David J. Bearss, Ph.D.

Co-director, Center for Investigational Therapeutics, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah. Associate Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Bearss is an expert in small-molecule drug development and in the use of genetic model systems in drug discovery. He has extensive experience in translational research focused on drug development and the use of genetic markers to predict drug sensitivity. As an expert in the regulation of gene expression and genetic model systems, Dr. Bearss brings more than 15 years of genetics experience to Nu Skin’s Anti-Aging Scientific Advisory Board. He has published more than 50 manuscripts and book chapters, has more than 20 patents issued or pending, and has received several awards for his scientific achievements. Dr. Bearss was a faculty member at the University of Arizona from 1999-2003 and then founded Montigen Pharmaceuticals where he served as chief scientific officer until Montigen was acquired by SuperGen in 2006. He also held the post of chief scientific officer at SuperGen, overseeing early drug discovery and development. Dr. Bearss received a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Brigham Young University and earned a doctorate in cellular and structural biology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center.

Lars Bohlin, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Uppsala, Sweden

For more than 30 years, Dr. Bohlin has been dedicated to studying, researching, and teaching in the field of pharmacognosy. He earned his M.S. degree in Pharmacy at the Royal Institute of Pharmacy in Stockholm in 1972. Then in 1978, he earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy at the University of Uppsala. After his post-doctoral training, together with Professors Carl Djerassi and Paul J. Scheuer, USA, Dr. Bohlin developed marine pharmacognosy in Sweden with the aim to identify structure-activity relationships with potential in drug discovery. He is widely consulted as an expert by both private and public organizations, such as several research councils in Europe. He is subject editor for Phytochemistry Letters and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Natural Products, Planta Medica, and Phytomedicine. He has co-authored more than 130 research articles, reviews, and book chapters. In 2010, he co-authored the sixth edition of the pharmacognosy textbook, “Drugs of Natural Origin—A Treatise of Pharmacognosy.” Dr. Bohlin is also involved in several patent applications and commercial development of bioactive natural products.

Paul Alan Cox, Ph.D.

One of the world’s top ethnobotanists, Dr. Cox specializes in the use of plants by indigenous cultures. During his career, he has published more than 150 scientific articles and three books. Dr. Cox received his M.S. in Ecology at the University of Wales as a Fullbright Fellow. In 1978, Dr. Cox entered Harvard as a Danforth Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow, and in 1981 he received his Ph.D. in biology. He was later awarded a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award by President Ronald Reagan. Currently, Dr. Cox serves as Chairman of the Seacology Foundation, an organization he founded to assist in preserving island rain forests and cultures.

Carl Djerassi, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University

Dr. Djerassi is one of the few American scientists to have been awarded both the National Medal of Science (for his work on the birth control pill) and the National Medal of Technology (for promoting new approaches to insect control). Dr. Djerassi earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in 1945. A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as many foreign academies, Djerassi has received 21 honorary doctorates together with numerous other honors, including the first Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the first Award for the Industrial Application of Science from the National Academy of Sciences, the Erasmus Medal of the Academia  Europeae, the Perkin Medal of the Society for Chemical Industry, the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Chemists, and the American Chemical Society’s highest award, the Priestley Medal.

Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D., F.A.A.D.

Dr. Draelos is a practicing, board-certified dermatologist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology with a research interest in cosmetics, toiletries and biologically active skin medications. She is a consulting professor in the Department of Dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine and has a clinical practice in High Point, N.C. She has been a visiting professor at more than 45 medical institutions nationally and internationally. She is the author of nine textbooks, including Cosmetics in Dermatology. Dr. Draelos has contributed chapters to 23 textbooks, written 300 published papers, and currently serves on eight journal editorial boards. In 2006, she received a cosmetics industry lifetime achievement award from Health Beauty America for her research contributions in topical formulations.

Georges Halpern, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr. Halpern practiced internal medicine, allergy and immunology in Paris (1964-1987), and conducted research in allergy, immunology, psychopharmacology, nutrition, and public health. Since 1964, Dr. Halpern has lectured in more than 79 countries, specializing in allergy and control of environment, immunology, infectious diseases, nutrition, health benefits of wine, psychopharmacology, psychosocial interactions, and many other fi elds related to healthcare. After running a seminar for the Chinese Academy of Sciences in November 2002, he was offered a Distinguished Professorship by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology. He currently serves in the directorate of the State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology in Shenzhen, China.

Makoto Kuro-o, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Kuro-o received an M.D. in 1985 from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He completed his residency training at Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital in 1988, after which he returned to the University of Tokyo as a clinical fellow in cardiology until 1998. He received a Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Tokyo, following which he pursued postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Neuroscience in Japan. During his postdoctoral work, he identified the klotho gene—an aging suppressor gene in mammals. In 1998, he became an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. His laboratory  focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism by which the klotho protein suppresses aging.

Lester Mitscher, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Medical Chemistry, University of Kansas

Dr. Mitscher received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1958 from Wayne State University, Detroit, where he studied natural product chemistry. In 1975, he accepted a University Distinguished Professorship and Chairmanship in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas. He returned to the faculty in 1992 where his current research includes antibiotics, genetics, and chemoprevention. He has published more than 280 research papers, authored and coauthored seven books on drug discovery, serves on the editorial board of several technical journals, and holds 15 U.S. and global patents. He is a member of the executive committee of the International Organization for Chemistry in Developing Countries and the Senior Advisory Committee of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.

Koji Nakanishi, Ph.D.

Centennial Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University

The very first research on ginkgo biloba, 30 years ago, was the work of Dr. Nakanishi, who isolated the active component of ginkgo extract. During his highly productive career, he has advanced the understanding of natural products by determining the chemical structure of nearly 200 bioactive compounds and how they function to affect human, plant and animal life. He has been given awards by nearly a dozen nations and numerous scientific organizations. He has published 700 scientific papers and written nine books, including an autobiography, A Wandering Natural Products Scientist (1991). He is also a recipient of the prestigious King Faisal International Award in the area of science.

Lester Packer, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California. Distinguished Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of nutritional Sciences, Shanghai, China.

Regarded as the world’s foremost antioxidant research scientist, Dr. Packer received his Ph.D. in  Microbiology and Biochemistry from Yale University and served as a Professor and Senior Researcher at the University of California at Berkeley for 40 years. Most recently, Dr. Packer has established a research laboratory in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Southern California to pursue studies related to the molecular, cellular, and physiological aspects of free radical and antioxidant metabolisms in biological systems. Dr. Packer is the recipient of numerous scientific achievement awards and serves on editorial advisory boards for scientific journals related to biochemistry, antioxidant metabolism, and nutrition. Dr. Packer has published over 700 scientific papers and 70 books on every aspect of antioxidants and health, including “The Antioxidant Miracle.

Tomas A. Prolla, Ph.D

Co-founder, LifeGen Technologies, Professor, departments of Genetics and Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin

Dr. Prolla studied in the Department of Molecular Bio-physics and Biochemistry at Yale University, receiving a doctoral degree in 1994. He completed post-doctoral training at the Human and Molecular Genetics Department at Baylor College of Medicine, then joined the faculty of the Department of Genetics and Medical Genetics at the University of Wisconsin in 1997. Dr. Prolla has received several awards of scientific excellence, including the Shorb Lecturer Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Young Investigator Award, the Shaw Scientist Award, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute New Investigator Award, and the Pound Research Award. Dr. Prolla’s work currently focuses on the use of gene expression profiling, lifespan studies, and histopathology. In 2001, he and Dr. Richard Weindruch founded LifeGen Technologies, LLC, a company focused on nutritional genomics, including the impact of nutrients and caloric restriction on the aging process. Dr. Prolla has published several articles in prestigious scientific journals such as Science.

Hildebert Wagner, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Institute of Pharmacy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Center for Pharmaceutical Research, Munich, Germany

Author of Immunmodulatory Agents from Plants (Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, 1999), Dr. Wagner has studied Pharmacy since 1950. He is the author of 7 other books including: Plant Drug Analysis (Springer Verlag Heidelber, 1996), and Drugs and Drug Constituents (Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart, 1998), as well as authoring over 900 other scientific publications. Dr. Wagner was made a Full Professor of Pharmacognosy in 1965, and later served as Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology in Munich until 1999. He has been distinguished by many international scientific institutions including the Universities of Ohio, Budapest and Debrecen, Dijon, and Helsinki for his work in Pharmacy. Dr. Wagner sits on advisory/editorial boards for Phytochemistry, the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, the Journal of Natural Products, as well as serving as Editor for the International Journal of Phytomedicine.

Molly Wanner, M.D., M.B.A

Dermatologist, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Dr. Wanner is a board certified dermatologist who specializes in laser and cosmetic dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is currently conducting clinical and basic science research in the area of cosmetic and laser dermatology. Her research interests include topical cosmetic products, fat and cellulite, and laser and cosmetic devices. Dr. Wanner has presented nationally and authored multiple articles in such publications as Dermatologic Surgery, Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, and Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. She serves on task forces for the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, and the Women’s Dermatologic Society. Wanner graduated Magna Cum Laude from Amherst College. Dr. Wanner attended Columbia University where she graduated Alpha Omega Alpha from the medical school and Beta Gamma Sigma from the business school.

Richard Weindruch, Ph.D.

Co-founder, LifeGen Technologies, Professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology, University of Wisconsin  Department of Medicine

Dr. Weindruch earned his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology at  UCLA in 1978. He is the author  and co-author of more than 170 publications and his scientific awards include the Harman Research Award, American Aging Association (2000) and the Glenn Award, GSA (2000). Dr. Weindruch’s research career has focused on the biology of aging and age-related diseases, studying caloric restriction, which slows the aging process and retards the appearance of a broad spectrum of diseases in diverse animal populations. In 2001, he and Dr. Tomas Prolla founded LifeGen Technologies, LLC, a company focused on nutritional genomics, including the impact of nutrients and caloric restriction on the aging process. Dr. Weindruch has published several articles in Science and other prestigious scientific journals.