Team

Given the nature of our business, we rely heavily on industry experts from around the globe to guide us and our members in their respective area of expertise. Below is a list of our impeccably trusted team members. Our members get exclusive access to them as needed. If you would like to be connected, please reach out to kira@unpa.com for more information.

Daniel Mabey

President – Asia Region

daniel@unpa.com

​Based in Beijing, China, Daniel Mabey serves as UNPA’s Asia President. He is the Principal Director of UNPA’s Market Development Cooperator Program with the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. This program aims to increase sales to China by developing an export-oriented quality standard for dietary supplements based on distributed ledger technology. Daniel also provides UNPA members with market research, regulatory support, and other services. He has over ten years of experience working in China and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. Daniel earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and studied abroad at Peking University.

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 Sen. 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.
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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-Utah, 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.

John B. Atwater, Ph.D. has over 25 years of experience in analytical chemistry, quality assurance program development, and drug development project management. Dr. Atwater had been with USP for 19 years and was the senior director of USP’s verification programs. Dr. Atwater helped develop and implement the most stringent national/international verification program for dietary supplements, dietary ingredients, active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients. He has worked with over 60 different companies verifying the quality of their products. Dr. Atwater joined USP, in July 2001, after serving as Director of the Natural Products Analytical Group at Hauser Technical Services, in Boulder, CO, where he worked with staff chemists to isolate (extract, fractionate, and purify) natural drug actives; and develop, validate, and perform analytical test procedures for natural products analyses.

Education:

• PhD, Analytical Chemistry, Colorado State University
• BA, Chemistry, Colorado College

Certifications and Professional Associations:

• Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC) Professional, Regulatory Affairs Professional Society
  (RAPS)
• Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), American Society for Quality (ASQ)

Tim Avila

Senior Scientific Advisor

Tim is a leading authority in the global nutrition industry, blending 33 years of experience in discovery, validation and marketing of bioactive ingredients and consumer packaged nutrition products. He is President of Systems Bioscience, Inc., a company specializing in providing Global Fortune 500 companies with business and product development knowledge for the NEW CPG space comprised of dietary supplements, natural/organic and regenerative foods.

He also co-founded Zero Worries Foods Inc. in 2005, manufacturer and distributor of ZSWEET® brand all natural and USDA Certified Organic zero calorie tabletop sweetener. ZSweet is the innovator preparation and pioneering formulation in the blending of all-natural ingredients to replace caloric sweeteners and artificial sugar substitutes and the first to use erythritol. Related to his pioneering efforts in natural zero calorie sweeteners, Mr. Avila has successfully worked with an early-stage manufacturer to develop low cost sugar replacement ingredients for big food and beverage.

Mr. Avila has a 25-year tenure as Senior Executive Advisor to the Newhope Network and SupplySide trade media franchises now owned by Informa Markets. Tim's list of past clients includes Cargill, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, Mars Inc. and many others. Mr. Avila is an original founding member of the screening committee at Nutrition Capital Network and now sits on the National Board of Directors of the Naturally Network, a non-profit membership association supporting industry growth.

As an advisor to Sambazon Inc. beginning in early 2001, Tim contributed to the development and revenue growth of one of the industry’s most respected socially responsible and B Corp. companies and lifestyle/passion brands.

Tim passionately and creatively pushes the boundaries of what is possible in product development and maintains a global network of radical innovators. Over the last 5 years, early-stage ventures have been a focus with projects ranging from a raft of start-ups, incubator concepts leading to successful new brands and companies. These projects benefit from Tim’s ability to coach and guide entrepreneurs in all aspects of the venturing process.