The Natural Products Association (NPA), the nation’s foremost and largest nonprofit trade organization dedicated to the natural products industry, today announced that Corey Hilmas, MD, Ph.D., has been hired to serve as its new senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. The hiring is the third major personnel announcement for NPA in recent weeks, following the naming of Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., as CEO and Devon Powell as senior vice president of member services and COO.

Dr. Hilmas, a medical doctor with a degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology, comes to NPA after having served as chief of the Dietary Supplement Regulation Implementation Branch under the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more than two years. During his tenure at the agency, Dr. Hilmas was a federal expert witness on label claims and dietary ingredient safety, and he will receive an award of merit at the agency on June 6 in that capacity. Prior to his most recent position, he served as Senior Toxicologist for Dietary Ingredients at the FDA. Before joining the agency, Dr. Hilmas worked as a physiologist and principal investigator for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, investigating the efficacy of two dietary ingredients—galantamine and huperzine.

Dr. Fabricant, who served as Dr. Hilmas’ direct supervisor at the FDA prior to his recent return to NPA as CEO, said, “Dr. Hilmas brings extensive experience from his work with the FDA, including an unprecedented scientific perspective and regulatory expertise. As the only industry association with a medical doctor on staff, NPA will be able to provide unmatched guidance on topics ranging from clinical issues, public health, and regulatory compliance, including cGMPs and Adverse Event Reporting. We are building a new leadership team at NPA to serve our members’ needs and push the association forward in the public policy debates that are most important to our industry. Dr. Hilmas’ hire shows our commitment to bringing in the highest-caliber executives who can deliver the services NPA members want.”

In his new role at NPA, Dr. Hilmas will be involved in the development and implementation of the association’s current educational and compliance programs, such as cGMP training, Natural Seal, TruLabel and others. He’ll also be working on producing new educationally driven regulatory compliance efforts similar to those he conducted for industry stakeholders while in the field at the FDA. His work will also include a focus on assisting members with health claim reviews and substantiation, as well as New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notifications.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to translate my experience as a medical professional into tangible programs and guidance for NPA members in the regulatory and scientific arenas,” Dr. Hilmas said. “NPA is the only association that will offer its members the ability to have direct access to two top former FDA officials, and I’m excited to be working with Dr. Fabricant and the team he’s assembling.”