NHF’s Mission is to empower parents to have healthy children free of chronic health conditions

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Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is composed of distinguished individuals with a diverse set of expertise.

Neurological Health Foundation (NHF) was founded in 2010 and obtained 501 (c)(3) public charity status from the IRS effective March of 2011. 

Click on any board member name to expand.
Dr. James Adams, Ph.D.
Dr. James Adams, Ph.D. is a father of a daughter with autism, diagnosed in 1994, and that is what led him to eventually shift much of his research emphasis to neurological illness in children, focusing on biological causes and treatments. He is currently a President’s Professor at Arizona State University, where he directs the ASU Autism/Asperger’s Research Program. Dr. Adams is a sought after speaker and researcher on the subject of preventing neurological illness in children.

Professor Adams has authored over 150 scientific articles in peer-reviewed publications, including 30 on autism.

Dr. Adams will serve as the primary point of contact for the Foundation to craft a strategy to prevent neurological illness in children and to recruit talented doctors and researchers to join in our efforts.

Autism-Related Service and Awards:

  • Director and Founder, Arizona State University Autism/Asperger’s Research Program, 2000-present
  • President, Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, 2000- present
  • President and founder, Autism Conferences of America, 2005 – present
  • Evening of Champions Award (for research and service) from national Autism Society of America, 2007
  • Autism Service Award, Greater Phoenix Chapter of the Autism Society of America, 2008
  • Daniel Jankowski Legacy Award 2009 for teaching, research, and service to ASU
  • Board of Directors, Autism Research Institute, 2007-2009
  • Co-Leader, Science Advisory Committee, Autism Research Institute, 2008 – present
  • Board of Directors, Autism Society of America, 2009-2010
  • President’s Professor, Arizona State University, 2010 – present
Dessie Brown, Jr.

Dessie Brown, Jr. has travelled the world as a connector among the most known and well-respected figures in the industries of media, sports, politics and business. As the brainchild of LD Unlimited – a marketing, consulting, and event production company he established 17 years ago, he has loaned his expertise on projects for clients such as AT&T, State Farm, Cheetos, FX, Wingstop, Nissan, Lyft and more. His integrity, talent and pure knack for predicting trends has led him to work with the legendary Tom Joyner, Super Bowl Champions Martellus and Michael Bennett and Former UFC Champion Kamaru Usman. Dessie currently serves as the Head of Digital Programming for actress and producer Marsai Martin’s production company Genius Entertainment where his repertoire includes overseeing projects with Verizon, Facebook, YouTube and more.

Dessie is also Co-Founder of The Franchise Game, the first and only African-American Franchise Symposium.  In October of 2023, Dessie joined the Board of Directors of the Neurological Health Foundation to assist in promoting NHF’s programs focused on empowering minority women of color to have healthy, full-term pregnancies resulting in healthier babies free of chronic health disorders.

Richard E. Frye, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Richard Frye is a Child Neurologist with expertise in neurodevelopmental and neurometabolic disorders. He received an MD and PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Miami, Residency in Child Neurology and Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology and Learning Disabilities at Harvard University/Children’s Hospital Boston and Fellowship in Psychology at Boston University. He also received a Masters in Biomedical Science and Biostatistics from Drexel University. He holds board certifications in Pediatrics, and in Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology. Dr. Frye is a national leader in autism research. He has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and serves on several editorial boards.

He has lead several clinical studies on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including studies focusing on defining the clinical, behavioral, cognitive, genetic and metabolic characteristics of children with ASD and mitochondrial disease and several clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of safe and novel treatments that target underlying physiological abnormalities in children with ASD, including open-label studies on tetrahydrobiopterin, cobalamin and folinic acid and a recent double-blind placebo controlled trial on folinic acid. His ongoing research efforts focus on defining metabolic endophenotypes of children with ASD and developing targeted treatments.

He is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Autism Discovery and Treatment Foundation, Neurologist and Director of Research at Rossignol Medical Center and Principal Investigator and Sponsor at the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, all in Phoenix, Arizona.He currently sees American patients at Rossignol Medical Center and many international patients at Neurodevelopmental Precision Medicine. In October of 2023, Dr. Frye was elected by the Board of Directors of the Neurological Health Foundation (NHF) to be the President and Chief Medical Officer of NHF.

 

Debby Hamilton, MD, MPH, IFM Certified Practitioner

Director of Physician Education and Clinical Trials

Dr. Debby Hamilton, MD, MPH is a Pediatrician with experience in primary care, integrative medicine, research, speaking and writing. She is board-certified in Pediatrics, Physician Nutrition, Integrated/Holistic medicine (ABIHM), and Functional Medicine (IFMCP). Her education includes an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University followed by a medical degree from Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin University, where she graduated with honors. She began her career in pediatrics as a general pediatrician in Rhode Island after residency training at Brown University’s Hasbro Children’s Hospital and the University of Massachusetts.

In Colorado, she completed fellowship training in pediatric nutrition at The Children’s Hospital in Denver. She was involved in two ongoing pediatric clinics: the Growth and Parenting Clinic treating children with growth and feeding issues, and the Pediatric Obesity clinic. Her training included nutrition training from newborn lactation issues to adult chronic disease. During her nutrition training, she completed her Master of Science degree in Public Health (MPH) at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. For her nutrition fellowship and master’s degree, she was funded by a National Institute of Health nutrition training grant focusing on zinc and iron intake in infants 6 to 12 months old.

Dr. Hamilton founded Holistic Pediatric Consulting in Colorado in 2005. Her practice focuses on treating children with chronic disease including neurodevelopment illnesses such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and mood and behavioral disorders along with autoimmune PANDAS/PANS illness, chronic digestive problems, growth issues, allergies, and skin disease. Her training in biomedical treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders and ADHD has been through the Autism Research Institute and the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS). She also offers preconception and pregnancy counseling based on her book, Preventing Autism and ADHD: Controlling Risk Factors Before, During & After Pregnancy. Dr. Hamilton is the Teaching Physician for the Neurological Health Foundation and co-host of the Healthy Pregnancy Summit (HPS).

Shazi Visram

Shazi Visram is an entrepreneur and mother committed to bettering the world through business that is socially, financially, and environmentally enlightened. She is the Founder of Happy Family Brands, which she led to become the #1 organic baby food company in the US market with disruptive innovations that have democratized organic food for new families, despite her very humble beginnings.

Shazi is also the Founder of Healthybaby.com, which is the culmination of a life’s work dedicated to protecting children’s neurological health. Healthybaby is a safe space for families to find the knowledge, community, and products to build connected minds and bodies during baby’s early years, a time when they are making one million neural connections every second. Healthybaby is the pioneer of the first ever diaper verified by the Environmental Working Group. 

As an advocate of social entrepreneurship, Visram is actively engaged as an investor and advisor to companies innovating for a brighter future. Visram serves on the board of Environmental Working Group (EWG), the Board of Overseers at Columbia Business School and Columbia College, in addition to being a Founding Member of Columbia’s Alumnae Legacy Circle.

In 2013, she was acknowledged by President Barack Obama as “not only an outstanding businesswoman, but also a leader that all of us can emulate.” In 2018, Visram proudly received Columbia University’s University Medal of Excellence “for her gifts as a leader, her optimistic spirit, and determination”.
Chris Willhite

Chris Willhite is a Certified Public Accountant and graduated with honors from Baylor University in 1991 with a BBA in Accounting. He started his career in public accounting in Houston where he was a Tax Senior for Arthur Andersen as well as an auditor for Ernst & Young. Chris is involved with multiple business. After working as the Financial Controller of a publicly traded company, he joined Robert Half international back in March of 2000. He is currently a Senior Vice President of Staffing at Robert Half International (www.RobertHalf.com). He is also a Principal and Head of the Investment Committee for Titus Capital LLC, a real estate investment firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (www.TitusCapital.com). Chris is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Neurological Health Foundation (NHF) and lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Hailee, and their two children.

Kenneth L. Watson
Kenneth L. Watson is a Senior Vice President – Financial Advisor with RBC Wealth Management. He helps high net worth individuals and their families achieve their financial goals by creating and implementing comprehensive wealth management plans that focus on accumulating, protecting and transferring wealth. Ken graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1988 as a University Scholar with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics with finance applications. Ken lives with his wife and three children in Kerrville, Texas.
Justin Jones
Justin Jones is a member of the founding family of The Neurological Health Foundation. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and has a Masters in Business Administration from Rice University. Justin began his career as a Strategy Consultant with Deloitte Consulting and is now the President of Espree Animal Products, a privately held manufacturer and distributor of premium organic animal health care products.
Kenneth W. Smith
Kenneth W. Smith is a Managing Director with RR Advisors, LLC – RCH Energy in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining RCH Energy Mr. Smith spent nearly five years with Hayman Capital Management as a Managing Director. Hayman is an alternative investment management company based in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining Hayman Capital Management Mr. Smith spent over five years with Smith Group Asset Management, an institutional asset manager focusing on traditional and alternative investment strategies, based in Dallas, Texas. At Smith Group, he was a Partner, Director of Marketing and responsible for investor relations. Prior to joining Smith Group, Mr. Smith was the Director of Marketing for Ranger Capital Group, an alternative investment advisor located in Dallas, Texas. While at Ranger Mr. Smith was responsible for the marketing efforts of the firm in addition to investor relations. Prior to Ranger, Mr. Smith was a Principal and the Director of Marketing for John McStay Investment Counsel (JMIC), an institutional asset manager. Mr. Smith began his career as a Vice President for Smith Barney and focused on institutional and corporate clients. Mr. Smith was a member of the 401(k) Advisory Board and the Blue Chip Council. Mr. Smith earned a BBA in Finance from Dallas Baptist University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, graduating with Honors (Beta Gamma Sigma).
Craig Fischer
Craig Fischer is a Partner with KPMG LLP. He joined KPMG in 1995, and specializes in audit and risk advisory services for companies in the industrial, electronics, software, and healthcare industries. Mr. Fischer also serves as a national and international instructor at KPMG, having taught accounting and auditing classes for KPMG in several countries throughout Europe and Asia. Mr. Fischer holds a B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from The University of North Texas.
Matt Boswell
Matt Boswell graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1994 with a degree in Marketing. Mr. Boswell has founded a number of successful franchise based companies, including Pet Butler. He is a sought after expert in the realm of marketing and franchise development for closely held, entrepreneurial based companies. Prior to getting into entrepreneurial ventures, he worked in various marketing and sales roles with several large companies in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area.