Huggies® Scientists and Medical Advisors

Learn more about some of the Huggies® team of scientists and consultants.

Huggies® Medical Advisory Council (HMAC):

The Huggies® Medical Advisory Council was launched in 2019 to build strong partnerships with medical professionals in both pediatrics and dermatology. Members of the HMAC advise Huggies® as we develop diapers and wipes, helping ensure the best possible products and diapered skin health resources make it to parents like you.  

Dr. Benjamin D. Gold, MD, FACG, FAAP, NASPGHAN-F

Dr. Gold received his medical degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC. He completed an internship and a residency in Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where he also completed his research fellowship at the Research Institute as a Medical Research Council of Canada Research Fellow. Dr. Gold joined Children’s Center for Digestive Healthcare, LLC GI Care for Kids, LLC in 2009. Prior to joining CCDHC, Dr. Gold had an outstanding traditional academic career at Emory University where he had been a Marcus Chair of Pediatric Gastroenterology, a tenured Professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Dr. Gold is the current president of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and NASPGHAN fellow.

Dr. Lara Wine Lee, MD, PhD

Dr. Wine Lee received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University. She completed the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed general pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia prior to her dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. She subsequently completed fellowship training in pediatric dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She joined the dermatology and pediatrics departments as the director of pediatric dermatology and the director of the clinical trials group in the Department of Dermatology. Dr. Wine Lee is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Pediatric Dermatology where she serves on the patient and practice advocacy committee. Her interests include general pediatric dermatology with specialty interests in pediatric inflammatory skin disease, hemangiomas and vascular anomalies and genetic skin disorders

Dr. Sharon Rink, MD

Dr. Rink is a Pediatrics Specialist at Thedacare Physicians Pediatrics in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dr. Rink received her medical degree from the Loyola University of Chicago-Stritch School of Medicine Medical School. She completed a combined internship and residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Loyola University Medical Center. She is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Rink holds several active roles within the Thedacare Healthcare System, which includes Physician Leader for the Outpatient Pediatrics Call Group, member of the Clinically Integrated Network Governance Board as well as a member of the Accountable Care Organization Quality Committee. She also serves as a board member of the Calumet County Board of Health and Human Services.

Jin Zhang, PhD

Director – Global Medical Affairs
Nutrition & Immunology, Ph.D.- University of Arizona
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard Medical School
5 years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Dr. Zhang joined Kimberly-Clark Corporation as the Director of Global Medical Affairs in 2018. In her clinical and medical leadership role at Kimberly-Clark, she provides clinical expertise with respect to new product development and consumer education. Dr. Zhang established the first Huggies Medical Advisory Council with medical experts to facilitate scientific exchange and enable product innovations that promote children’s health and wellness. Dr. Zhang actively participates in professional development from the American Contact Dermatitis Society and the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance. She also received the Certificate in Medical Affairs by Joint Alliance Duke-NUS Education. Every day, she is inspired by Kimberly-Clark’s purpose of Better Care for a Better World.

Huggies® Research & Engineering Team:

Huggies® R&E team works in partnership with the Global Skin Health and the Global Product Safety teams to ensure every diaper and wipe is designed with consideration of the unique needs of baby’s skin.

Andy Hammond

Research Technical Leader - Huggies® Diapers Team
Packaging, B.S - Michigan State University
21+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

As a Research Technical Leader in the Huggies® Diapers team, Andy ensures that Huggies® diapers are designed to take the best care of baby’s skin by partnering with all disciplines within Kimberly-Clark’s broader Research and Engineering team. Andy is married with two kids and was fortunate to watch them develop while wearing our great Huggies® products. This has provided him with some unique perspectives that have helped to shape how he approaches product development.

Chloe Jacobsen

Product Development Engineer - Huggies® Diapers Team
Chemical Engineering, B.S. – University of Wisconsin-Madison
2+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Chloe is passionate about developing products that fulfill a consumer need and ultimately improve a consumer’s experience while using Kimberly-Clark products. As a Huggies® product developer, she leads consumer studies to understand the difficulties parents face every day. Then, she takes those insights and works with Kimberly-Clark’s research and engineering teams to develop innovative solutions to these consumer challenges. She also works closely with Kimberly-Clark’s Global Skin Health team to continuously develop new ways to provide baby with healthy skin. Her work helps Huggies® provide every baby with healthy, huggable skin.

Daphne VanBuren

Global Research Technical Strategist - Huggies® Wipes Team
Chemical Engineering, B.S.- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
25+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Daphne is the Global Baby Wipes Product Technical Strategist for Huggies® brand and is responsible for ensuring the design, development and evaluation of Huggies® wipes consider infant skin health. She has more than 15 years of experience in formulated products designed to be used on skin for people of all ages and she is passionate about helping to improve the lives of consumers around the world.

Karien J. Rodriguez, PhD

Research Technical Strategist - Global Skin Health Team
Chemical Engineering, B.S.- University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez
Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D.- University of Wisconsin-Madison
8+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Karien leads global research on healthy skin for Kimberly-Clark, focused on understanding the mechanisms by which diaper dermatitis and infant skin inflammation occurs and the factors that contribute to its severity. Her work helps inform product development and ensures Huggies® diapers and wipes are designed considering the unique needs of infant skin at all stages of their development. She has authored multiple scientific publications and her accomplishments have been recognized by Great Minds in STEM-Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corporation and more recently by the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Every day she is inspired by her two kids, especially by her youngest who is still a Huggies® baby!

Debbie Ngai

Lead Scientist - Global Skin Health Team
Chemical Engineering, B.S. - University of Southern California
10+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Debbie is a Lead Scientist on the Huggies® Global Skin Health team. While at Kimberly-Clark, she has spent most of her time in the lab working on skin biology projects ranging from infant skin to aging skin. She currently performs fundamental research in the area of baby skin health to help inform the development of Huggies® diapers and wipes and ensures that they are designed to help keep baby skin healthy.

Robert Foxenberg, PhD, DABT

Product Safety Leader – Global Product Safety
Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ph.D.- University of Buffalo
13+ years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Since earning his doctorate degree, Rob has been ensuring that the materials and products that the public engage with in consumer products are assessed and demonstrated as safe for their intended use. He has been part of Kimberly-Clark’s Safety team for over 13 years which has provided him with the opportunity to have responsibility for Huggies® diapers and wipes products. This was a natural extension of his post-doctoral work around principles guiding safety assessment for children. Rob participates regularly in professional development to make sure Kimberly-Clark maintains a state-of-the-art safety program learning from both policymakers and peers across the industry, worldwide.

Clara HyunHee Jeong, PhD

Senior Toxicologist - Global Product Safety
Chemistry, M.S.- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Environmental Toxicology, Ph.D.- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Clara is responsible for conducting human health safety assessments, providing guidance on safe product design to development teams, and developing testing strategies for substations related to skin health and safety. Before joining K-C, she worked as a Toxicologist at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in the Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health, where she was responsible for assessing the potential of adverse health effects that may result from exposure to environmental hazards and formulating recommendations to reduce or prevent unsafe exposures.

Kristen Hass, BSN, RN, MSN, CPNP

Senior Medical Associate – Medical Scientific Affairs
Nursing/Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, M.S.- University of Virginia
Nursing, B.S.- Thomas Jefferson University
Business administration, B.S.- University of Rhode Island

Kristen is certified by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) and has worked as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the specialties of anesthesia/day surgery, neurology, and primary care. As a RN, she worked in pediatric intensive care units. Prior to nursing, she worked in medical/scientific research at the University of Pennsylvania, and she has also worked at an advertising/marketing firm as an Account Coordinator.