Dr. Leila Saldanha joined ODS in 2003 and serves as the subject-matter expert for the Dietary Supplements Label Database (DSLD) and the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) projects. She facilitated development of dietary supplement composition databases and developed analytic methods through ODS’s Analytical Methods and Reference Materials Program. She co-edited nine issues of the Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research. Dr. Saldanha has also worked on a cross-agency effort to develop approaches to assessing the health effects of bioactive food components; led development of vitamin, element, and nutrient biomarker analytical methodology workshop agendas; and led scientific sessions at professional and dietary supplement trade conferences.
Prior to ODS, Dr. Saldanha was Vice President at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) in Washington, D.C., where she led dietary supplement initiatives, creation of the AOAC International dietary supplement task force, and the Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research in partnership with the ODS. Before CHPA, she worked at the Kellogg Company for 10+ years, where she held positions as Manager of Nutrition Communications and Director Nutrition Affairs, Science & Technology in Battle Creek, MI, and Director of Nutrition and Scientific Affairs for the AsiaPacific Region in Sydney, Australia. Prior to Kellogg, she was an Assistant Professor and Director of the Dietetics Program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Dr. Saldanha is an active Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a member of the American Society for Nutrition. She has given numerous talks and is a lead author or coauthor on more than 100 publications, most recently on prescription and nonprescription prenatal supplements and dietary supplement labeling.
Dr. Saldanha pursed graduate degrees in nutrition at Kansas State University, where she was awarded twice the prestigious General Foods Fund Fellowship and Mae Baird Memorial Scholarship. She is currently a graduate student at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government.