Menu
Log in

Log in

Speaker Topics for Sessions NIA 2023 Ojai


22 Billion Plastic Bottles. 


Americans throw away enough plastic bottles each year to circle the earth four times. Every hour, we throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles. Research shows only a tiny fraction of those bottles make their way through the recycling process. More than 95% of those bottles end up in landfills or worse.


What are legislators, retailers, and consumers doing to drive change? How can brands drive consumer loyalty through a responsible packaging strategy? And how do you ensure product protection with a sustainable packaging solution?


Rosalynd Resendiz,

Vice President of Supply Chain, TricorBraun

With 20 years of experience, Rosalynd is a seasoned packaging professional and currently leads TricorBraun’s supply chain efforts to support customers’ dynamic packaging requirements.


Rosalynd received her Bachelors in Packaging Science and Masters in Business Administration from Clemson University, followed by 15 years of engineering and manufacturing experience.






Adam Akerman

Co-Founder and CMO, BioBottles USA

A free thinker and creative that has a special talent for seeing what others have not, Adam specializes in brand creation, marketing, strategic thinking, and business development.


Adam is using his skills to bring BioBottles and Plastic IQ Technology to thepackaging industry and beyond as he pioneers more responsible packaging solutions that are both good for brands, consumers, and the planet.





A Flash in the Pan: The Fallout from the CBD, Cannabis, and Emerging Medicines Gold Rush

The legalization of hemp and its derivatives under federal law as well as the state-by-state legalization of cannabis have left very few winners in the room. For most, the experience left them nearly bankrupt and bereft of business opportunities. With emerging medicines, like psilocybin, the experience is rounding out to be similar to that of cannabis and CBD. In order to survive these industries, respectively, entrepreneurs and businesses need to be mindful of the state versus federal conflicts, including enforcement by the FDA and FTC, the lack of bankruptcy protection (at least for cannabis and psilocybin), and the need for serious due diligence by outsiders looking to come in.

HILARY BRICKEN, ATTORNEY

Harris/Bricken

Hilary is one of the premier cannabis business and regulatory attorneys in the United States, and is licensed to practice law in California, Washington and Florida. As chair of Harris Bricken’s Regulated Substances practice group, she helps cannabis companies of all sizes with their cannabis related business and regulatory needs.


Since joining Harris Bricken in 2010, Hilary has earned a reputation as an exceptional and fearless business law attorney. Hilary’s clients - startups, entrepreneurs, and companies in all stages of development – value her bold approach to business strategy.


In 2017, the American Bar Association named Hilary one of the top 40 young lawyers nationwide. In every year since 2014, Hilary has been chosen as a “Rising Star” lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine.




When will profitability, (and M&A activity) return to the industry?

With the economic questions mounting from the current state of the globe, prior cycles indicate that this may be an active time for M & A. Whether you’re looking from the buy-side or the sell-side, what if anything is different this go around from the world of finance in our space and what can be learned from the latest M & A, angel investing and capital market activity.

Eric Groman,

Senior Vice President

Jefferies LLC 

Consumer & Retail Investment Banking - Health, Wellness & Nutrition Practice

Eric Groman is a Senior Vice President in the Consumer & Retail group at Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE: JEF), a global investment bank, capital markets, asset management and financial advisory firm across 30+ international offices. Within the Consumer & Retail practice, Eric focuses entirely on the Health, Wellness & Nutrition sector, with particular experience advising brands and suppliers across the value chain in the nutritional supplement category.  Since joining Jefferies in 2020, Eric has advised on a range of M&A and capital raising transactions for clients including Best Formulations (sale to Sirio in 2023), Nutrafol (sale to Unilever in 2022), Emerson Ecologics (sale to Fullscript in 2022), Gryphon Investors (acquisition of Metagenics in 2022), Capstone Nutrition (sale to INW in 2021), Onnit (sale to Unilever in 2021), The Bountiful Company (sale to Nestle in 2021), and Wellful (financing for its acquisition of Adaptive Health in 2021). 

Eric has a BA from Harvard University where he graduated cum laude with a degree in economics.




Is FDA functioning at all?

CBD was booted to Congress by FDA (again). NAC was targeted, the agency was sued and reversed course and now the agency is repeating that pattern on NMN, which some say is a form of niacin. The agency is pushing hard for mandatory product listing but can’t seem to use search engines to find previously removed ingredients reappearing on the web. More natural products will come forward that may have applications as both drugs and foods and the agency seems ill-equipped to deal with that future. Has the time come to move dietary supplements to an agency that will manage them?


Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D.

CEO & President

Natural Products Association

 

Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D. is CEO and President of the Natural Products Association (NPA), the nation’s largest and oldest trade organization representing the natural products industry.


Most recently, Dr. Fabricant served as the Director of the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he directed agency policy, public affairs and regulatory action regarding regulation of the dietary supplement industry for more than three years.  


Dr. Fabricant carried his interest in natural products into the classroom, earning a Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he has served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy since 2009. He has also published extensively and is internationally recognized for his regulatory and governmental

public health expertise and natural products research.




Microbiome Research Continues to Deliver.

Knowledge gained has provided not just insight on how critically important this biosystem is to a healthy body as well as potential and actual treatments of unwanted afflictions that many suffer from. Sleeplessness, depression, heart disease, obesity, C. diff, atopic dermatitis and Crohn’s are all targets for new drugs as well as natural product probiotics both on the market and in the pipeline. The opportunities and discoveries just keep coming.

Dr. David Heber MD

Chairman

HERBALIFE NUTRITIONAL INSTITUTE

Dr. Heber is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Public Health at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and is internationally prominent in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, obesity, and age-related chronic diseases. He is also the Founding Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition and founding Chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition in the UCLA Department of Medicine where he directed multiple NIH-funded research programs. He has published over 250 research papers and numerous professional texts including most recently Primary Care Nutrition.  He has also published books for the public which were national bestsellers including What Color Is Your Diet?, and The LA Shape Diet

Dr. Heber is board-certified in Internal Medicine, and Endocrinology and Metabolism by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a certified Physician Nutrition Specialist. He earned his MD at Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. in Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.




From functional food to prescription medication, mushrooms are the center of the conversation.

There is nothing new about mushrooms used therapeutically, in fact they’ve been used as traditional medicines for thousands of years. But there is a new excitement in the air. A quick online search shows dozens of supplements containing lions mane, and an endless number of “beneficial mushrooms for immunity, brain health an other benefits. Oregon's limited legalization of Psilocybin began in January and in Arizona there is a bipartisan bill that would create a $30 million fund to study the effects of natural psilocybin on people with mental health disorders. What’s the path forward?

Najla Guthrie, CEO

KGK Science l Wellbeing Digital Science

Najla Guthrie is revolutionizing the way we treat and talk about wellness. As the CEO of KGK Science and Wellbeing Digital Science, Najla is a global leader in the nutraceutical and emerging psychedelic industry with a focus on fundamentally changing the way we treat and prevent mental illness. 

Najla has since published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, holds over 20 US and International patents.

She founded and grew KGK Science, a full-service premium contract research organization, creating a business that focuses on high-quality clinical research and regulatory expertise to bring safe and effective products to global markets.

Today, Najla continues to present and speak at a global level, lobby for the advancement of policy changes in the supplement and cannabis industries, and lead the team at Wellbeing Digital Science and KGK Science.

Phone: 909/925-7709
Email: info@nia-west.com

Address:
6939 Schaefer Ave, Suite D #138
Chino, CA  91710

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software