Meet Our Team & Advisors

Kelly McKenna is CEO of End Chronic Disease. Prior to her work at End Chronic Disease, Kelly has led a number of social impact efforts, including serving as Managing Director of Stanford University Graduate School of Education’s Initiative on Learning Differences and the Future of Special Education as well as Chief Operating Officer and Founding Team member of ArtLifting, a for-profit, for-purpose business helping artists impacted by homelessness or disabilities commercialize their work. Kelly also spent eight years working in financial services, including in private credit, technology banking, and asset management at J.P. Morgan and Cliffwater LLC. Outside of work, Kelly serves on the board of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in New York City, best known for its annual “Al Smith Dinner”. Kelly earned a BA in U.S. History from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a three-time All-American sailor and a Stanford University athletic record holder.

Nora Kenney is Director of Communications at End Chronic Disease. Her media-strategy efforts support the organization’s state-level initiatives to revitalize public health and address the chronic illnesses that hinder national well-being. Previously, she was Communications Director at the Manhattan Institute, where her work on public policy appeared in City Journal, the Washington Free Beacon, National Review, the Washington Examiner, and more. In that role, she also supported scholars working on a wide range of health-policy issues, including reform efforts at FDA, NIH, and CDC. She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Notre Dame. The daughter of a physician and a nurse, her passion for ending chronic disease is deeply personal, shaped by her own experience managing chronic conditions through lifestyle and nutrition.

Kara Jones is Head of Partnerships at End Chronic Disease, bringing over ten years of experience building relationships with key stakeholders across the health care ecosystem. Prior to joining End Chronic Disease, Kara was Vice President of Federal Affairs at AHIP, a national association for health insurance partners focused on advancing market-based solutions and public-private partnerships to make health care coverage more affordable and accessible. Prior to her work at AHIP, Kara spent a number of years in research and policy roles with the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, the Galen Institute, and the HR Policy Association. Kara earned a BA in Public Health at the University of South Carolina and a Masters in Public Health at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Tara is Head of Operations at End Chronic Disease. Her background includes 19 years of experience in operations, multimedia production, and financial services. She has driven innovation by leading dynamic teams in companies ranging from startups and small businesses to multi-billion-dollar corporations. Empowering people to take ownership of their health is personal to her and she has dedicated much of her career to health and wellness initiatives, including building healthcare software and digital nutrition platforms from scratch to enable personalized care. Tara started her career with the Denver Broncos and learned from the best in the business in content production and creative services. You’ll still find her sharpening her technical expertise in the scoreboard control room as a key member of the top-ranked game day entertainment crew in the NFL. Tara graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and Technical Communication with a concentration in Broadcast Production. 

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Justin Mares is a serial entrepreneur and investor at the forefront of health, wellness, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) innovation. He has founded several successful companies, including Kettle & Fire (a leading bone broth brand), Perfect Keto, and Surely (non-alcoholic wines). Justin is also the co-founder of TrueMed, revolutionizing HSA/FSA fund usage for everyday health purchases. As a venture partner at Long Journey Ventures and an angel investor, he actively supports and mentors startups. Justin shares valuable insights on DTC brands and entrepreneurship through his newsletter, "The Next Brand," and is involved in cutting-edge research on pathogen inactivation using microwave technology.

Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Sweetgreen, a destination for simple, seasonal, healthy food. Nicolas and his co-founders Nathaniel Ru and Jonathan Neman launched Sweetgreen in 2007, opening their first location in Georgetown, DC, just three months out of college. The brand’s strong food ethos, embrace of passion and purpose, and investment in local communities have enabled Sweetgreen to grow into a national brand with more than 60 locations throughout the country. In 2015, First Lady Michelle Obama selected Nicolas for the Presidential Delegation to EXPO 2015, an international summit to discuss global nutrition and health as well as sustainable food solutions. He has been recognized as a key innovator in food and business, named to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” Inc’s “30 Under 30”, Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and Food & Wine’s “40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under.”

Christina Pascucci is Senior Advisor of Government Affairs & Global Partnerships at End Chronic Disease. A renowned TV broadcaster, tireless community advocate, former U.S. Senatorial candidate, Emmy Award-winning journalist, licensed pilot, fluent Spanish speaker, and mother of two, Christina's life reflects a steadfast commitment to the wellbeing of all Americans. Christina works closely with the End Chronic Disease team on scaling their education and advocacy reach, building strategic partnerships, and optimizing their policy impact.

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Alex Klett is a Video Creator and Social Media Strategist specializing in high-impact digital storytelling, advocacy media, and viral content campaigns. With more than a decade of experience in creative production, Alex has generated over 150 million organic views across social platforms through cinematic editing, and strategic messaging. Known for combining cinematic production quality with cutting-edge social strategy, Alex focuses on building media ecosystems that influence culture, expand reach, and translate complex health and policy issues into compelling visual narratives.

A practicing family physician and the founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, founder for the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and Board President for Clinical Affairs for The Institute for Functional Medicine. He is a fifteen-time New York Times bestselling author of The Pegan Diet, Food Fix, and most recently Young Forever – an instant #1 NYT bestseller. Dr. Hyman is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Function Health and the founder and chairman of the Food Fix Campaign – dedicated to transforming our food and agriculture system through policy. He is the host of one of the leading health podcasts, The Dr. Hyman Show, which has over 250M+ downloads. He is also a regular medical contributor to CBS This Morning, Today, Fox, CNN, Good Morning America, The View, and CNN.

Dr. Ty Beal is a Senior Technical Specialist and global nutrition scientist at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). He leads the Food Systems Data and Analytics sub-unit and is passionate about translating complex research into actionable insights. Dr. Beal brings an interdisciplinary background in global nutrition, public health, epidemiology, and food systems. Driven by a vision of food systems that make nutritious foods accessible and desirable for all, his research focuses on how diet quality, micronutrients, animal-source foods, and food processing impact human health, nutrition, and noncommunicable diseases. His work has been published in leading scientific journals and covered by prominent news outlets.

Dr. Beal serves on expert advisory groups for the United Nations, including the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF. Committed to making scientific research accessible, he regularly presents at international conferences and webinars and engages with broader audiences through op-eds, blogs, podcasts, and social media. His research aims to advance healthy diets for all from sustainable food systems, with particular emphasis on populations in underrepresented countries. Dr. Beal holds a PhD from the University of California, Davis.

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Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is an accomplished physician and the New York Times Best-Selling author of FOREVER STRONG: A New, Science-Based Strategy for Aging Well. Also a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, Forever Strong will soon be available in twenty languages (and counting) and is inspiring readers worldwide on their journey towards optimal health and vitality.

At the forefront of modern medicine, Dr. Lyon is leading a revolutionary movement focusing on the body’s largest organ—skeletal muscle. Her mission is to promote longevity and combat the pervasive threats of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes by supporting muscle health.

Dr. Lyon’s educational and research background includes dual clinical fellowships in geriatrics and nutritional sciences at Washington University, along with undergraduate training in nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. A highly sought-after educator and consultant, she is an authority in the practical application of protein types and levels for health, performance, aging, and disease prevention. Dr. Lyon also works closely with members of the United States Special Operations Forces.

Through her thriving private practice, TEDx Talk, YouTube channel, podcast, online community, and bestselling book, Dr. Lyon is dedicated to empowering people to foster strength and well-being in the weight room and in their daily lives and communities.

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A Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of metabolism and mental health. He is the Founder and Director of the Metabolic and Mental Health Program and the Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For almost 30 years, he has held administrative, educational, research, and clinical roles in psychiatry at McLean and Harvard. He has been pioneering the use of the medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of psychiatric disorders—conducting research in this area, treating patients, writing, and speaking around the world on this topic.

Teresa Nguyen, MPH, MBA, is a proven healthcare operator and P&L builder who has spent two decades reshaping how the U.S.healthcare system finances care and uses data. She holds multiple U.S. patents in artificial intelligence and user-experience design — and has repeatedly turned first-of-their-kind data assets into operating platforms at national scale. At the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), she forged interoperability standards for the national Medicare financing system and co-designed the first value-based payment models —establishing the framework that now underpins modern healthcare financing. As VP of Healthcare Strategy at Vizient, Teresa architected machine-learning platforms that transformed clinical data into actionable intelligence for a network representing 92% of U.S. hospitals, accelerating the industry's shift from volume-based to value-based care. As National Vice President at Blue CrossBlue Shield Association (BCBSA), she built the first integrated data asset unifying claims, pharmacy, and health-behavior records for 110 million patients. She also launched the Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute, offering the nation’s first private insurance coverage for lifestyle medicine. As Founding Head of U.S. Healthcare Operations for Walgreens Boots Alliance, she stood up the enterprise growth and analytics function from scratch, creating real-time models that fused pharmacy data with over-the-counter and retail purchasing patterns to forecast consumer health spending across 90 million customers. Teresa received her MPH from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health; an MBA from the University of Maryland, College Park; and a BS in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego.

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Dr. Rebecca McLaren, MD MPH, is a Research Advisor on the Knowledge Leadership team at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). She is passionate about making food systems data more accessible and actionable through her work on the Food Systems Dashboard and Food Systems Countdown Initiative. Previously, Dr. McLaren was a Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins University Global Food Ethics and Policy Program.

Dr. Donald K. Layman is professor Emeritus in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

He is internationally recognized for his research about dietary protein and amino acids. He has extensive research focused on muscle development and in studies of metabolic regulation for obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

He is widely sought as a keynote speaker at professional meetings, medical conferences, and as a consultant to major food companies.