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

Director of Autism/Asperger’s Research Program, Arizona State University

James B. Adams, Ph.D., is the Director of the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program at Arizona State University. He has published over 30 scientific articles on autism. He is also the President of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, the President of the Autism Nutrition Research Center, and the co-leader of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Autism Research Institute. He is the proud father of three children, including one with autism.

Kelly Barnhill, MBA, CN, CCN, is the Director of the Nutrition Clinic at The Johnson Center for Child Health and Development. She is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, with over a decade of experience working with nutrition in children with autism and related disorders. At the Johnson Center she directs a team of dieticians and nutritionists that has served over 3000 children through this practice. In addition to her clinical practice, Kelly also serves as the Johnson Center Clinical Care Director, overseeing management and implementation of multidisciplinary care across the practices within the organization. In 2008, Kelly accepted the position of Nutrition Coordinator for the Autism Research Institute. In this role, she designs and manages curriculum and training for hundreds of nutrition practitioners each year, as well as providing direct training for thousands of parents. Kelly is a sought-after presenter, speaking at several national and international conferences each year. Her studies and work at JCCHD are the culmination of many years’ effort and expertise, with the last several years devoted to understanding the biological underpinnings of the disorder we know as autism. Her work has raised awareness of the need for these services for children with autism and related disorders. Kelly is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin.

Professor of Immunotoxicology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University Dr. Rodney Dietert, Ph.D. received the B.S. degree from Duke University (1974) and his Ph.D.from University of Texas at Austin (1977). During the past 37 years at Cornell, Rodney has served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Graduate Field of Immunology, Associate Director of the Cornell Superfund Program, Senior Fellow in the Center for the Environment, Director of the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, Director of the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors and President of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology. He has more than 300 publications concerning prenatal and childhood risk factors for chronic diseases with a focus on the developing immune system.

Dr. Freedenfeld received his Bachelor of Science Degree with Distinction from the University of Rochester in 1970. He received his Medical Degree, with honors, from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1975. He completed a three-year residency in Family Practice at Hunterdon Medical Center in 1978 and served as chief resident there from 1977-1978. He became board certified and a diplomat of the Academy of Family Practice in 1978, and was re-certified in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. He is a respected international lecturer in areas including autism, ADD/ADHD, detoxification and many afflictions associated with aging.

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.

 

Dr. Green trained in family practice, emergency medicine, holistic and environmental medicine, in the 70’s and 80’s. Since 1999 his focus has been on clinical research, physician outreach in Hungary, Italy and Poland, and collaboration with parents to optimize treatment of their children. Recognizing that children with autism have very diverse problems, needs and potentials, his emphasis is to provide individualized care with evidence- and outcome-based treatments guided by biomarkers and clinical tracking tools.

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).

Faculty Associate, Department of Family and Community Medicine, The University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio

Lynne Heilbrun attended the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, where she received her MPH. Her graduate work on environmental exposures and intolerances associated with ADHD was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s STAR/GRO fellowship program. She has over ten years’ experience in the field of children’s environmental exposures, with a focus on neurodevelopment. In 2007, she served as a consultant to develop an EPA-funded community-based program aimed at reducing prenatal exposures. She is currently serving as the Autism Research Coordinator at the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio. Her research team’s discovery of semi-volatile organic chemicals in baby teeth was featured in CNN Headline News in 2012 and has been photographed for a future issue of National Geographic.

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Holcare Nutrition in Wilton, CT

Ms. Kobliner received her Bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and graduated with high honors from Oregon State University with a Master’s degree in Food and Nutrition. She is a contributing author to two books: A Compromised Generation: The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in Americas Children, and Essential Remedies for Women’s Health. Vicki is a contributor to Natural Nutmeg Magazine, sits on the professional advisory board of Epidemic Answers, and is a member of the Connecticut PANDAS/PANS Legislative Advisory Council. She has lectured nationally and internationally about the role of nutrition in autism and related disorders and is a member of the nutrition faculty of the Autism Research Institute. Vicki’s practice employs a functional nutrition approach, using natural agents to help the body heal itself. Vicki works with infants, through adults with chronic illnesses, digestive disorders, food allergies, ADHD and autism and provides fertility and prenatal nutrition counseling.

Licensed Nutritionist

Dana Godbout Laake is a Licensed Nutritionist providing preventive and therapeutic medical nutrition services through Dana Laake Nutrition. Her practice encompasses complex medical nutrition issues affecting adults, and children with special needs. An honors graduate and outstanding alumnus honoree from Temple University, she received her Master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Maryland.
In addition to media presentations, writing, radio talk show hosting and providing professional continuing education courses,Dana Laake has been a Maryland Legislative Assistant on health issues and has served four Gubernatorial appointments on two state health care regulatory boards (Dentistry and Dietetic Practice). She is co-author of “The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook, The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet” (2009)  and “The ADHD and Autism Nutritional Supplement Handbook” (2013).

Professor of Neurotoxicology and Vice-Chair at University of California, Davis

Dr. Pamela Lein is Professor of Neurotoxicology and Vice-Chair in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California, Davis. She received a B.S. with Honor in Biology from Cornell University, a M.S. in Environmental Health from East Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from University of Buffalo, NY.

After postdoctoral training in Molecular Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY and professional experience as an environmental health analyst in western NY for a private consulting firm, Dr. Lein joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at Canisius College. Subsequently she moved to Baltimore, MD to take a position as an assistant professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she developed an independent research program in developmental neurotoxicology. Dr. Lein was recruited to the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology at the Oregon Health & Science University in 2003 and then in 2008 to her current position at UC Davis. She is also a member of the faculty of the M.I.N.D. Institute faculty and the NIH and EPA-funded Center for Children’s Environmental Health. Other professional experience includes Chair of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Group at UC Davis, Director of the NIEHS-funded training program in Environmental Health Sciences, and member of the editorial board of the journals Toxicological Sciences, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Neuro-toxicology and Teratology and NeuroToxicology. Her research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which environmental stressors modulate neurodevelopment and neurologic function.