Andrea Glenn is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at New York University, a Registered Dietitian (RD), and Visiting Scientist at the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). She completed postdoctoral training at the HSPH, received her MSc and PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto and completed her RD training at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Her main research interests include addressing questions of public health and clinical importance in relation to plant-based dietary patterns and carbohydrate quality and cardiometabolic disease risk, particularly cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. She is currently exploring these areas by incorporating traditional epidemiological analyses, clinical trial data, and metabolomics.

Dr. Glenn also has a variety of experience in coordinating clinical trials, developing knowledge translation tools for patients with cardiometabolic disease, mentoring students, and teaching.

David J. A. Jenkins is Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, a staff physician in the Division of Endocrinology at St. Michael’s Hospital, Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, and a Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute.

He was educated at Oxford University. He has served on committees in Canada and the United States that formulated nutritional guidelines for the treatment of diabetes and recommendations for fibre and macronutrient intake under the joint US-Canada DRI system (RDAs) of the National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a member of Agriculture Canada’s Science Advisory Board (2004-2009) on the future direction of Canada’s agriculture and agricultural research. He has spent much time working with the food industry to develop products for the supermarket shelf. Dr. Jenkins helped initiate Loblaw’s (Canada’s largest supermarket chain) “Too Good To Be True” and, most recently, their popular “Blue Menu” line of products (for cardiometabolic health).

His research area is the use of diet in the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and diabetes. He has over 400 original publications on these and related topics. His team was the first to define and explore the concept of the glycemic index of foods and demonstrate the breadth of metabolic effects of viscous soluble fiber, including blood glucose and cholesterol lowering. His group developed the cholesterol-lowering concept of the dietary portfolio that has entered guidelines in many jurisdictions (e.g. CCS, Heart UK, etc).

He is co-chair of the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC) that promotes research and recommendations on the use of carbohydrate foods and their components. He believes in the therapeutic value of plant-based diets and their components, and the diets that are advocated must be environmentally sustainable and reduce the human footprint on the planet.

John Sievenpiper is a Clinician Scientist who holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine and the Lifestyle Medicine Lead in the MD Program at the University of Toronto and a Staff Physician in the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism and Scientist in the La Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr. Sievenpiper completed his MSc, PhD, and Postdoctoral Fellowship training in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He completed his MD at St. Matthew’s University followed by Residency training in Medical Biochemistry at McMaster University leading to his certification as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC).

He has established an internationally recognized research program focused on using randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses to address questions of clinical and public health importance in relation to diet and cardiometabolic disease prevention with a particular interest in the role of sugars, carbohydrate quality, and plant-based dietary patterns.

He is directly involved in knowledge translation with appointments to the nutrition guidelines committees of Diabetes Canada, European Association for the study of Diabetes (EASD), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and Obesity Canada. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a CNS Young Investigator Award, PSI Foundation Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship, Diabetes Canada Clinician Scientist Award, Banting & Best Diabetes Centre Sun Life Financial New Investigator Award, and CIHR-INMD/CNS-New Investigator Partnership Prize. He has authored more than 200 scientific papers and 17 book chapters.

Amy Symington is a nutrition professor, researcher and nutrition-focused chef in Toronto, Canada and has 12 years of teaching experience and over 25 years’ experience in the food industry. Amy holds a Master of Science in Applied Human Nutrition from Oxford Brookes University, UK and is a currently a PhD student in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto where she works with world renowned clinicians and experts in her field of research.

She runs the culinary nutrition programming at Gilda’s Toronto, a not-for-profit cancer organization and is the culinary nutrition specialist for HSI/Canada’s Forward Food team where she trains executive chefs across Canada in large food service operations like hospitals and universities regarding the implementation of Canada’s food guide. She also works with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank (TVFB) as a chef and nutrition consultant teaching classes for patrons.

She does health-focused recipe development and food writing for various publications in Toronto and worldwide and was a recent nominee for an Ontario Premier’s Award in the Health Sciences category. Amy believes in the evidence-based health and environmental benefits of plant-forward diets and is the author of the award-winning The Long Table Cookbook: Plant-Based Recipes for Optimal Health.

Dr. Wolever obtained a medical degree from Oxford University in 1980, a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto in 1986 and a Doctorate in Medicine from Oxford in 1993. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Health Sciences and Medicine from the University of Ottawa in 2018, the Robert H Herman Memorial Award (for the advancement of the biochemical and metabolic aspects of human nutrition) from the American Society of Nutrition in 2020 and the Khursheed Jeejeebhoy Award (for the best application of clinical nutrition research findings to clinical practice) from the Canadian Nutrition Society in 2024. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, and Principal Scientist & Medical Director at INQUIS Clinical Research.

Dr. Wolever’s research centres on the effects of dietary carbohydrates on human physiology and metabolism. He has written or co-authored over 400 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and written a book entitled: The Glycaemic Index: A Physiological Classification of Dietary Carbohydrate.

In 1997, Dr. Wolever founded Glycaemic Index Testing, Inc. to provide confidential GI testing services to industry. To cope with increased demand and provide a wider range of clinical research services, INQUIS (formerly GI Labs) was formed in 2004.

Dr. Wolever is married with 3 children and enjoys cycling, orienteering and playing the recorder.