeh is an expert in Clinical Nutrition with over a decade of experience spanning Intensive care through sick care of patients at various stages of illness through recovery. Her clinical experience began in the Intensive Care Unit of the university hospital of Copenhagen, where she focused on understanding the nutritional needs of different patients during illness and recovery. Her hands-on experience with patients, caregivers and families was foundational in understanding the patient perspective in the context of medical care.
Her industry experience was gained at Nutricia/Danone, where she was responsible for Medical affairs, Market Access, Marketing and Sales in healthcare channels in more than 43 different countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America. She has worked closely with medical professionals, policy makers, reimbursement authorities, patient associations, scientific associations and governmental officials around the world.
Ms. Esmailzadeh's passion has always been increasing access to care for every single individual in the world by developing and working with engaged internal and external teams. She holds a master’s degree in clinical nutrition from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and is also a registered dietician.
Barend Post is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Mr. Post is a strategic legal advisor/impact lawyer, holding several directors’ positions at companies in the fields of sustainability, circularity and social impact. He focuses on investments, financing, corporate governance and collaborations in the field of health care, food, renewable energy and micro credits. He embraces a holistic approach to help his clients achieving their goals and objectives, such as creative and innovative use of legal and tax tools and smart collaboration between parties and advisors. He is a social impact lawyer, deploying law as a force for social, sustainable an equitable goal.
He was a partner in the banking and finance part of the AKD lawyer firm based in the Netherlands and the head of tax/legal at Triodos Investment Management. Besides several board positions, Mr. Post has his own law firm, Barend Post Advocatuur BV.
Mr. Post obtained his law degree from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He also holds an LLM degree in Banking, Corporate Finance, and Securities law from Duke Law School, USA.
Dr. Roger Phillips is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Phillips is an experienced executive business and commercial leader in the field of Medical Food. He has a proven record of driving growth through strategic foresight and planning, coupled with a strong belief in building performance through teams and people. He is an advocate for growth through commercialization of innovation, providing outstanding customer experience.
He has almost three decades of experience in the health care industry. Until recently, he has been an executive board member of Danone’s Medical food division. As a Chief Commercial he was responsible for sales and marketing.
Before that, he was Regional vice president for the medical food division and General manager of Nutricia UK.
Dr. Phillips holds a BS degree from Swansea University in Biochemistry and a PhD degree in immunology and microbiology from the Imperial College, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
Danielle Wilson Naqvi is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Mrs. Danielle Wilson Naqvi is the founder and driving force behind The ZB Foundation, an award winning charity that aims to pioneer the use of Newborn Screening, target the uncharted medical area of rare metabolic diseases, and over time, become a compelling soldier for the fight against baby/infant deaths and third world standard pediatric medicine and healthcare facilities. In 2013, The ZB Foundation opened the only newborn screening facility in Islamabad, Pakistan and have tested over 25,000 babies through funding. In 2018 Mrs. Naqvi spoke on the TEDx platform which was a dream come true to share the story of her late daughter Zahra Beau who passed away at the tender age of 4 months and how a mother’s will and determination can turn a loss into a legacy.
Mrs. Naqvi is an experienced PR and marketing expert, working and living in Dubai for the past 25 years. She was head of marketing for ITP Publishing, the largest media company in the Middle East & North Africa region. She currently owns and manages Unique Family Travels, a bespoke, multi-dimensional travel portal that specializes in creating unique holidays.
Her activities nowadays characterise her as an energetic, inspiring and entrepreneurial mother of three young children with a passion for helping others.
Dr. Joseph Maroon is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Maroon is clinical professor of neurological surgery and the Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He received his medical and neurosurgical training at Indiana University, Georgetown University, Oxford University in England, and the University of Vermont. He is board-certified in neurological surgery.
Dr. Maroon’s clinical and research interests are in the development of minimally invasive surgical procedures for the brain and spine; the prevention and treatment of traumatic injuries to the central nervous system; innovative approaches to pituitary and brain tumors; and complementary approaches to inflammatory diseases of ageing.
Dr. Maroon is also a health and fitness expert and Ironman triathlete and has served as team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 25 years.
Dr. Maroon has published more than 270 peer-reviewed papers and has written six books including Fish Oil: The Natural Anti-Inflammatory; The Longevity Factor: How Resveratrol and Red Wine Activate Genes for a Longer and Healthier Life and his most recent book entitled Square One – A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life.
Dr. Bushra Afroze is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Bushra is associate professor of pediatrics and child health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi Pakistan. She received her medical and pediatric training at Dow Medical College and National Institute of Child health Karachi. She did her fellowship in Clinical Genetics and Inherited Metabolic Diseases at the Pediatrics Institute in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and trained at the department of genetics at the university of Toronto in Canada.
Dr. Bushra’s clinical and research interests are in genetics and inherited disorders and has the distinction of being the first physician in Pakistan to be trained in this discipline. She started the first comprehensive care clinic for metabolic and inherited disorders in Pakistan and is actively involved in developing protocols for the management of a wide range of inherited disorders, including designing special metabolic diets and genetics counselling for families with inherited metabolic disorders.
Dr. Bushra has a strong passion for accessible high quality healthcare and has dedicated a lot of time to increasing awareness on a public and governmental level and increasing access to screening and treatment of patients with inherited disorders. Recently, she created a charity called “Sponsor a Child Program” to provide free treatment for underprivileged patients with inherited disorders.
Dr. Bushra has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and made several presentations around the world.
Dr. Catalina Ortiz Piedrahita is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Catalina is a professor of pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology in three universities of her country. She is the coordinator of the Food allergy Clinic at Pablo Tobon Uribe Hospital in Medellin Colombia. She received her medical an paediatric degree at CES University and her, gastroenterology, hepatology and pediatric nutrition training at University of Barcelona in Spain.
Dr. Catalina’s clinical and research interests relate to her pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition training.
She has done work in the role of prebiotics and probiotics in pediatric populations. She has also done considerable work in pediatric allergy and eosinophilic GI disorders, rare disorders and endoscopy.
Dr. Catalina’s passion for food allergies and Pediatric Nutrition is reflected in the numerous publications and presentations she has made in this area as a KOL in her country and as a international speaker.
She is an active member of several medical societies including COLGHANP, LASPGHAN, ACoPyP and is currently working on developing and implementing LATAM guidelines for Cows milk protein allergy.
Dr. Nigel Plummer is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Plummer is CEO of Cultech, a specialist fully integrated, fully GMP approved manufacturer of probiotics, and supplies probiotic products to numerous retailer and proprietary brands globally.
Dr. Plummer began his career at Pfizer working on the development and manufacture of antibiotics. This interest in disease control lead to the development in the 1980’s of his first probiotic product for the prevention of neonatal diarrhea in young pigs and calves. This commitment to R&D has continued both in the academic sphere with his research group having now published more than 100 original scientific papers in the areas of the human microbiome, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids and the potential for use of plant antimicrobials for the treatment of infectious disease. In addition, 22 full human RCT’s have been published on the impact of probiotics on many aspects of human physiology and pathology, and this investment in R&D is accelerating.
Dr. Plummer holds a Ph.D. degree in microbial physiology from the University of Surrey, UK.
Dr. Frank Greenway is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Greenway is a professor and chief medical officer for the Outpatient Research Clinic at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. He graduated from Stanford University, obtained his medical degree from the UCLA, did his internal medicine and endocrinology training at Harbor-UCLA and has boards in internal medicine and endocrinology. Dr. Greenway practiced internal medicine and endocrinology, created an obesity research clinic for the Harbor-UCLA endocrinology fellows, did the medical support for the Harbor-UCLA surgical obesity program and taught at Harbor-UCLA for 20 years before coming to the Pennington as a Professor.
Dr. Greenway’s interest is in developing new treatments for obesity including drugs, dietary herbal supplements, medical foods and devices. His laboratory focuses on identifying food plants that have the potential to aid in weight loss.
Dr. Greenway has served as the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials and is a member of a number of professional societies including the American College of Physicians (fellow), The Obesity Society (fellow), The Obesity Treatment Foundation (President), The Obesity Medicine Association, the American Society for Nutrition, the American Diabetes Association and the Endocrine Society. In addition to publishing more than 250 articles, Dr. Greenway also holds several patents.
Dr. Virginia Kimonis is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Kimonis is Clinician Scientist and tenured professor in the Division of Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, UC Irvine, and Children’s Hospital, Orange County. She received her medical degree from Southampton Medical School, United Kingdom and trained in pediatrics and general practice in the UK. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston and fellowship training in Clinical and Biochemical Genetics at the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins and Washington D.C. Children's Hospital. She is board certified in Pediatrics, Clinical and Biochemical Genetics. She previously served as the Chief of Genetics at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She worked at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School before joining UC Irvine in 2006 as the Chief of the Division of Genetic Medicine and Genomic Medicine until 2012.
Dr. Kimonis' clinical interests are varied. She participates in comprehensive service in Clinical and Biochemical Genetics. She specializes in the diagnosis and management of children and adults with neuromuscular, neurodegenerative, dysmorphic features, and other complex disorders. Dr. Kimonis is an active tutor and lecturer and teaches genetics fellows, residents, and medical students, genetic counselling graduate and undergraduate students. Additionally, she mentors postdocs and other trainees in their laboratory projects.
Dr. Kimonis has an active clinical research and laboratory program that primarily focuses on inherited muscle disorders, lysosomal storage diseases, Prader Willi, as well as several other rare disorders. She discovered an important disease: multisystem proteinopathy associated with mutations in the VCP gene. Dr. Kimonis' goal is to integrate the basic science research with clinical research, establish a premier clinical, and research program in Rare Genetic Diseases.
Dr. Luciana Sutanto is an advisory board member of Dutch Medical Food B.V.
Dr. Luciana Sutanto received her medical doctor degree in 1993 and followed by her Master of Science in clinical nutrition at the University of Indonesia in 2001. She achieved to get her Ph.D. in 2010 majoring in nutrition science. She is also certified as a nutrition specialist in the intensive care unit which is recognized by the Indonesian Society of Anesthesiologist and Reanimation.
Dr. Sutanto is well known for her dedication to education, health nutrition organization, nutrition research, and book writing. She was a lecturer at the University of Indonesia from 2005 – 2014 and at present she is active giving lecture at Krida Wacana Christian University.
She is the president of the Indonesian Nutrition Association which is an international health nutrition organization with members from around the world and once a year she is organizing an international nutrition symposium.
Dr. Sutanto has a strong concern in research and publication, she had been conducting some research on mother-child nutrition and also nutrition in ICU. She is now appointed as an editorial board member in the Journal of Nutrition, Fasting and Health-Iran, the World Nutrition Journal-Indonesia and The Razavi International Journal of Medicine-Iran.
In private sectors Dr. Sutanto was the CEO of Gladiool Mother and Child Hospital in Magelang. At present she is the head of the consultant team in Nutri Health Indonesia and as a clinical nutrition consultant at Mitra Group Hospital.