I am blessed to be the Director of the Food Utilization and Energy Lab (FUEL) team for Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center in San Diego. The FUEL team is focused on investigating practical nutrition solutions to support Warfighter performance and health and providing evidence-based nutrition data to support policy decision. In my free time, I enjoy spending my time with my husband and our fur babies, taking Orange Theory Classes, and swimming, dancing...anything active and enjoying good food!

Parul Kharod, MS, RDN, LDN is a Registered Dietitian and Licensed Nutritionist. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Food & Nutrition and a Master of Science degree in Dietetics.

She works as a Clinical Dietitian with Outpatient Nutrition Services at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, NC

She serves as the Chair of the CV-Well DPG. She serves as the Assistant Diversity Liaison for VN DPG and the IDEA Committee for NC Affiliate.

Jennifer Burris PhD, RD, CSSD, CNSC, CDCES is a Registered Dietitian and part-time faculty in Nutrition at California State University Channel Islands (Calabasas, CA) and Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, CA). Jennifer’s research focuses on the integrated role of nutrition, physical activity, and chronic skin disease, particularly acne, to promote patient wellness. In addition to teaching and research, she is a Sports Nutrition Consultant for the Ventura County Fire Department in California.

Jen Nguyen, RDN, CDN, NASM-CPT, is currently Director of Nutrition at Sweet Pea Plant-Based Kitchen where she is a founding member of the nutrition programs and services. She is also an Associate with Dr. Wendy Bazilian, assisting with media and professional presentations, interviews, book publications, and other large-scale projects. Years prior to becoming a dietitian, she became a certified personal trainer and taught private, group, and virtual exercise classes and was a sports nutrition intern with collegiate and professional athletes. Currently, she works with individuals in disease prevention, community wellness, and ultra-endurance sports. Jen received her Bachelor of Science in Food Administration and Dietetics with an option in Nutrition and Dietetics, minor in Hospitality Management at California State University, Long Beach, and completed her dietetic internship at Cornell University.

Jen held leadership positions with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at the local and national level. More recently, serving as the 30 and Under Director for the AND Foundation. Jen is the recipient of the 2022 Young Dietitian of the Year Award for the NYSAND and 2016 Outstanding Didactic Student for the CAND.

Jen is a Southern California native, and now resides in Upstate New York with her partner, Rob and boxer, Kiwi. For fun, she loves cooking, gardening, trail running, hiking the Adirondack mountains, and attending live music events.

Enette Larson-Meyer, PhD, RD, CSSD, FACSM is a professor at Virginia Tech where she directs the Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism Laboratory.  Her research focuses on how nutrition influences the health and performance of athletes/active individuals, with recent interests including intentional weight gain and the importance of vitamin D, iodine and other micronutrient in sports/exercise performance and overall health. Enette has authored over 100 scientific articles and book chapters, is the author of “Plant-Based Sports Nutrition” (Human Kinetics, 2020), and has served on several International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus panels. She is an Associate Editor for Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise and the Science and Medicine of Football, serves on the Academic Advisory Board for the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition and as a member of the International Testing Agency Health & Clinical Expert Advisory Group. Her personal interests include road cycling, flat-water kayaking, resistance training, gardening, yoga, cooking and wine tasting. She is the proud mother of three recent college graduates, two of whom played collegiate soccer.  Enette completed her dietetic training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and her doctoral/postdoctoral studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Kristi Crowe-White, PhD, RD is a professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Alabama. She received her PhD at the University of Maine where she held a doctoral fellowship with the National Science Foundation. Her dietetic training was completed at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Dr. Crowe-White’s research focuses on understanding the influence of bioactive food compounds and functional foods on clinical outcomes of cardiometabolic disease. Further, her lab examines the role of bioactive food compounds and dietary patterns on gut microbial composition and gut-derived metabolites on cardiometabolic disease and aging. Dr. Crowe-White has funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute and the Office of Dietary Supplements, the American Heart Association, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics among others. As a result of this body of research, she co-authored the first ever dietary guideline on bioactive food compounds (flavan-3-ols) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Position Paper on Functional Foods. Additionally, she serves as a media spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologists to advance the scientific understanding of nutrition in the prevention of chronic disease.

Kavita Poddar worked as a dietitian in India, then came to the United States for higher education. She earned her PhD in nutrition from Virginia Tech and worked as a post-doc at Johns Hopkins before moving to Wisconsin. Kavita has lived in Wisconsin since 2011 and working at UW Health since 2013. She is trained in health promotion and disease prevention with emphasis on lifestyle changes that include dietary modifications in obese and type II diabetic individuals. She has strong skills sets in developing and designing, planning and implementing clinical trials in research setting. Additional skills include data management, analysis and manuscript development. She is experienced in providing advanced level care in clinical nutrition across different age group.

Manju is a nationally recognized leader having served the profession in a variety of ways from affiliate, DPG/MIG to national level. She currently serves on the Academy Foundation Board of Directors and Legislative and Public Policy Committee among other DPG volunteer positions. Manju has an activist spirit and a passion for expanding equitable access to MNT. Her integrative and functional nutrition private practice focuses on prevention, wellness, gut health, and weight management.

As Registered Dietitian for over 35 years, I have worked in a wide variety of settings, including: acute care, cardiac rehab, cancer care, health promotion, academia, and outpatient nutrition. In 2021, I became a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. Over the years, I have held several positions on the boards of both state affiliates and dietetic practice groups of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I feel blessed to love what I do!

Brent Fountain currently serves as Vice Provost and an Extension Professor of Nutrition at Mississippi State University. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, he served as State Nutrition Specialist for the Mississippi State University Extension Service. In addition to his responsibilities with Academic Affairs, he serves the university as Faculty Athletics Representative to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). He holds degrees from East Central Community College, Mississippi College, and Mississippi State University. Dr. Fountain is a Registered Dietitian, a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. He is also a past president of the Mississippi Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, getting outdoors to camp and hike, and playing guitar.

After 42 years of practice with an emphasis on cardiac and pulmonary rehab, outpt MNT and media, I retired in Aug 2022.  I served on the SCAN EC as co-director of the CV Well subcommittee, nominating committee and chair, and symposium chair.  I also have been on the task force developing the Picture Your Plate cardiac rehab nutrition survey.  The past 2 years I have been a mentor in our newly established Mentoring Program.  I look forward to participating on the nominating comm again.

Geeta Sikand is a national speaker, Director of Nutrition, Preventive Cardiology Program at University of California Irvine and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (Cardiology Division). Geeta is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy) and a Fellow of the National Lipid Association (NLA). Ms. Sikand is a registered dietitian and a clinical lipid specialist.

Ms. Sikand serves as the Cardiovascular Nutrition Content Expert for the Academy’s Cardiovascular Health and Well-being dietetic practice group. Ms. Sikand is Co-Chair of the NLA Nutrition Task Force and coauthor of the “2015 NLA Recommnendations for the Management of Dyslipidemia.” Ms. Sikand serves on the NLA Board of Governors. Ms. Sikand is Co-chair of the NLA South Asian Work Group. Ms. Sikand’s area of research is in the area of dietary strategies for cardiovascular risk reduction and outcomes of medical nutrition therapy in the management of dyslipidemia and cardiometabolic risk factors including improvements in cholesterol, triglycerides, hypertension, BMI and A1c.

Ms. Sikand has been honored with many national and state awards including the 2020 NLA’s 2020 President’s Service Award, Academy’s 2020 Excellence in Weight Management Outcomes Research Award and the Academy’s 2019 Medallion Award. She was honored for her leadership, public policy and community service and for her medical nutrition therapy outcomes research for patients with dyslipidemia and cardiometabolic risk factors. In 2019 Ms. Sikand received the Academy’s Excellence in Cardiovascular Practice Award, Academy’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indians in Nutrition and Dietetics Member Interest Group, 2013 Academy’s Distinguished Service Award, 2001 Mary Huddleson Award for making the highest research contribution to the dietetics profession At the state level, Ms. Sikand was the recipient of the California Academy’s 2019 Dolores Nyhus Outstanding Dietitian of the Year Award, and the 1997 California Academy’s Excellence in Outcomes Research Award.

Katelyn E. Senkus, MS is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Human Nutrition at The University of Alabama. Her research objectives support cardiometabolic health by elucidating the relationships among dietary bioactive compounds, oxidative stress, and inflammation, as well as vascular function. Furthermore, she investigates variables that may mediate the beneficial effects of nutrition interventions, such as obesity and the oral microbiome, on the aforementioned measures, permitting the differentiation between intervention responders and non-responders. Katelyn has received funding from agencies such as the Colgate-Palmolive Company, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation.

Shannon Herbert, MS, RD is a registered dietitian, yoga instructor, and second year doctoral student in the Nutrition and Dietetics program at New York University (New York, NY). Her research interests lie in understanding how lifestyle behaviors (diet, physical activity) may impact chronic disease, with the hope of developing lifestyle interventions that support and promote lifelong well-being. Her research is focused on exploring and developing lifestyle interventions for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Shannon aims to explore the experiences of women with PCOS, with a focus on their relationship with food and their dietary intake patterns. Shannon received her bachelor of science degree in Global Public Health & Nutrition and Dietetics, as well as her master of science degree in Clinical Nutrition, from New York University. She completed her dietetic internship at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in Bronx, NY.