The Food Addiction Institute (FAI) has been working diligently, with an inner circle of national and international partners to help establish a collective understanding about food addiction - what it is and how it can most effectively be treated. The following International Advisory Board members are a network of outstanding individuals that are key stakeholders in food addiction fields. They continue to support FAI initiatives with educating the general public, providing specific resources and supports, and recommending specific interventions to practitioners and providers, across the many health and allied health fields, who care for those struggling with food addiction.
Anonymous (Note: some members have asked to remain anonymous in the public listing of the Advisory Board.)
Nancy Appleton, PhD Nutritional researcher, 35 years of researching sugar’s effect on the body. Author of 6 books, 3 books on sugar: Lick the Sugar Habit; Lick the Sugar Habit; Sugar Counter; and Suicide by Sugar. Also has produced a DVD: Sweet Suicide and written many articles on sugar ingestion including 140 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health; San Diego, CA.
Raja’ Batarseh-Ghanma, Freelance Trainer, Amman, Jordan; Author of My Yellow Suit, a personal journey of recovery from food addiction; Participant, ACORN Professional Training for Food Addiction Recovery. www.myyellowsuit.com.
Kenneth Blum, PhD Retired Professor of Pharmacology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX ; Research Professor (Adjunct) Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem , NC; Chairman of Board and Chief Scientific Officer, LifeGen, Inc., San Diego, CA; Scientific Director, Path Research Foundation, New York, NY.
Mark Cheren, EdD Former CEO, Campus-Free College; Training Manager, American Red Cross; Director of Continuing Education, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University; helped envision a CEU program on food addiction for doctors and other health professionals; Shaker Heights, OH.
Frank Clark Former Vice President, Johnson & Johnson Corporation, Electronics Division; Sarasota, FL.
Cathy Clegg, MD Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; Distinguished Fellow American Psychiatric Association; Cleveland, OH.
Jim Coulthard, AAS President and CEO of private non-profit since 1992; Licensed alcohol and drug counselor; experienced in developing over 400 sober housing units for disabled veterans; River Falls, WI.
Deborah Danowski, PhD Author, Why Can’t I Stop Eating: Recognizing, Understanding, and Overcoming Food Addiction; Locked Up for Eating Too Much: Diary of A Food Addict in Rehab; Compulsive Overeating Workbook; teaches English and media studies journalism at Sacred Heart University; Trumbull CT.
Dave Evans, JD Author, A Practitioner’s Guide to Alcoholism and the Law; Drug Testing Law, Technology and Practice; Kids, Drugs and the Law; works with legislatures locally and nationally; Consultant with programs for drug-free workplace; speaker at Food Addiction 2000; Pittstown, NJ.
Mary J. Foushi, AAS Co-Founder, ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services: co-author, Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model for Professional Support, Sarasota, FL.
Michaelanne Fultz, MA Co-founder and Visionary of (former) Louisville Center for Adult Children; Director, Kentuckiana Foundation for Eating Disorder Recovery (KFEDR); Louisville, KY.
Michael Galer, PhD Director of Academic Affairs, University of Phoenix; Member, Development Group for Food Addiction Institute; Jacksonville, FL.
Mark Gold, MD Distinguished Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. He is a member of the McKnight Brain Institute; Author, Eating Disorders, Overeating and Pathological Attachment to Food: Independent or Addictive Disorder. Gainesville, FL.
Jeffrey W. Grimm, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA; speaker “Incubation of Sucrose Craving: Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder” at Food Addiction: The Obesity Epidemic Connection, 2009; Bellingham, WA.
Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir, MSc. Founding Director; MFM midstodin, a Recovery and Treatment Center for the Food Addiction and Eating Disorders, Reykjavik, Iceland. Director; INFACT; International School for Food Addiction Counseling and Treatment. FAI Board Member. www.infact.is, www.mfm.is, Tel: 354-699-2676
Lori Herold, MS, RD Dietitian and staff member of the Eating Disorder and Food Addiction Program of Turning Point of Tampa; Tampa, FL.
Colleen Hillock, MEd Coordinator, Addictions Counselling Program, Medicine Hat College; Alberta, Canada.
Vicki Horne, MA, MFA, MBA Musician, Therapist and Client Advocate for state mental health program; workshop facilitator for ACORN; Boston, MA.
Mary Beth Howard, MA Musician; professional fundraiser for colleges and universities for fourteen years; Participant, ACORN Professional Training Program for Food Addiction Recovery; Boston, MA.
Judy Hollis, PhD Therapist in private practice; original clinical staff member of Rader Institute; Author, Fat is a Family Affair, New York, NY.
Joan Ifland, PhD (Candidate), MBA President, Refined Food Addiction Foundation (REFA); Author, Sugars and Flours: how they make us crazy, sick and fat and what to do about it. Houston, TX.
Brenda Iliff, MA Clinical Director, Caron, Texas; Author, A Woman’s Guide to Recovery; McKinney, TX.
Bitten Jonson, MA Therapist in private practice working with alcoholics, drug addicts and food addicts in Sweden; CENAPS relapse prevention trainers; creator of new food addiction assessment instrument; Hudiksvall, Sweden.
Anne Katherine, MA Therapist in private practice, Associates in Recovery Therapy; Author, Anatomy of a Food Addiction; Brain Chemistry of Overeating; Seattle, WA.
Marty Lerner, PhD Clinical Director, Milestones Eating Disorder and Food Addiction Treatment Program; former Director, Pathways; former Director, Glenbeigh of Miami; Miami, FL.
Rebecca Mayville, MSW Co-Founder of (former) Louisville Center for Adult Children, Kentuckiana Foundation for Eating Disorder Recovery; Director, Pathways, Eating Disorder Program; Louisville, KY.
Tennie McCarty, LCDC, ADC III, CEDC Founder and CEO of Shades of Hope, a treatment center specializing in treating eating disorders and other addictions, Buffalo Gap, TX.
Ana Luisa Monge-Naranjo Licensed psychologist and psychotherapist, Costa Rica.
James Mulligan MD, ASAM Former Medical Director, Seabrook House Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, Seabrook, NJ.
Sandee Nebel, MS, LMHC founder and clinical director of the White Picket Fence Counseling Center, www.wpfcounseling.com, specializing in treating food addiction, eating disorders and body image issues; Past-President, Eating Disorder Network of Central Florida, www.edncf.com; adjunct psychology professor at Valencia College and practicum instructor at Nova Southeastern University; state-qualified supervisor of registered interns and facilitator of trainings for those specializing in food addiction, eating and weight disorders.
Ernest P. Noble, PhD, MD Director, UCLA Alcohol Research Center; Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles; Lead author “D2 Dopamine Receptor Gene and Obesity,” International Journal of Eating Disorders; Los Angeles, CA.
Hava Pell, MDiv Rabbi; Spiritual counselor; Executive Director, International Association of Food Addiction Professionals; Certified Food Addiction Professional, Pittsburgh, PA.
Dolores Proto, MA Founder, Gladness House; Creator of work on relapse prevention and shame; first graduate of ACORN Professional Training Program for Food Addiction Recovery; Philadelphia, PA.
Christine L. Palmer, MBA Executive communications consultant, former Sr. Vice President, Bank of America, Corporate Communications; freelance journalist and former features editor, Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME; editor, Bariatric Surgery and Food Addiction: Preoperative Considerations; New England liaison to ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services.
Michael Prager, MA Journalist and freelance writer; former feature editor for the Boston Globe; author, Fat Boy, Thin Man; Boston, MA.
Jackalyn Rainosek, PhD Co-owner of Cloud-Rainosek & Associates, LP, in Houston, TX. She has worked as a healthcare professional in the field of addiction for 39 years and provides consulting to organizations on a variety of topics about systematic change and habitual patterns of behavior. Lead researcher on a validation study of assessment instrument on food addiction; Houston, TX.
Rachel Santini, Managing Director, Kildehoj Private Hospital, Denmark; Medical advocate for Food Addiction treatment. www.kildehoj.dk.
Kay Sheppard, MA Author, Food Addiction: The Body Knows; From the First Bite; Food Addiction: Healing Day by Day; Former Director of residential treatment for food addiction, Facilitator food addiction recovery workshops, Innovator of food addiction site on America on Line; Palm Bay, FL.
Linda Sherr, MA Eating Disorder and Family Therapist, Sarasota, FL.
Colleen Small, MA Licensed Educational Specialist; licensed Brain Gym Instructor; Public Speaker; Former Director of Children’s Programs International Society of Food Addiction Professionals; Member, ACORN Food Addiction Professional Training Program; Springfield, VA.
Vera Tarman MD, MSc, FCFP CASAM, CCSAM Founder and spokesperson for Addictions Unplugged, she has focused her medical practice over the past 7 years on addiction treatment and recovery; Medical Director at Renascent since 2006; Staff physician with Salvation Army Homestead since 2004; Toronto, Canada
Meredith Terpeluk, MNA Life Coach and Non-Profit Consultant; alumna of Milestones in Recovery; South Bend, IN.
Liz Tippet, MA Television producer; national workshop leader and lecturer; Chagrin Falls, OH.
Clare Weldon, MSW, LSCW Therapist and former counselor at dual-diagnosed addictions program; former workshop facilitator for ACORN; co-author, "Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model for Professional Service;" Delran, NJ.
Phil Werdell, MA Lead Counselor at Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa’s Residential Food Addiction Program and Rader Institute of Washington’s Out-Patient Eating Disorders Program; author, “Food Addiction: Beyond Ordinary Eating Disorders;" "Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support; Bariatric Surgery and Food Addiction: Preoperative Considerations;" Co-founder and Director of Professional Training Program, ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services; Sarasota, FL.
Christine White MD Board-certified Adult Psychiatrist/board eligible Child Psychiatrist and practices in a rural community at FQHC, federally qualified health center. Bangor, ME.
Theresa Wright, MS, RD Founder of Renaissance Nutrition Center, specializing in working with chemically dependent clients for over fifteen years; author of "Your Personal Food Plan: a basic food plan for recovery from addictive and compulsive eating behaviors"; Plymouth Meeting, PA.
A special thank you to all of our top scientists, clinicians and recovery leaders for their participation in the Food Addiction Institute.
* Degrees, publications and organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not represent support for the Institute or any policies it may establish by these institutions.
