Selena Ahmed, PhD, is the Global Director of The Periodic Table of
Food Initiative (PTFI) and Dean of Food EDU based at the American
Heart Association. She oversees scientific strategy, data systems, and translation pathways
for PTFI, the world’s most advanced platform mapping the biomolecular
composition of food and linking it to human health. This includes
overseeing cross-functional teams developing and implementing multi-
omics data systems, clinical nutrition interventions, AI data-driven decision-making tools,
capacity strengthening, and global collaboration. Under her leadership, PTFI has built a global
network of 25+ partner institutions and government agencies across 16 countries. This growing
ecosystem is catalyzing the global transition to a food intelligence bioeconomy, transforming
how societies measure, value, and optimize food quality for human and planetary health.
A former Tenured Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at Montana State University,
Selena brings transdisciplinary expertise in crop quality, global change biology, and food
environments in rural communities. At Montana State University, she co-led the Food + Health
Lab, served as the Director of the NIH-funded Translational Biomarkers Core Facility, and
continues as a Full Research Professor through the Center for American Indian and Rural Health
Excellence. Her international and community-based research has been supported by NSF,
USDA, and NIH to generate and translate evidence into actionable food security and health
solutions.
Selena has authored more than 100 scientific publications and is a global speaker, most recently
delivering the Opening Plenary for the American Society of Mass Spectrometry.
She holds a BA in Economics from Barnard College, an MSc in Ethnobotany from the
University of Kent (UK), and a PhD in Biology from the City University of New York. She
carried out NIH-funded postdoctoral training at Tufts University’s Sackler School of Biomedical
Sciences where she worked in the Antioxidant Lab of the Human Nutrition Research Center on
Aging.
Selena began her career as a Financial Analyst at JP Morgan Chase before committing to
transforming food systems for health. She founded Food Systems Analysts, a consulting
enterprise to advance evidence-based food solutions, is a co-founder of Shoots & Roots Bitters, a
functional bitters company celebrating global biodiversity, and co-author of the books Botany at
the Bar and Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Road to Tibet.
Email: selena.ahmed@heart.org