Fit Fuel launched its first Fuel Zone™ convenient nutrition center in 2002. Today, the company works with an international network of over 10,000 vending operators to make healthy eating more convenient than ever before.
Advisory Board
Dr. O.J. Bloom, MD., MPH
Medical Director
Dr. Josh Bloom is a physician at Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine in Cary, NC. He is board certified in both family practice and sports medicine and serves as an Assistant Team Physician for the Carolina Hurricanes (NHL), USA Baseball, as well as the Carolina Ballet.
Dr. Bloom attended Tulane University School of Medicine where he was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor society. While at Tulane, Dr. Bloom also completed a Master's Degree in Public Health. After earning his MD and MPH, Dr. Bloom completed a Family Practice Residency and a Sports Medicine Fellowship at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, NC. During this time, he was recognized as one of the top 20 family practice residents in America with the Bristol Myers Squibb Award for Graduate Medical Education in Family Practice. He was also honored by the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine on two separate occasions for outstanding scholarship and research excellence. In recent years, Dr. Bloom has presented and lectured on a variety of sports medicine topics at international, national, and local conferences and symposiums.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Bloom was an Academic All-American, Co-Captain, Team MVP and All Ivy Linebacker for Dartmouth College. He was honored by the National Football Foundation as one of the top 15 scholar football players in America in 1994. Dr. Bloom grew up in Alamosa, Colorado where he was a state champion wrestler.
Dr. Bloom is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians
Dr. Bloom's background as a primary care/sports medicine physician, along with his public health expertise and athletic background, make him uniquely suited to help with Healthy Vending's mission to improve the health and wellness of people everywhere.
Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
Sports Nutritionist
Dr. Mohr is a consultant, author, and freelance writer. He has been personally interested in training and nutrition since his early teens. As a competitive athlete, Dr. Mohr always tried to improve his performance through better training and nutrition. He later followed his personal interests into the classroom at Penn State, where he got a bachelors of science in Human Nutrition. He next completed his dietetic internship at the University of Delaware, allowing him to sit for the national registration exam to become a Registered Dietitian. From there, Dr. Mohr attended the University of Massachusetts to pursue a masters of science in Nutrition Science.
While at UMASS, Dr. Mohr was a Sports Dietitian who worked with most of the 23 Division I teams at the University. This experience allowed him to counsel hundreds of varsity athletes and work with team coaches to enhance the performance of the players. Knowing the importance of physiology as it relates to sports nutrition, Dr. Mohr went on to pursue a PhD in Exercise Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Here Dr. Mohr's PhD focus was on the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.
Dr. Mohr is currently a consultant for Discovery Health and the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association and has worked with supplement companies to provide research and or formulations for dietary supplements. He is on the Advisory Board for Men's Fitness, the Nutrition Editor for OC Flair Magazine, and has also written nearly 500 articles for consumer publications.
Eric Wilhelmsen, MS, PhD
Food Chemist & Expert Witness
Dr. Wilhelmsen is a recognized world authority in food authentication, serving for over 20 years in both academic and industrial positions. In these roles, Dr. Wilhelmsen has provided technical leadership and innovation for industrial collaborations such as the Technical Committee for Juice and Juice Products, and the Container Enhancement and Juice Products Committees of the National Food Processors Association. His technical contributions and practical innovations have been fundamental in establishing new revenue streams and profitable businesses in juices, dietary supplements and botanicals, agricultural commodities, by-products, and beverages. He is the founder and principal consultant of the Alliance of Technical Professionals and spent twelve years at Dole Food working as a senior food chemist, manager of applied chemistry and the group manager of applied technologies. Dr. Wilhelmsen has served as an expert witness in six major lawsuits, including Seneca v. Starbucks and International Flavors & Fragrances, Procter & Gamble vs. Coca-Cola Company, and Nestle vs. American Juice Imports.
Dr. Wilhelmsen earned his BS in Food Biochemistry, MS in Food Science and Technology and PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California at Davis.
Joseph DeFranco, CSCS, CPT
Performance Enhancement Specialist
Mr. DeFranco is one of the country's most sought after performance enhancement specialists. 31 of Mr. DeFrancos athletes have been drafted into the NFL, and his training techniques have been featured on HBO's Inside the NFL, MSG Networks and CNNSI. Mr. DeFranco has co-authored 2 training manuals currently used by over 20 professional athletic teams throughout the world. He holds a B.S. in Exercise Science from the College of New Jersey and is the Founder of DeFrancos Trainings Systems, L.L.C.
Paul Weiss, MO, PhD
Not-for-Profit Executive
Dr. Weiss is currently the Director of Asphalt Green's Peter Jay Sharp Center for Sports and Fitness Education, a not-for-profit organization that provides educational opportunities in sports and fitness to athletes, coaches, teachers, program leaders, and organizations throughout the greater New York metropolitan area. He has been instrumental in coordinating, on both state and local levels, a wide variety of high-caliber seminars and lectures including nutritional and sport medicine seminars aimed at parents and coaches of competitive young athletes and an outreach project for obese adolescence. Dr. Weiss holds a PhD in Educational Research and Psychology, an M.O. and a B.A. all from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Leeuwenburgh completed both BS (1988) and MS (1990) degrees in the field of applied physiology at the University of Florida at Gainesville . He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in applied physiology and biochemistry at the University of Illinois , Urbana-Champaign, in 1995. From 1995 to 1998 he served a post-doctoral fellowship as a research associate in Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis , MO , working in the area of aging and free radical chemistry. He returned to the University of Florida, Gainesville to take up his current position as Assistant Professor and Director of the Biochemistry of Aging Laboratory in 1998. Dr. Leeuwenburgh has been the recipient of several awards and honors. He received the Merck Geriatric Cardiology Research Award from the Society of Geriatric Cardiology in 1999; the National Research Service Award of the NIH from the National Institute on Aging in 1997 and 1998; a Young Investigator Award from the Oxygen Society in 1996; and held an American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship from the Illinois Affiliate from 1993 through 1995.
Senior Advisory Board
The Healthy Vending Senior Advisors are an extraordinary group of senior executives, entrepreneurs, investors, academicians, and government leaders. They have each chosen to become affiliated with Healthy Vending because of their interest in health and nutrition, technology and entrepreneurship. Through regular meetings, the Advisors help ensure effective organizational planning and see that Healthy Vending's resources are managed effectively. Thanks to our Senior Advisory Board, our partnering companies can feel confident in partnering with Healthy Vending in our various health/business endeavors.
Gerald Sherwin
Public Relations Executive
Mr. Sherwin is a recognized leader in the marketing and communications industry, having held top positions at a variety of companies. Prior experience: Senior Partner in Charge of Professional Development and Senior Partner in Charge of Account Management, The Bozell Group; Group Product Manager, Lehn & Fink; Established highly successful professional development programs and managed high profile accounts including Merrill Lynch, Avis Rent-a-Car, Mass Mutual Insurance and Borden Foods; B.A. Liberal Arts, Columbia University.
E. Timothy Carroll
United States Diplomat [Retired]
Mr. Carroll has spent over 20 years in the United States government, having held senior management and executive positions within a variety of different organizations. Prior experience: Special Assistant for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice; U.S. Senior Representative to Russia; Country Director, Poland & Pakistan; Executive Director, National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers; Dean of International Studies, Antioch University; Educational Consultant, U.S. Department of Education; B.A. Communication Arts and M.A. Literature, University of Notre Dame.
Darius Kirksey
Finance Executive
Mr. Kirksey has a wealth of experience starting new businesses in New York, London, and Tokyo. As a vice-president at Cantor Fitzgerald for nearly a decade, he either started or helped start sales/trading divisions in several complex derivative products such as: Latin American debt options, foreign exchange G7/emerging market derivatives, and exotic options in foreign exchange. In 2004, he founded Krewe Global Management, a management company that connects intellectual athletes and creative artist to corporations and money managers for sponsorship, endorsements, private equity, and philanthropy. Mr. Kirksey grew up in Alliance , Ohio and received his B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from Dartmouth College in 1994.
If you're a location or business looking to lower your insurance costs, integrate healthier food/beverage options, and upgrade your current food service program, the Healthy Vending Group can help you out. Sign-up now!
