Egg Nutrition Center Staff and Organization

ENC Staff and Responsibilities Staff Biographies
	Donald J. McNamara, Ph.D. Executive Director As Executive Director, Dr. McNamara is responsible for program development and implementation; administration of the American Egg Board Research Grants Program; serve as Executive Editor of Nutrition Close-Up and Nutrition Realities, and coordinate ENC programs with those of the American Egg Board and United Egg Producers. Hilary Shallo Thesmar, Ph.D., R.D. Director, Food Safety Programs As Director of Food Safety Programs Dr. Thesmar is responsible for all programs related to egg food safety and food safety education. She provides technical expertise for egg industry associations and producers, works with federal and state public health agencies, and coordinates egg industry programs in food safety. Marcia Greenblum, M.S., R.D. Director of Educational Outreach Ms. Greenblum is responsible for researching topics for development of educational materials on nutrition and food safety, writing Nutrition Realities, and working with ENC staff at conferences, exhibits and national meetings. Jenny Heap, M.S., R.D. Nutrition Program Coordinator Ms. Heap has primary responsibility for the daily Egg News Network ENC Report, writing and producing Nutrition Close-Up, and works with a variety of nutrition and health care organizations through meetings and exhibiting at national meetings of health promotion organizations. Mrs. Phyllis M. Ford Office Administrator/Exhibits Manager Mrs. Ford oversees all aspects of office administration, maintains accounts and financial records, keeps inventory up to date, and coordinates the ENC exhibit schedule and related activities.
ENC Funding and Management
	ENC is a joint venture of two egg industry organizations, the American Egg Board (AEB) and the United Egg Producers (UEP). Funding for ENC programs and activities is provided by AEB through a management agreement with UEP.
The American Egg Board: A Commodity Research and Promotion Board for the Commercial Egg Industry
	AEB is the U.S. egg producer’s link to the consumer in communicating the value of the incredible edible egg. AEB’s mission is to allow egg producers to fund and carry out proactive programs to increase markets for eggs, egg products and spent fowl products through promotion, research and education. As the egg industry’s promotion arm, AEB’s foremost challenge is to convince the American public that the egg is still one of nature’s most nearly perfect food. AEB’s basic task is to improve the demand for shell eggs, egg products, as well as spent fowl throughout the United States. AEB is funded from a national legislative checkoff on all egg production from companies with greater than 75,000 layers. The Board consists of 18 members and 18 alternates from all regions of the country. All members are egg producers nominated by certified state and regional organizations representing egg producers. The Board is appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The AEB staff, a small group of dedicated professionals, carries out the programs under the Board direction.

 

Staff Biographies

Donald J. McNamara, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, DC. Dr. McNamara received his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1972 from Purdue University in Indiana and was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Cancer Institute in the Department of Physiological Chemistry at the Ohio State University Medical College from 1972-74. In 1974 he joined the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory of E.H. Ahrens, Jr., M.D. at the Rockefeller University in New York as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1980. In 1985 Dr. McNamara accepted appointment as Professor of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Arizona in Tucson until 1995 when he accepted his current position. At the University of Arizona Dr. McNamara served as Chair of the Interdisciplinary Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program (1987-90), Acting Department Head (1989-90), and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses and symposiums. As Director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, Dr. McNamara supervised the training of three M.S. and nine Ph.D. students as well as a number of clinical fellows and postdoctoral trainees. Dr. McNamara has published over 150 research articles, reviews and book chapters on the relationships between dietary lipids, plasma lipoprotein and cardiovascular disease risk. He is on the editorial boards of the scientific journals Metabolism , Biochimica et Biophysica Acta and Journal of Nutrition, the advisory boards of the American Council on Science and Health and the French Centre de Recherche et D’Information Nutritionnelles (CERIN), and a member of the Council on Arteriosclerosis of the American Heart Association, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, and the Society for Nutrition Education.

Hilary Shallo Thesmar, Ph.D., R.D. is the Director of Food Safety Programs at the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, DC.  Dr. Thesmar received her Ph.D. in Food Technology from Clemson University in 1997. In addition to a Master of Science degree in human nutrition from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, Dr. Thesmar completed the dietetic internship at Winthrop and is a Registered Dietitian.  Before joining the Egg Nutrition Center, Dr. Thesmar worked in Food Applications Research and Development for Praxair, Inc.  She is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the International Association for Food Protection.  As Director of Food Safety Programs, Dr. Thesmar administers the American Egg Board food safety research program, monitors and evaluates research information on food safety issues related to eggs, works with government and private agencies involved in food safety, and provides technical expertise to the egg industry.

Marcia Greenblum, M.S., R.D. is the Director, Educational Outreach with the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, DC. Marcia began her dietetic training at Hunter College in New York City where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree. She continued her pursuit of nutrition education at the University of Maryland where she earned a Master of Science degree in nutrition. While attending the University of Maryland, Marcia was employed as a research assistant at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center where she participated in conducting human research studies and laboratory analysis. After achieving registration with the American Dietetic Association, Marcia began her clinical experience as a dietitian at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and advanced to clinical nutrition specialist at South Baltimore General Hospital. In addition she taught nutrition to health professionals at Baltimore City Community College.  After leaving Baltimore, Marcia continued teaching nutrition at Montgomery College for both the biology and food service management departments before joining the staff at the Egg Nutrition Center. Marcia is currently active in the District of Columbia Metropolitan Area Dietetic Association having held offices of Legislative and Public Policy Chair as well as her current role as newsletter editor of the Potomac Post.

Jenny Heap, M.S., R.D. is the Nutrition Program Coordinator with the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, D.C. Jenny received a B.S. degree in Integrated Studies from Weber State University in Utah and her M.S. degree in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Utah. Jenny has worked in nutrition education and communication at the Huntsman Cancer Center and the Foundation for Children and Youth with Diabetes, as well as an internship with the International Food Information Council in Washington DC before joining the Egg Nutrition Center in 2002.

 

 

 

 

Back to Top