UNPA Team
Loren D. Israelsen - Executive Director
Mr. Israelsen is Executive Director of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), a trade association of dietary supplement companies committed to safety, science and quality.
He has been deeply involved in the commercial and regulatory issues facing the global dietary supplement industry since 1980. He has served as vice president/general counsel to the American Herbal Products Association, co-founder and counsel to the European American Phytomedicine Coalition (EAPC), industry liaison to FDA’s Expert Advisory Committee on Ephedra, industry advisor to the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), expert panel member on IFT’s Functional Food Report (2005) and most recently sat as an expert panel member to the Department of Defense / RAND study on dietary supplement use among military personnel.
Mr. Israelsen has authored over 150 articles, book chapters and has lectured in over 30 countries on dietary supplement and functional food issues. He is the recipient of the NBJ Lifetime Achievement Award, the NNFA President’s Award and the B.Y. Morrison Lecture and Medal. He was honored to be included in Natural Health Magazine’s 30th Anniversary Hall of Fame and was recently the first person ever to appear on the cover of Natural Foods Merchandiser.
Peter Reinecke - Senior Political Advisor
Peter Reinecke, principal of Reinecke Strategic Solutions, Inc., serves as Senior Advisor to UNPA. For 25 years, Peter has been a leader in health and nutrition policy having spent over 20 years working for the U.S. Congress. As staff to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and as Legislative Director and Chief of Staff to Senator Tom Harkin, he helped write many key pieces of health legislation, including the establishment of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH and the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Peter’s Capitol Hill tenure also included work on a range of other legislation including health care reform, child nutrition, measures to expand access to chiropractic and acupuncture services and to reorient the health care system towards prevention and wellness.
Peter has also served on the staff of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and as a Visiting Lecturer at Duke University. He is a graduate of Duke University and is the proud father of two young children.
Patricia Knight - Senior Political Advisor
Patricia Knight left three decades of government service in 2007 to found a small Washington, D.C.-based consulting business providing strategic advice on a range of health-care issues, with an emphasis on those that are FDA-related. Trisha has had a long association with health care policy and legislation, particularly that involving dietary supplements. She served as Health Policy Director and later Chief of Staff to Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) for 15 years. In that position, she was responsible for directing all aspects of the Senator’s office, including policy, legislative development, staffing and administration. She has also served at the Department of Health and Human Services twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation (Health), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Commerce, professional staff to the House Appropriations Committee, and chief legislative assistant to Rep. James T. Broyhill, former Ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Trisha has been involved in formulating legislation on a range of health-related issues, including health care reform, regulation of foods, drugs and medical devices, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. She was one of the lead staffers in developing the major dietary supplement laws enacted in the past two decades - the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-417) and the Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 109-462). Trisha graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University with a degree in photojournalism and anthropology.
Harry B. Rice, Ph.D. - Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
Harry Rice, Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, has worked in the dietary supplement, functional food and consumer packaged goods industries since completing his doctorate in Nutrition from The Pennsylvania State University.
Harry’s most recent responsibilities included the following: 1) development and execution of regulatory strategies for the approval of dietary supplement and food ingredients in various geographies throughout the world 2) assessment and interpretation of scientific literature and regulations as it applies to lawful marketing of ingredients and finished food products 3) design and execution of both preclinical and clinical studies for both developmental and commercial ingredients.
Harry will spend 50% of his time dedicated to supporting UNPA’s efforts, while the other 50% will be spent supporting the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED) in the same role.
Heidi Calder - Executive Assistant
Ms. Heidi CALDER brings 20 years of experience in the sports medicine and natural health fields. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education with an emphasis in exercise physiology. She has also served as an instructor for the Utah Heart Association and worked at the LDS Hospital Fitness Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since 1987, she has been the executive assistant to Mr. Israelsen during her tenure at both Nature's Way and at LDI Group. She is a skilled gardener, chef and mother of three awesome boys.
Lindsay Wright - Director of Programs and Seminars
Ms Lindsay WRIGHT is UNPA’s able Director of Programs and Seminars. She manages many of the daily support functions at UNPA, including new client screening, meeting and seminar planning, building administration and executive assistant duties. In addition to holding a B.S. degree in Speech Communications from the University of Utah, Lindsay comes to us with experience in the fields of fitness and nutrition, finance, and the logistics of event planning, most notably as an assistant to NBC executives and media personalities during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. In her spare time Lindsay enjoys photography and has recently taken it up as a side business and hobby. Lindsay has been a part of the UNPA staff for almost 6 years and counting.
Kira Olsen - Director of Member Services
Ms Kira Olsen serves as UNPA's Director of Member Services. Aside from that Kira also heads up UNPA’s marketing, assists in the planning and production of seminars and events, as well as the daily functions of administrative duties. Kira comes to us with a background in advertising and marketing. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor's degree in Speech Communications. Kira has been with UNPA for over 3 years. When Kira is not working she loves to do anything exciting such as snowboarding, wakeboarding, scuba diving and most of all spending time with her husband and beautiful little girl.