Particles for Humanity Establishes Global Advisory Board in Fight Against Vitamin A Deficiency
Cambridge, MA (January 23, 2024) Particles for Humanity has assembled an advisory board of global leaders to guide the company as it approaches commercialization of its lead product, PFH-VAP, and as it expands its research and development pipeline to include new applications for PFH-VAP.
The four-person advisory board brings significant experience in the fields of malnutrition, food fortification, global health, entrepreneurship, and African markets, which will strengthen the company’s strategic plans. Members of the Advisory Board bring a diverse skill set from long careers working throughout Africa, Asia, and more. Advisory Board members include:
Kul Chandra Gautam is the former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Over three decades, he served with UNICEF in leadership positions in New York, Haiti, and throughout Asia. He has extensive experience in international diplomacy, development cooperation, and humanitarian assistance. He is the former Chair of Nutrition International (previously Micronutrient Initiative), and a former board member at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI). Currently, Gautam serves on the boards and advisory committees of several organizations dealing with poverty reduction, inter-faith cooperation, global health, education, and women’s and children’s rights.
M.G. Venkatesh Mannar’s leadership on iodization and multiple fortification of salt has been scaled to benefit billions worldwide. He is the former President of Nutrition International (previously the Micronutrient Initiative), where he directed work on cost-effective and sustainable solutions to address micronutrient deficiencies. Mannar focuses on food fortification, vitamin A supplementation, and scaling biofortified foods. He has co-authored over 100 articles in leading nutrition journals and is the co-editor of ‘Food Fortification in a Globalized World’. Mannar is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Global Engineering at the University of Toronto. Mannar was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s greatest civilian honors, for his leadership in the global fight against micronutrient deficiency.
Uwa Osa-Oboh is the Head, Corporate Development at Capital Alliance Nigeria, a member of the African Capital Alliance (ACA) group, an investment management firm working across Africa. Throughout her career, she has worked as a lawyer, banker, and management consultant. Formerly, she was CEO of ReStraL, a research, strategy and leadership-development consulting firm working with corporations and government agencies. Osa-Oboh is on the board of the Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance; the Impact Investors Foundation of Nigeria; and the African Leadership Initiative – West Africa (ALI-WA). She is also a fellow of ALI-WA, an offshoot of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Adedotun Sulaiman has served on or chaired many boards, including Absa (formerly Barclays) Nigeria, SecureID Ltd, Interswitch Ltd, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Sundry Foods Limited, and Parthian Partners Limited. The Nigeria government appointed him as Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, where he oversaw the development of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance in 2018. He had a long career at Accenture Nigeria, retiring as Chairman and Country Managing Director. He is active in venture capital investing, acting as an adviser to promising young entrepreneurs. He is a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) of Nigeria, a national honor awarded to individuals who have shown remarkable service and commitment to Nigeria.
“It is a privilege to welcome these brilliant individuals onto the Particles for Humanity Advisory Board. We look forward to learning from them and being inspired by their passion for helping the communities and countries we hope to serve with PFH-VAP,” said Sherri C. Oberg, CEO of Particles for Humanity.
PFH-VAP is a more stable form of vitamin A currently in development for use in large scale food fortification, an intervention that can combat many types of malnutrition including vitamin A deficiency. In hot and humid conditions, like those found in many parts of Africa, vitamin A is unstable and much of it is lost before reaching consumers. PFH-VAP is 4x as stable as a leading commercial vitamin A when tested in bouillon in these conditions. Adding PFH-VAP into foods could help get more vitamin A to the 19 million pregnant women and 190 million preschool age children who suffer from vitamin A deficiency globally.
Particles for Humanity transforms early-stage medical technology into products for people living in low and lower-middle income countries. It is developing a portfolio of products with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mulago Foundation, and King Philanthropies. Its rigorous product development process is based on end-user input and is focused on financially sustainable product opportunities. Visit www.particlesfh.com or contact info@particlesfh.com