NeuroNutrition: Advancing Brain Health Through Science from Gestation to Adolescence

Robert Murray, MD, FAAP

Professor, Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition 
The Ohio State University College of Medicine 
Columbus, OH, USA

Dr Murray spent more than 20 years in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at The Ohio State University School of Medicine. He served as the Pediatric Nutrition Medical Director for Abbott from 2003-2006. For ten years, Dr Murray was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on School Health, serving as chair in the final four years. He is a board member of Action for Healthy Kids as well as a board member of the Children’s Hunger Alliance and previously served on the Board of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. Dr Murray is a past-President of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Michael K Georgieff, MD

Executive Vice Chair & Martin Lenz Harrison Land Grant Professor 
Division of Neonatology 
Faculty, Department of Pediatrics 
Director, Center for Neurobehavioral Development
Co-Director, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB)
Minneapolis, MN, USA 

Dr Georgieff is an internationally recognized expert on the effects of nutrition and specifically iron deficiency on the developing brain. His career in this area has spanned 35 years and includes investigations of brain function in humans and pre-clinical models. He has conducted multiple studies on the effect of fetal and neonatal iron deficiency and neonatal anemia on developing brain regions and behavior, and his clinical research expertise is in neonatal nutrition and neurodevelopmental outcomes, specifically the use of event-related potentials to assess early life brain function.

Dr Georgieff's expertise in bench laboratory science includes conditional knock-out technology, neurometabolism, neuronal structural analysis, electrophysiology, gene expression, and animal behavior to examine the effects of iron deficiency and choline on the developing brain. His group was the first to show that developmentally targeted choline partially rescues the hippocampus from the adverse effects of early life iron deficiency, both molecularly and behaviorally. His expertise in clinical research is neurodevelopmental assessment of at-risk newborn populations. He co-founded and co-direct the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB). The Institute spans 8 colleges/schools and over 50 departments and has expertise in multiple-level assessment of brain development from molecular neuroscience to educational psychology. Nationally, Dr Georgieff serves as an advisor to the Pediatric Nutrition and Growth Branch of NICHD, sit on the review panel for the NICHD Neonatal Research Network, was a consultant to NICHD about Future Directions in Cognitive Research, was a member of the BOND (Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development) Iron Workgroup for NICHD the Pre-B Workshop and of the NICHD Global Health Consultation Workgroup. He is currently on the BOND-KIDS work group for NIH. Internationally, he has served as a consultant to the New York Academy of Sciences, UNICEF, WHO, The Health Ministry of India, and the IOM on the role of nutrition and iron deficiency in neurodevelopment.

Paige Berger, PhD, RDN

Principle Investigator Trauma, Acute Care, Critical Care Surgeon and Nutrition Brigham and Women’s Hospital Instructor 
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA, USA

Dr Paige Berger is a PhD-investigator and Registered Dietitian who has devoted her career to studying the nutritional determinants of early growth and brain development. Dr Berger received her doctorate in Nutritional Sciences from The University of Georgia. She completed postdoctoral fellowships with Dr Leann Birch at The University of Georgia (2015-2016) and Dr Michael Goran at The University of Southern California/Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (2016-2022). Dr Berger holds a faculty appointment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr Berger’s research aims to understand human milk biology and determine its influences on infant growth, brain development, and cognitive functioning. She aims to explicate the factors in human milk that shape the brain's structure, the foundational framework for future learning and memory.

Elizabeth J Reverri, PhD, MS, RD

Nutrition Science & Innovation
Senior Research Scientist
Abbott Nutrition
Columbus, OH, USA

Beth Reverri is a Nutrition Scientist and Registered Dietitian. Since 2017, she has worked at Abbott Nutrition in the Nutrition Science & Innovation group on infant nutrition and toddler nutrition, particularly around human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). She has published and presented on clinical nutrition research internationally. Beth has served on the leadership teams with the American Society for Nutrition and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Prior to Abbott Nutrition, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher and worked as a Registered Dietitian. Beth earned a PhD in Nutritional Biology from the University of California, Davis and completed her Dietetic Internship, a MS in Clinical Nutrition, and a BS in Dietetics from Boston University. Ultimately, she aspires that her work in the nutrition field will contribute to the nutrition education of healthcare professionals and consumers. 

Naiman A Khan, PhD, RD

Associate Professor
Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL, USA

Dr Naiman Khan is a Registered Dietitian and Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received his PhD degree in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012. He is currently the Director of the Neurocognitive Health Behavior Laboratory. His research has taken a multidisciplinary approach to integrate knowledge in the areas of pediatric nutrition and cognitive neuroscience to understand the influence of foods and nutrients on specific aspects of attention and memory in children. Dr Khan has published over 100 research manuscripts and has received funding support from multiple sources, including federal agencies, private corporations, and non-profit food and commodity boards. He has appointments in Kinesiology and Community Health, Nutritional Sciences, Neuroscience, Family Resiliency Center, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The objective of his research program is to generate applied knowledge in nutritional neuroscience by translating the impact of nutrition on childhood cognitive health.

Amy Reichelt, PhD, BSC, CHNP

Nutritional Neuroscientist and Neuropharmacologist 
Adjunct Professor, University of Adelaide
Adelaide, Australia 
Adjunct Professor, University of Western Ontario
Toronto, ON, Canada

Dr Amy Reichelt is a Neuroscientist and Neuropharmacologist with a particular focus on the influence of nutrition on brain function. Dr Reichelt earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Cardiff University (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Birmingham (UK). Dr Reichelt’s primary research goal is to define the impacts of nutrition, lifestyle, and novel psychoactive therapies on cognitive health across the lifespan, with particular focus on adolescence. Dr Reichelt has built a strong reputation in both academia and industry as a thought leader in nutritional neuroscience, demonstrated through numerous competitive grants, awards, international speaking invitations, and publication of over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles. She uses a translational approach involving preclinical behavioral and neuropharmacology paradigms and human neurophysiology. This framework spans from cells to systems to behavior, to provide a comprehensive picture of the functional impact of diet, obesity, and pharmacological manipulations on brain health. 

Dr Reichelt has led research programs in both academia as a principal investigator (UNSW, Sydney, RMIT Melbourne and University of Adelaide), and in biotech companies, currently holding Adjunct Professor roles at the University of Adelaide and University of Western Ontario. She now works as a consultant for multiple pharmaceutical companies, providing strategic and scientific insights on clinical R&D programs and competitive positioning.