Advisory Board
Dr. Alice Ammerman | UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Dr. Ammerman is interested in design, testing, implementation and dissemination of innovative clinical and community-based nutrition and physical activity interventions for chronic disease risk reduction in low-income populations. She is Director of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP), part of a national network of 26 CDC prevention research centers (PRCs) that work with community partners to identify public health problems to develop and evaluate prevention-focused public health interventions for wide dissemination. Dr. Ammerman and colleagues have developed and are testing the “Med-South” diet which is the Mediterranean diet adapted to agricultural availability and taste preferences in the Southeastern US. Her research addresses the role of sustainable food systems in health, the environment, and economic well-being, emphasizing the social determinants of health, particularly food access and food insecurity. Dr. Ammerman teaches courses in Nutrition Policy and Public Health Entrepreneurship. She has a developing interest in Culinary Medicine to improve medical training programs and uses social entrepreneurship as a sustainable approach to addressing public health concerns.
Email: alice_ammerman@unc.edu
Dr. YiFang Chu | PepsiCo
Born and raised in Taiwan, Dr. YiFang Chu is currently Director of Nutrition Sciences at PepsiCo where he is responsible for Global Foods research. Dr. Chu is the inaugural Editorin-Chief of IFT Food Science and Nutrition Online. He is an elected fellow at AmericanCollege of Nutrition and holds adjunct professorship at University of Manitoba. YiFang serves on the Board of Directors of the Grain for Health Foundation and Advisory Board ofUniversity of Illinois, Division of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Chu is on the editorial boards of Frontier in Nutritional Immunology, Food Chemistry, and Food Science and Nutrition. He is the editor of two books: Oats Nutrition and Technology and Coffee: Emerging Health Effects and Disease Prevention and is a member of the IFT Press Advisory Board. His Oats book hasbeen translated into Chinese by Beijing Medical University. YiFang co-authored 80+ journal articles, reviews, patents, and book chapters. YiFang received his PhD from CornellUniversity and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Email: yifang.chu@pepsico.com
Dr. Robert L. Newton, Jr. | Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU
Dr. Newton's research interests center on addressing health disparities in African American children, adults, and older adults. Although much of his work involves developing physical activity promotion interventions, he also engages in weight loss studies.
Dr. Newton utilizes community-based and technology-based interventions to address health disparities. Currently, Dr. Newton leads studies assessing the effect of a community-based physical activity intervention in older African American adults and a mobile phone based intervention targeting increased physical activity in young children. Dr. Newton is also involved in two primary care weight management programs and several childhood physical activity and/or weight management studies.
Email: robert.newton@pbrc.edu
Dr. Antonio McLaren | 1890 Universities Foundation
In April 2021, Dr. Antonio McLaren joined the 1890 Universities Foundation as the Vice President for Program Innovation and Implementation. In this role, he assists in the mobilization of resources to facilitate broad-based educational and outreach programs, initiatives, and approaches across the 1890 land-grant institutions to help them respond to new/emerging opportunities and challenges in the 21st century.
Prior to this appointment, Dr. McLaren worked for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as a National Program Leader between September 2015 and June 2020. In this role, he provided national leadership, management, and support for NIFA’s 1890 portfolio, which includes the following six programs: 1890 Capacity Building Grants, 1890 Facilities Grants, 1890 Extension, 1890 Agricultural Research, 1890 Scholarships, and 1890 Centers of Excellence Programs. Additionally, he has experience in managing other NIFA competitive grant programs, including the Higher Education Challenge Grants, and Alaska-Native Serving, Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Programs. Previously, Dr. McLaren worked for USDA’s Office of Advocacy and Outreach as the USDA/1890 Program Liaison at Virginia State University (VSU) – a position that he maintained between March 2011and September 2015. As Program Liaison, he worked to increase programmatic capacity for research, education, and extension programs by providing outreach to the VSU community, linking university faculty and staff to competitive grant opportunities, and recruiting students to study agriculture and related fields at VSU. Prior to this role, Dr. McLaren worked as a NIFA program specialist from 2003until 2011. As a program specialist, he provided program support for several programs, including the Agriculture Markets and Trade, Agriculture Risk Management Education, and the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Programs. In total, Dr. McLaren has more than 22 years of Federal service – all with USDA.
Dr. McLaren’s USDA career began in 1997, as he was awarded a scholarship through the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program. Through the scholarship, he was afforded the opportunity to gain work experience through the Summer Career Experience Program (SCEP), which provided internship opportunities to undergraduate students. He credits the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program forgiving him a strong foundation and passion for serving the public through the 1890 Land-GrantUniversity partnership.
Dr. McLaren earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business/Economics in 2001, and his Master of Arts degree in Economics and Finance in 2003 – both from Virginia State University. In May2015, he graduated with a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Email: amclaren@1890foundation.org
Ellen Mcknight Hill, MPA, RDN, LDN, CLC | The Maxine Firm
Ellen McKnight Hill believes that healthy communities are built on a foundation of education, access and opportunity. Promoting healthy lifestyle changes and providing urban communities with economic development opportunities by way of fresh food access is Ellen’s life goal and passion.
Ellen is a registered dietitian nutritionist, licensed and practicing in 4 states. Ellen is a certified lactation counselor, professor and public health advocate. She is currently the principal of The Maxine Firm. The Maxine Firm is a nutrition, wellness and public health engagement firm.
The Firm is made up of a network of healthcare professionals whose primary objective is preventing chronic diseases related to nutrition practices. Through seminars, presentations and symposiums, Ellen, along with the firm's network of healthcare professionals, travel across the country equipping communities with practical strategies to improve their overall wellness.
Ellen has aligned her passions for healthcare with communications and media. She is a TedX Speaker and is the guest health segment correspondent for BR Proud - WGMB FOX 44 and WVLA NBC Local 33 covering Baton Rouge, Louisiana, KTAL NBC 6 News, KMSS FOX 33, and KSHV 45 covering Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana and WGNO NOLA 38- WGNO & WNOL ABC affiliate covering New Orleans, Louisiana.
Ellen is a Baton Rouge Business Report 40 under 40 award recipient, National Baptist Convention USA, Inc40 under 40 award recipient, New Schools ChangeMakers Award recipient, Southern University Law CenterCommunity Advocate of the Year Award recipient, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Black Chamber of CommerceWomen of Influence, 100 Black Women Elevate Her - Health Award recipient, Alpha Phi Alpha CommunityTrailblazer Award recipient, the Next Generation Pioneers’ Millennial Woman of The Year Award recipient and the National Director of Health and Wellness for the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc Youth and Young Adult Auxiliary.
Ellen is a member of the Baton Rouge Dietetic Association, The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Organization of Blacks in Dietetics and Nutrition (NOBIDAN) and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Food and a Masters of Public Administration-HealthcareConcentration from Southern University and A&M College.
Ellen is the proud wife of Johnathan S. Hill and mother of little Miss Maxine Hill. Ellen serves as First Lady ofthe Evergreen Baptist Church where her husband is the Senior Pastor.
“Heart attack doesn’t have to be our family history and diabetes doesn’t have to be our destiny”- Shalom
April J. Stull, PhD, RDN, FAND | Baylor University
Dr. Stull serves as an Associate Professor of Nutrition Sciences in the Department of Human Sciences and Design. She earned a BS in Family and Consumer Sciences with a concentration in dietetics from Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA) where she also completed a dietetic internship. Dr. Stull then attained a PhD in nutrition science from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in botanicals, diabetes, and nutrition at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND).
Prior to joining the Baylor faculty, Dr. Stull was the Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics and an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, MD), and Researcher and Assistant Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center (Baton Rouge, LA). Currently, she serves on the Editorial Board of two nutrition journals (Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Nutrition Reviews) and the American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) Board of Directors as the Treasurer.
Email: April_Stull@baylor.edu
