NHRI Managing Board
Introducing NHRI’s Managing Board
James J. Gormley
An award-winning journalist, published author, and member of the prestigious American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), Gormley has 20 years of experience in health-related media communications. He is a senior policy advisor for Citizens for Health, an advisory board member of the National Health Research Institute (NHRI)and a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). From 2006 to 2008, Gormley directed three leading health-food trade magazines for VRM Inc. He is perhaps best known for having served as the longtime editor-in-chief of Better Nutrition magazine (1995 to 2002) and for having served as a scientific and regulatory affairs officer for Nutrition 21 (2003 to 2006). A consumer health advocate and industry champion, Gormley has also been a frequent guest on television and national radio where he has spoken out on a variety of health and regulatory issues.
Michael Lelah, Ph.D.
Michael Lelah, Ph.D. is Technical Director at NOW Foods, in Bloomingdale, Illinois. NOW Foods is a manufacturer and distributor of natural dietary supplements and foods. Michael is responsible for Industry Advocacy and External Affairs, R&D, Quality, Science, Regulatory and Nutrition Services. Michael is a strong supporter of science in our industry and is committed to addressing the twin incorrect views – supplements don’t work and supplements aren’t safe. Michael has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and has worked in the food, pharmaceutical, healthcare and plastics industries variously as a scientific researcher, responsible for R&D, Quality and Scientific Affairs. You can reach Michael at michael.lelah@nowfoods.com.
James S. Turner
James S. Turner, a principal in the Washington, D.D. law firm, Swankin & Turner, represents businesses as well as individuals and consumer groups in a wide variety of regulatory matters concerning food, drug, health, environmental and product-safety matters. He has appeared before every major consumer regulatory agency, including the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health. He has served as Special Counsel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Food, Nutrition, and Health, and to the U.S. Senate Government Operations Subcommittee on Government Research. Author of the now-classic book, The Chemical Feast, he has also been a policy consultant to major corporations in the food, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries, including such companies as Kraft Foods, The Quaker Oats Company, Hoffmann-LaRoche, and AT&T. He was the lead attorney on a successful petition to the FDA to reclassify acupuncture needles from Class III to Class II medical devices, thereby permitting their legal importation and distribution. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Law.
Ronald Ross Watson, Ph.D.
Chairman of NHRI, Dr. Watons has edited 60 biomedical books, particularly in nutrition and food sciences. He presently directs or has directed several NIH funded biomedical grants relating to immune function and cardiovascular effects. Professor Ronald Ross Watson was Director of a National Institutes of Health funded Alcohol Research Center for 5 years. The main goal of the Center was to understand the role of ethanol-induced immunosuppression on immune function and disease resistance in animals. He is an internationally recognized CAM researcher, nutritionist and immunologist. He also initiated and directed other NIH-associated work at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He is also a professor at the College of Public Health. Professor Watson attended the University of Idaho, but graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, with a degree in Chemistry in 1966. He completed his Ph.D. degree in 1971 in Biochemistry from Michigan State University. His postdoctoral schooling was completed at the Harvard School of Public Health in Nutrition and Microbiology, including a two-year postdoctoral research experience in immunology. Professor Watson is a distinguished member of several national and international nutrition, immunology, and cancer societies having published 450 research papers and reviews. He has a patent pending for a dietary supplement and has worked extensively for decades on the role of nutrient supplements in immune regulation, recently studying Pycnogenol in heart disease therapy. He is the panel manager of the research team reviewing grants in bioactive food for the USDA.