Companies and associations are elevating long‑tenured internal leaders, appointing executives with combined scientific and commercial backgrounds, and expanding governance and advisory structures to support evidence‑based innovation, member engagement and geographic growth.
At the same time, a steady flow of regional and global appointments highlights continued investment in international markets, while roles focused on education, regulatory affairs and technical communication underscore the sector’s focus on trust, substantiation and long‑term organizational resilience.
Below a look at some of the recent comings and goings impacting the dietary supplement industry.
Julia Wiebe, PhD, MBA, started as director of scientific affairs and marketing at MartinBauer Nutraceuticals, a new hub that brings together botanical experts MartinBauer, Finzelberg and MB-Med. Wiebe previously served as managing director of red otc development and held several leadership positions at Nektium Pharma.
David Stirling returned to his role as chief executive officer at dōTERRA International. Stirling stepped away from the CEO position in 2022 to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Armenia and Georgia. During his three-year absence, he remained closely connected to dōTERRA as a member of the board of directors. Stirling succeeds Kirk Jowers, who served as CEO during a pivotal period for the company as it navigated a challenging global economy and direct sales landscape.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the dedication, care, and commitment our teams and Wellness Advocates bring to dōTERRA each day,” Stirling said. “Being back with this community has only strengthened my passion for what we’re building together. I’m excited to be fully immersed once again as we continue our cause of helping the world to heal.”
In addition to Stirling’s return, dōTERRA announced that longtime Wellness Advocate and leader Jessica Moultrie will join the company as president of North America overseeing sales and event strategy. Isaac Wilson will continue in his role as general manager of the U.S. market, and Shannon Bible will remain executive vice president of North America.
Joe Milano joined GNC as chief growth officer, leading the company’s growth strategy across omnichannel marketing, digital commerce, customer experience and loyalty. Early in his career, he helped grow Shopbop during a pivotal stage of expansion and supported the company through its acquisition by Amazon. Most recently, he served as chief digital officer at Tapestry, leading digital strategy and operations across Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman.
“At GNC, we are building a more modern, connected omnichannel business that meets customers wherever they shop,” said Michael Costello, CEO of GNC. “Joe is a proven leader in digital and customer experience transformation. His expertise will be instrumental as we accelerate growth and deepen customer relationships.”
“Throughout her tenure, she has been an indispensable force in advancing the organization’s science agenda—strengthening our credibility, elevating our research initiatives and ensuring that sound, evidence-based principles guide everything we do.”
Steven Mister, President and CEO at CRN
Andrea Wong started a new position as senior vice president & chief science officer at the Council for Responsible Nutrition. Prior to joining CRN as vice president of scientific & regulatory affairs in 2013, Dr. Wong worked as a senior scientific and regulatory consultant for the highly respected consulting firm Intertek Cantox, formerly Cantox Health and Sciences International, in Ontario, Canada.
“Andrea’s promotion to chief science officer is a direct reflection of her extraordinary leadership, deep scientific expertise and unwavering commitment to CRN’s mission,” said Steve Mister, president and CEO at CRN. “Throughout her tenure, she has been an indispensable force in advancing the organization’s science agenda—strengthening our credibility, elevating our research initiatives and ensuring that sound, evidence-based principles guide everything we do.”
Liquid-filled capsule solutions Vantage Nutrition, an ACG group company, appointed Croft Hollingsworth as site director at its U.S. manufacturing facility in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
In his new role, Croft will oversee site operations across R&D, product development, supply chain, manufacturing, logistics and quality. With more than 35 years of engineering and operational leadership experience, he previously held senior leadership roles at Capsugel (a division of Pfizer), Diana Ingredients (Symrise) and Health Wright Products.
The appointment supports Vantage Nutrition’s continued expansion in North America, strengthening its operational leadership as the business accelerates growth in specialized liquid and innovative dosage formats.
Todd Pauli joined TSI Group as director of global industry marketing and customer engagement. An industry marketing communications leader in the industry, Pauli is the founder and publisher of digital platform Move Nutrition Network and founder and managing director of 24 Stories, a marketing agency creating strategy and integrated content campaigns for wellness-minded global brands.
“Latin America represents one of the most compelling growth opportunities in the global nutraceutical industry, and we’re committed to serving this market the right way, with local expertise, technical excellence and genuine partnership.”
John Quilter, CEO of Saanroo
Sanroo (the recently rebranded nutraceutical arm of Gencor) expanded its global commercial team by appointing Evelyng Ordaz Santana as business development manager to accompany the opening of its first office in Latin America–Mexico. Ordaz Santanais a food engineer with more than 20 years of experience across the food, beverage, and dietary supplement industries in Latin America. She brings a strong technical foundation and extensive commercial leadership, having worked across technical services, sales, and business development roles at companies including Danisco, Takasago, IFF, and Kerry.
“Latin America represents one of the most compelling growth opportunities in the global nutraceutical industry, and we’re committed to serving this market the right way, with local expertise, technical excellence and genuine partnership,” said John Quilter, CEO of Saanroo. “Evelyng brings exactly the combination we need – deep technical knowledge, extensive industry relationships, and an understanding of what supplement manufacturers in this region actually need to succeed.”
Viral Shah also joined Sanroo as senior business development director for North America oversee strategic business growth efforts across the company’s portfolios, supporting key accounts, emerging brands and innovative partners in the dietary supplements and functional food and beverage sectors.
With an MS in Pharmaceutical Science, Shah has 15 years of experience in formulation science, product innovation and commercial strategy across consumer health, OTC, nutraceutical and CPG sectors and most recently spent 10 years leading own-brand wellness categories at Walmart.
“Viral brings a rare combination of scientific depth and commercial execution,” Quilter said. “His experience across regulated product development, retail strategy and ingredient innovation strengthens our ability to support partners with insight that is both technical and practical. His leadership will play a key role in advancing our science-driven approach.”
Karin VanSlyke joined the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) as director of member services. In this role, VanSlyke will drive membership growth, retention and engagement while supporting educational initiatives to enhance the overall member experience. Most recently, she served as strategic partnerships manager at Informa, and her background includes managing digital content marketing programs and coordinating high-visibility communications and events.
“AHPA is extremely excited to welcome Karin VanSlyke as our new director of member services,” said Graham Rigby, president and CEO at AHPA. “We are grateful for our ongoing strategic partnership with Informa and believe that Karin’s addition to the AHPA staff will only serve to strengthen the relationship between our teams going forward. As our industry grows, so too does the need to support the growth of AHPA and provide excellent service to our members and we are confident Karin can help us do just that.”
Rahul Roy was promoted to director of vitamin & specialty retailers at market insights firm SPINS where he will continue working to turn data into strategy. Over the past six years, Roy has held client and retail insights roles at SPINS and previously worked as categoy manager and business data analyst at Fairway Market.
Microbiome solutions company Ummino appointed physician and online educator Dr. Karan Rajan as science and brand advisor as Ummino advances evidence-based gut health innovation. In his advisory role, he will support the he will help connect mechanistic findings to outcomes that are meaningful in clinical and real-world settings.
“Adding Dr. Rajan at this stage is strategic,” said Charles Dykes, CEO and co-founder of Ummino. ”As we advance clinical validation and scale partnerships, our partners need both clinical substantiation and the ability to educate their consumers effectively. Dr. Rajan brings medical credibility and a commitment to evidence-based communication that supports our partners’ positioning across metabolic health, sports nutrition and immunity categories.
The appointment comes as Ummino prepares to share results from ongoing and completed clinical research evaluating its novel microbiome platform.
“I believe, traditional systems are most effective when they are clinically evaluated and applied through modern medical practice,” said Dr. Rana
Dr. Shivangi Rana, Herbalife India
Dr. Shivangi Rana has joined vritilife by Herbalife India to drive holistic skincare and wellness education. With clinical experience in areas such as skin, hair, pigmentation, aesthetics and anti-aging. Dr. Rana will curate digital content around common skin concerns, daily skincare routines, nutrition-led wellness, and expert perspectives on the vritilife range. She will also contribute to vritilife’s training and education initiatives led by Herbalife India.
“I believe, traditional systems are most effective when they are clinically evaluated and applied through modern medical practice,” said Dr. Rana, commenting on her association with Herbalife India. “Nutrition and overall wellbeing are closely interconnected. My focus remains on long-term skin health rather than short-term solutions. This integrated approach is the core to guiding consumers toward sustainable health outcomes.”
Herbalife India previously onboarded Smriti Mandhana, Indian women’s cricket vice-captain, and Manika Batra, India’s table tennis star, as brand ambassadors for vritilife’s Ayurvedic skincare range to strengthen the brand’s association with wellness and performance.
Blueroot Health appointed Jay Schwartz as chief executive officer. Schwartz succeeds Jane Pemberton, who founded Blueroot Health and built it into a multi-brand, practitioner-trusted platform, leading its integration, portfolio expansion, and operational scale across brands including Vital Nutrients, Bariatric Fusion, Fairhaven Health and Unjury. Schwartz previously served as senior general management and sales roles at Iovate Health Sciences International and held marketing leadership positions within Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s international business unit.
“Blueroot Health has built a differentiated platform of brands that practitioners trust and patients rely on,” he said. “The opportunity ahead is to thoughtfully scale that impact, bringing clinically relevant products into more households while staying grounded in evidence, quality, and practitioner insight.”
“We’re introducing the new category of ‘Precision Botanicals’ into the nutraceutical space.”
Antonio Martinez Descalzo, CEO of Novella
Plant-cell based ingredient supplier Novella Innovative Technology appointed Antonio Martinez Descalzo as company CEO. Martinez, who previously held several senior leadership roles at the food and beverage firm ADM, will lead the start-up’s transition from its intensive R&D phase toward full-scale commercial operation.
“We’re introducing the new category of ‘Precision Botanicals’ into the nutraceutical space,” Martinez shared. “It’s a sustainable channel that will deliver fully standardized botanical ingredients at consistent volumes in line with regulatory and consumer requirements. Novella’s breakthrough technology reinforces the fragile supply chains for botanical extracts, which are seeing a reemergence in demand for their potent antioxidant power and relevance to broad wellness channels. This will also bring more price stability via protection from global climate fluctuations.”
Brittany Johnson, PhD, RDN joined FutureCeuticals as senior business development manager to help brands leverage the company’s portfolio of IP, plant-based ingredients in creating new formulations and functional concepts. In her most recent role as senior manager of scientific affairs at GNC, she oversaw study design, implementation and data translation to support product claims, consumer education and strategic business initiatives.
Shawn Manske, ND, assumed the role of clinical & scientific director at practitioner-channel nutraceutical company Aptogenix, where he will drive new product formulation, clinical consultation and educational strategy and content production. In his previous role, he served as assistant director of clinical education at Biocidin, contributing to product development, ingredient research and scientific positioning.
PLT Health Solutions appointed Pritesh Shetty as a part of the company’s international sales team. In his new role at PLT, he will be based in Selangor, Malaysia and direct business development efforts in key Asia Pacific markets, including Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam among other emerging markets in the region.
Shetty joins PLT from Prinova, where he was responsible for Asian markets, and over the last 16 years, he has held roles with DSM’s human nutrition & health division, Piramal Enterprise Limited’s nutritional solutions business and OmniActive Health Technologies.
As part of its expansion strategy in India, Aker BioMarine has appointed Hidayat Ali as country director, India, to lead commercial growth and market development for the Norwegian company’s Antartic krill oil and algae-derived DHA ingredients across India.
Most recently at Kappa Bioscience AS (now part of Balchem Corporation), Ali built a multi-million-dollar portfolio of branded ingredients across South Asia and the Middle East. Earlier in his career, he spent over a decade managing pharmaceutical and nutraceutical amino acid portfolios with SEKISUI Chemical Japan. A registered pharmacist with an MBA in International Business, Ali is charged with expanding Aker BioMarine’s footprint and fostering strong partnerships across India’s nutrition ecosystem.
Greenspace Herbs formally entered the U.S. market with operations in New Jersey and the appointment of veteran supplement executive Greg Arabatzis as chief business officer, USA—a move that underscores the company’s intent to commercialize its clinically validated Quantum Ayurveda platform at scale.
Arabatzis brings over two decades of experience in brand building, ingredient commercialization and channel development within the U.S. nutraceutical ecosystem, he is expected to guide Greenspace’s regulatory positioning, strategic partnerships and national market rollout.
“The U.S. market rewards clinically substantiated innovation,” he said. “Quantum Ayurveda stands out because it is not theoretical, it is supported by published scientific data. Our focus now is structured commercialization, education and partnership development.”
The Natural Products Association announced the addition of Cliff Kendrick as senior vice president of membership services and business development. As the organization celebrates its 90th year, Kendrick is charged with driving strategic growth initiatives, elevating member engagement and expanding business development efforts to support the organization’s mission and long-term goals.
He has over 25 years of experience in business development, sales leadership and strategic partnerships across the nutrition, food and natural products industries. Most recently, he served as vice president of strategic business development at OmniActive Health Technologies and previously held leadership positions at INW Group and Capstone Nutrition.
“We are thrilled to welcome Cliff to our leadership team,” said Daniel Fabricant, PhD, president and CEO at NPA. “His proven track record in business development and passion for fostering strong member and partner relationships make him an exceptional addition. Cliff’s leadership will be instrumental as we continue to grow the organization and deliver even greater value to our members.”
Mike Edwards joined health and wellness company LifeVantage Corporation as chief technology officer. With over 25 hears of technology leadership and enterprise transformation experience, Edwards most recently served as chief technology officer at direct selling company It works!, where he led comprehensive enterprise-wide transformation initiatives across eCommerce platforms, artificial intelligence implementation, customer relationship management systems, back-office operations, mobile applications and customer experience enhancement.
“Mike is a strategic leader with a strong track record of translating technological innovation into measurable business impact and we are delighted to have him join the LifeVantage team,” said Steve Fife, president and CEO of LifeVantage. “His expertise in eCommerce, AI, CRM systems, and mobile technology will be instrumental in accelerating our digital transformation and delivering next-generation technology solutions for our independent consultants and customers as we continue advancing our growth strategy. Mike’s proven ability to scale technology infrastructure will be critical as we expand our global footprint.”
“[Dr. Marles’] decades of experience in the scientific evaluation of safety, quality, and efficacy evidence for herbs and herbal products, and his leadership in the compendial standards-setting process are nonpareil.”
Josef Brinkman, ABC Board of Trustees President
Medicinal plant expert Robin Marles, PhD, joined the American Botanical Council’s Board of Trustees. The Canadian researcher, regulator, and longtime ABC Advisory Board member brings decades of decades of experience in botanical research, Canadian government regulation, academia and international standards-setting.
“We are delighted that Dr. Marles has accepted our invitation to join the ABC Board of Trustees,” said ABC Board of Trustees President Josef Brinckmann. “His decades of experience in the scientific evaluation of safety, quality, and efficacy evidence for herbs and herbal products, and his leadership in the compendial standards-setting process are nonpareil. I look forward to continued collaboration with Dr. Marles in advancing ABC’s mission.”
In January, the American Botanical Council also welcomed 14 new advisory board members, bringing global perspectives from academia, clinical practice, nonprofit organizations, industry, and regulatory and public health institutions. These new members contribute a range of expertise spanning pharmacognosy; ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology; traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine; botanical quality, safety, and regulation; integrative and lifestyle medicine; sustainability and supply chains; the development and evaluation of botanical ingredients; and more. They join more than 130 current members of the ABC Advisory Board.
ABC Advisory Board members volunteer their time to peer review articles that appear in HerbalGram, HerbalEGram, HerbClip, and other peer-reviewed ABC publications. In addition, ABC management and HerbalGram editors regularly seek input from advisory board members on research questions, editorial priorities, ABC policies, and book reviews, among many other topics central to ABC’s nonprofit educational mission.
“ABC is pleased to add these highly knowledgeable and qualified professionals to our growing Advisory Board,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC. “It is especially important to note that more than half of these new members are from outside the United States—an indicator of the global aspect of herbal medicine scientific research and ABC’s growing international scope and impact.”
Emmanuel Colette assumed the global leadership of IMCD’s Business Group Food & Nutrition in addition to his responsibilities as managing director of IMCD France, a role he has held since 2024. In this expanded role, he will guide the global development of Food & Nutrition, strengthening and accelerating its commercial and technical offering.
Collette joined IMCD in 2012 as product manager of food & nutrition and was appointed as international product manager in 2018. In 2020, he moved to Singapore to lead food & nutrition in Asia Pacific and serve as managing director of IMCD Singapore. He replaces Marc van Gerwen who retired on March 1 after a 38-year career in the chemicals and ingredients industry.
UK-based seaweed biotechnology company Oceanium appointed Sybille Buchwald-Werner, PhD, as a non-executive board member. Dr. Buchwald-Werner contributes 25 years of experience spanning pharmaceutical science, branded ingredient innovation, governance and international commercialization. A scientist by training, she founded also founded Vital Solutions (acquired in 2023) and Newday, a platform that translates scientific insight into strategy. Her appointment comes as Oceanium accelerates growth of its Ocean Actives H+ seaweed-derived gut health ingredient.
“OCEANIUM is a European circular seaweed platform where sustainable sourcing and green processing meet science-backed nutrition,” Dr. Buchwald-Werner said, commenting on her appointment. “I was drawn to the company’s women-founded leadership, its commitment to planetary and human health, and its ambition to build safe, responsible solutions at scale. This is the kind of innovation our industry needs to align long-term health with environmental stewardship.”
“Her integrity, leadership, and commitment to botanical and nutrition research, and her generous, collaborative spirit have made an enduring impact on the field—and on all of us who have been privileged enough to work with her.
Dr. Andrew Bremmer, Acting Director of ODS
Barbara C. Sorkin, Ph.D., retired from federal service on December 31, 2025. Since joining the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health in 2011, Dr. Sorkin has served as the co-director of the Botanical Research Centers Program, which promotes collaborative, transdisciplinary research on the safety, effectiveness, and mechanisms of action of botanical dietary supplements. For more than a decade, Dr. Sorkin also led the ODS Seminar Series, a monthly webinar program featuring presentations by distinguished national and international experts in dietary supplements and nutrition.
Prior to joining ODS, Dr. Sorkin was responsible for administering extramural research in the areas of healthy aging, cancer and sleep at the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, where she worked since 2003. Before that, Dr. Sorkin was on the faculty at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and at the Forsyth Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a successful NIH grant applicant.
“I would like to thank Barbara for her countless contributions to ODS and NIH, and to the field of botanical dietary supplement research,” said Dr. Andrew Bremer, acting director of ODS. “Her integrity, leadership, and commitment to botanical and nutrition research, and her generous, collaborative spirit have made an enduring impact on the field—and on all of us who have been privileged enough to work with her. With appreciation and gratitude, I wish her the very best in retirement.”
Nutrition Capital Network (NCN) welcomed Haeri Roh-Schmidt, vice president of product development at Herbalife, to the NCN Selection Committee. The network is a health and nutrition founder and investor platform that brings together curated companies with active investors, representing all facets of the industry, including ingredients and technology, natural and organic foods, functional foods, supplements, personal care and household goods, and related technology solutions.
NutriSelect brought on Kate Hughes as strategic marketing advisor, who currently serves as fractional chief marketing officer at Sleep.ai, helping position its sleep intelligence platform at the center of the emerging sleep health ecosystem.
At NutriSelect, Hughes will help refine the company’s category narrative, market positioning and go-to-market architecture as its continues building its Precision Supplement Intelligence platform. She joins T.R. Griffith, strategic technology advisor, and a scientific advisory board that includes Dr. Gene Bruno, DBM, MS, RH(AHG), Tim Ziegenfuss, Ph.D., CSCS, FISSN, Dr. Elijah McCarthy, N.D. and Moon Yiu, CTO & strategic technology partner.
Root Brands, a global wellness company operating across 90+ countries and co-founded by Dr. Christina Rahm and Clayton Thomas, appointed David and Angelike Norrie, founders of the Turned On movement, as directors of North American expansion and growth strategies. Their appointments come as Root Brands and its Ambassador-driven business model continues to scale its patent-protected wellness portfolio, including Clean Slate, Zero-In, and Clean Spirits, throughout the North American market.
“David and Angelike embody the values and vision we’ve built Root Brands upon,” said Clayton Thomas, co-founder of ROOT Brands. “Their track record of building organizations of tens of thousands, their commitment to scientific integrity and truth-based education, and their focus on empowering leaders to serve with purpose makes them the ideal team to accelerate our North American growth strategy.”
In their new roles, the Norries will focus on North American market expansion and penetration strategies, ambassador and field leadership development programs, communication and speaking training for Root’s leadership community, brand storytelling and go-to-market strategy refinement, education frameworks for Root’s wellness ecosystem, community-building and movement leadership initiatives, and growth strategy and culture development across the organization.
William Reed, the family-owned media business serving the global food ecosystem and the publisher of NutraIngredients, appointed Richard Sexton as chief operating officer. He joins after more than two decades in senior operational leadership roles, including UK operations director at dentsu international and chief operations officer at Carat UK.
As COO, Sexton’s remit is to ensure William Reed operates as one connected organization by driving speed and discipline across operations, embedding a performance mindset and a culture of continuous improvement, informed decision-making and personal accountability.
“Richard’s appointment is a pivotal moment for William Reed,” De Groose said. “This new role will help us deliver on our priorities with clarity and impact, supporting growth and improving profitability across our brands. Richard’s experience in tackling complex business challenges and managing stakeholders at all levels makes him the ideal partner as we continue to transform and future-proof the business.”
“I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and further as we work to Make America Health Again,”
Robert F. Kennedy, Director of HHS
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services installed four new senior counselors to more closely manage daily operations and communications across the federal government to accelerate the department’s agenda.
Chris Klomp, the administration’s current Medicare head and senior adviser at HHS, became chief counselor and the department’s de facto chief of staff. John Brooks, deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, became senior counselor in charge of CMS-related issues. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials, Grace Graham and Kyle Diamantas, will take on senior counselor roles at HHS managing FDA-related issues, while maintaining their current roles, and Matt Buckham, HHS chief of staff, moved to a senior counselor role.
“I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and further as we work to Make America Health Again,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shared in in a statement.
