Jim Richards, Ph.D. is Head of Nutrition Science and Advocacy at dsm-firmenich Health, Nutrition & Care in Plainsboro, New Jersey. He is responsible for scientifically substantiating and advocating for the health benefits of nutrients across the lifespan, with special emphasis on maternal and pediatric populations, including during pregnancy to reduce the incidence of preterm birth.
Before joining dsm-firmenich, Dr. Richards was Global Nutrition Science Director at Mead Johnson Nutrition/Reckitt, where his efforts focused on the safety, suitability, and health benefits of innovative ingredients, including nutritional lipids such as DHA, to be added to formulas for infants and children. Before that he worked in the animal nutrition and health field, with an emphasis on the use of preclinical models to investigate the beneficial effects of a range of nutritional ingredients in livestock and companion animal species. Dr. Richards earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology (Program in Immunology) at the University of California, San Francisco.