Our people

Pierre S. Haddad, PhD

President

Montréal, Qc

Dr. Haddad is a tenured professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the Université de Montréal. His fields of expertise include: Natural Health Products, Traditional medicine, Metabolic diseases, Diabetes, and Obesity. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and is recognized internationally for his work on medicinal plants and functional foods in metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, notably relating to Indigenous health.

Roy Golsteyn, PhD

Vice-President

Lethbridge, Ab

Dr. Golsteyn is the Principle Investigator of the Natural Product Laboratory at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. Previously, he was a senior research scientist with the pharmaceutical company, Servier Laboratories, in France. His laboratory leads the Prairie to Pharmacy Program, which investigates natural products from prairie plants, their biological properties, and knowledge exchange with Blackfoot First Nation communities.

Bob Chapman, PhD

Treasurer

Charlottetown, PEI

Dr. Chapman is the Chief Scientific Officer for Dosecann LD Inc. in Charlottetown, PEI and serves as the Responsible Person for processing licence and analytical testing licenses. Prior to Dosecann, he was a Principal Research Officer with the National Research Council Canada (“NRC”) in programs on Natural Health Products and functional ingredients, including the emerging cannabis field. Dr. Chapman also worked in start-up companies in San Francisco, California.

Michael Smith, ND

Member at Large

Stratford, On

Trained as a pharmacist and a naturopathic doctor, Michael Smith has worked for over 25 years in all aspects of Natural Health Products in Canada and Australia. He is an Adjunct Professor at the National Center for Natural Products Research, University of Mississippi and sits on the World Health Organisation Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary Medicine. He is currently a consultant and was the 2017 recipient of the G.H Neil Towers Award.

Connie Kehler

Member at Large

Saskatoon, Sk

Connie Kehler is the executive director of the Canadian Herb, Specialty Agriculture and Natural Health Product Coalition. She is one of the founders of NHPRS. Connie also was on the Industry Liaison Committee for Health Canada NHPD. One of her roles was to lead the Botanical Good Manufacturing Practices Teams of NHPD. Connie and her team worked with the WHO, NHPRS, CFIA, AAFC and AHPA to develop the first certified Good Agriculture and Collection Practice program that is now recognized internationally. Connie had worked with the natural health product industry on many initiatives to support the science and the industry moving forward.

Marleny Saldaña, PhD

Member at Large

Edmonton, Ab

Dr. Saldaña is a tenured professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. She has a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Process Engineering. She is internationally recognized for her work on emerging processing technologies, including sub/super-critical carbon dioxide and water processing, ultrasound and high-pressure processing to treat food, crops, biomass and agricultural residues to obtain high-value bioactive compounds, biopolymers and chemicals for use in nutraceutical, functional food and industrial applications. Dr. Saldaña has received various international awards from academia and industry, including the 2017-2018 McCalla Professorship award. She is a reviewer for national/international grant applications. She was the chair for the Natural Health Product (NHP) Conference held in Edmonton in 2019. She has served in the NSERC RTI committee. Dr. Saldaña is a member of various associations such as CIFST (Membership Director for the AB Section), NHPRS (Member at Large), IFT-NDP (Member at Large), ISSF, among others. She is currently Editor of the Journal of Food Engineering Reviews.

Jeremy Y. Ng, MSc, PhD

Voting Member

Toronto, On

Jeremy Y. Ng is a currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Journalology, Ottawa Hospital Institute in Ottawa, Ontario. He holds a PhD in Health Research Methods from McMaster University and a Master’s of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MSc) from the University of Toronto. He is the founding manager and publisher of the Journal of Natural Health Product Research, which is the official journal of the NHPRS.

Krista Coventry, MSc

Guelph, ON

Krista is a regulatory affairs specialist with 14 years of industry experience focusing on regulatory project management and strategic planning of client-based regulatory initiatives in the North American health products marketplace. If you have a concept for a new health product, or want to tailor an existing product for the North American marketplace, Krista can help you navigate the regulatory hurdles required to gain market access. Krista has expert knowledge of the acts, regulations, policies and guidelines relating to Natural Health Products (NHPs), foods, supplemented foods and organic foods in Canada. She has advised numerous clients with products at the interface of NHP, food, cosmetic and drug regulations. Krista routinely speaks at international conferences, workshops and seminars on current regulatory topics, regulatory modernization initiatives, health claims, and trending ingredients in these industries.