John Weldon Finley
National Program Leader in Human Nutrition
USDA-Agriculture Research Service
5601 Sunnyside phone: 301-504-5381
Beltsville, MD 20705 email: john.finley@ars.usda.gov
                         
Dr. Finley serves as National Program Leader for the program in Human Nutrition conducted by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service; in this role helps direct the scientific program for six Human Nutrition Research Centers. He is interested in all aspects of the food system and how to optimize a sustainable system to deliver maximal health benefits. He is also involved in efforts to develop big data systems and linkages to connect agricultural production, food processing, environmental inputs/outputs and public health for the purpose of providing data to make informed decisions. Dr. Finley’s education background is in Animal Science, Fine Arts, Science Education and Nutrition. From 1989 to 2004 he served as a Research Chemist with the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center (USDA-ARS) in North Dakota where he developed a research program around trace element metabolism and nutrition, as well as the intersection of agricultural production, nutrition and human health. He has specific interests in how agricultural production and/or processing alters the accumulation of bioactive components in plant and animal foods and how those substances impact chronic disease. Dr Finley has also worked with the US-FDA, served as Director of Regulatory for the flavor and botanical extract company A.M. Todd, and he has held adjunct faculty positions in North Dakota and Utah. Dr. Finley has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, journal articles and book chapters.
 
Education/Experience
National Program Leader in Human Nutrition, USDA-ARS, 2009-present
Adjunct Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Utah State University, 2008-present
Regulatory Affairs Committee, Flavor and Extracts Manufacturing Association, 2006-2010
Director of Regulatory Affairs, A.M. Todd Company, Chalfont, PA, 2005-2009
Visiting scientist, US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 2005
Adjunct Professor, Biochemistry, University of North Dakota School of Medicine, 2003-2005
Adjunct Professor, Cellular and Molecular Biology, North Dakota State University, 2000-2005
Adjunct Professor, Animal and Range Sciences, North Dakota State University, 1998-2005
Research Chemist, Nutrition and Human Health; Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, 1992-2005
Post-doctoral research chemist, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, 1989-1992
Ph.D., Animal Nutrition, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 1989
M.S., Animal Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 1986
Biology teacher and general science teacher, Louisa County High School, Louisa, VA and Heritage High School, Charlottesville, VA, 1979-1984
M.Ed., Science Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1980-1983
General manager and partner, Elim Farms, Free Union, VA, 1977-1984
B.S., Animal Science, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 1973-1977

Selected Publications
Finley JW, Dimick D, Nelson G, Marshall E, Mein J, Gustafson D. (2017) Nutritional sustainability: Aligning priorities in nutrition and public health with agricultural production. Adv Nutr, 5:780-788
Delgado. J., Weyers, S., Dell, C., Harmel, D. Klienman, P., Leytem, A., Higgins, D., Strickland, T., Johnson, J., Balkcom, K., Finley, J., Fukagawa, N., Powell, M., Van Pelt, S.. (2016) USDA Agricultural Research Service creates Nutrient Use and Outcome Network (NUOnet). J. Soil and Water Conservation; doi 10.2489/jwsc.716.147A
Finley, JW and Klurfeld, D.(2014) The USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Program in Dietary Surveillance and Food Composition: State of the Program and Future Directions. Procedia Food Science. 2:157-164
Finley JW, Ellwood K, Hoadley J. (2014) Launching a new food product or dietary supplement in the United States: Industrial, regulatory, and nutritional considerations. Ann Rev Nutr. 34:421-447.
Finley, JW, et al. (2011). Antioxidants in foods: state of the science important to the food industry. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 59:6837-6846.
Keck, Anna-Sigrid, and JW Finley. (2004) Cruciferous vegetables: cancer protective mechanisms of glucosinolate hydrolysis products and selenium. Integrative Cancer Therapies 3:5-12.
Finley, JW (2005) Proposed criteria for assessing the efficacy of cancer reduction by plant foods enriched in carotenoids, glucosinolates, polyphenols and selenocompounds. Annals of Botany 95:1075-1096.
Hintze, KJ., et al. (2003) Thioredoxin reductase in human hepatoma cells is transcriptionally regulated by sulforaphane and other electrophiles via an antioxidant response element. Journal of Nutrition 133:2721-2727.