A Recipe for Truth Speaker Profiles
Helena Bottemiller Evich, Founder and Editor in Chief, Food Fix
Most recently, she led coverage of food and agriculture issues at POLITICO for nearly a decade, winning numerous awards for her work, including a George Polk Award for a series on climate change and two James Beard Awards for features on nutrition and science. In 2022, she was a James Beard Award finalist for a deep dive on diet-related diseases and Covid-19. Before launching POLITICO’s food policy coverage in 2013, Helena was the Washington correspondent for Food Safety News where she covered deadly foodborne illness outbreaks and the run-up to Congress passing the most significant update to food safety law in a century. Her work is widely cited in the media and has also been published in the New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review and NBC News. Born and raised in Washington state, Helena attended Claremont McKenna College, where she studied government. She now lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, two kids and tabby cat.
Caitlin Dow, Senior Science Communication Officer, Center for Science in the Public Interest
Caitlin Dow, PhD, MS, writes for the Center for Science in the Public Interest's (CSPI) flagship publication, Nutrition Action, addressing the evidence on the latest health trends. Caitlin reviews the science related to nutrition, dietary supplements, exercise, sleep, sustainability, and more. She also leads CSPI's work on countering misinformation in the health and nutrition spaces. Before joining CSPI, Caitlin completed her postdoctoral research training in vascular biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned an MS and PhD in Nutrition Science from the University of Arizona and a BS in Biology from Northern Arizona University. Caitlin joined CSPI in September 2016.
Kelly Horton, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Relations, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Kelly D. Horton, MS, RDN is the Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Relations at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. Kelly oversees the Academy’s public policy agenda and advocacy efforts that promote health and reduce the burden of chronic disease through evidence-based nutrition services and interventions. Her role supports the pursuit of legislative and regulatory policies that expand access to nutrition care. Kelly is a high performing executive level leader and nationally recognized food, nutrition, hunger, food safety, and agriculture policy and program expert. Her experience includes launching a novel nutrition intervention which grew into the basis of what is now known as the Food as/is Medicine movement. Kelly earned her MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and her certification in dietetics from Simmons College. She also holds a BS in Business Management.
Kevin Klatt, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto
Dr. Klatt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in Molecular Nutrition from Cornell University and completed his clinical dietetic (RD) training at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. His research focuses on using both preclinical models as well as human intervention studies to better understand nutrient metabolism, signaling and requirements. In addition to research, Dr. Klatt is an Associate Editor at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and a Section Editor of the graduate-level nutrition textbook, Biochemical Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition, 5e.
Maya Maroto, Executive Director, Coalition for Metabolic Health
Maya directs the Coalition for Metabolic Health’s strategy and operations. She brings deep experience in building and leading cross-sector coalitions, translating science into policy-relevant action, and aligning diverse stakeholders around shared goals to drive meaningful impact. Previously, Maya served as Vice President at FoodMinds and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Throughout her career, she has focused on advancing evidence-based approaches to nutrition security, population health, and chronic disease prevention. Maya is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and a Certified Ketogenic Nutrition Specialist (CKNS). She holds a BS in Nutrition and Food Science from Auburn University, an MPH in Public Health Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an EdD in Educational Leadership from Morgan State University. She lives in Maryland and enjoys weightlifting, cheering on her son’s high school baseball journey, and making time to recharge at the spa.
Susan Mayne, Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health
Dr. Susan Mayne is Professor (Adjunct) at the Yale School of Public Health and Former Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at FDA. During her tenure as Director from 2015-2023 during the Obama, first Trump, and Biden administrations, FDA advanced landmark nutrition and food safety policies, including banning industrially produced trans fat in the food supply, mandating added sugars labeling on the Nutrition Facts label, issuing sodium reduction targets for industry, working to lower toxic elements in foods intended for babies and young children (FDA’s Closer to Zero initiative) and implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Prior to joining the FDA in 2015, she spent nearly three decades at the Yale School of Public Health, where she conducted extensive research on food, nutrition, and chronic disease, authoring/coauthoring nearly 250 scientific publications with her work being cited more than 40,000 times. Dr. Mayne received a BA in chemistry from the University of Colorado. She earned a PhD in nutritional sciences, with minors in biochemistry and toxicology, from Cornell University.