TC Nutrition Grads Hit the Ground Running The View from the 2008 American
Dietetic Association Annual Meeting
New York, NY. November 20, 2008 – Alumni from the class of 2007 Nutrition Education
master’s degree program at Columbia University Teachers College emerged as
leaders at the annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).
Recent graduates Maggie Moon, MS, RD and Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC/L
played key roles at this year’s ADA Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo
held October 25-28, 2008 in Chicago’s McCormick Place with record attendance.
Maggie Moon, MS, RD Maggie Moon was named to the Executive
Committee of the large and influential dietetic practice group: Sports,
Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition (SCAN). Known for its strong presence in
the sports dietetics arena, SCAN also includes professionals in cardiovascular
health, wellness, and disordered eating. Though Ms. Moon was a full-time professional
dancer in a past life, she comes to SCAN from a wellness perspective rather
than a sports nutrition background.
“It’s a great time to be a health
professional working in wellness,” says Moon. “There are unprecedented numbers
of Americans saying they want to eat well for better health, which opens up a
great opportunity for RDs to emphasize our tried and true recommendations to
eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and other smart choices.” She adds
that “our messages haven’t changed as much as people’s receptiveness to them
have!”
“While wellness practitioners have
always been a part of SCAN, the time has come to organize efforts and provide a
platform for wellness RDs to network and share best practices, and also to
offer access to these dietitians as a valuable resource to the public,
corporate wellness programs, and more.”
SCAN’s wellness activities include the
launch of the new Wellness Subunit at the ADA annual meeting and the program
for the next SCAN symposium, which is themed around “The Seven Wonders of
Wellness,” and will be held in April 2009 in Scottsdale, AZ. In her new role on
the Executive Committee as Public Relations Director, Ms. Moon looks forward to
working closely with her distinguished colleagues at SCAN to bring earned
attention to their wellness initiatives.
Outside of SCAN, Ms. Moon writes
feature articles for nutrition and health magazines, and creates targeted
communications for health care professionals, patients, and consumers. She
maintains close relationships with her colleagues and mentors at Teachers
College, and splits her free time between dancing professionally and spending
time with her husband in New York, NY.
Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC/L
Dana Angelo White is an active SCAN
member, and was featured as a chef-RD at SCAN’s evening reception at this
year’s ADA meeting. She provided a lively and professionally presented culinary
demonstration to 300 SCAN members and VIP guests, all while on-stage and
on-camera. Taking the nutrition education skills she honed at Teachers College
into the greater dietetic field, Ms. White was a credit to her training at TC.
Ms. White demonstrated two recipes using
Unilever’s Promise® brand of soft spreads, which contain 70% less saturated fat
than butter and are cardiologist endorsed for their lipid profile. Attendees
found her demo entertaining and informative, and many were surprised to learn
that soft spreads can work well in cooking and baking. She received several
requests to receive more information about the benefits of cooking with
Promise.
“I was proud to have the opportunity to
contribute to SCAN by presenting to my colleagues at the reception. It was a
pleasure to collaborate with Unilever representatives and reception organizers
to create something informative and worthwhile for fellow RDs,” she said.
Ms. White is a culinary nutrition expert for restaurants
and media outlets including the Food Network and Scripps Networks, and works closely with
chefs and authors to develop creative and healthy recipes for cookbooks,
marketing campaigns and restaurant menus. Ms. White’s recipes have been featured
in various print and web-based media sources including Country Club Quarterly Magazine, WPP Inc., and Disney Inc.
In addition to her nutrition credentials, Ms.
White is also a certified athletic trainer. This makes her uniquely qualified
to assist fitness and marketing clients in her work as a nutrition and health
consultant.She teaches nutrition at
Quinnipiac University, and also serves on the board of the Greater New York Dietetic
Association.
Valuable Connections Made at TC
It is no surprise that TC is a training
ground for future leaders. Ms. Moon and Ms. White, who are friends and
colleagues that graduated from the same Dietetic Internship class, are just two
examples of the many successful graduates who are taking their profession by
storm. Any success stories serve to pay tribute to the high caliber of the
faculty in the Nutrition Program at Teachers College, who are not only leaders
in their own areas of expertise, but generously offer themselves as mentors and
friends to their students during their time at TC and beyond.
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To learn more about the Sports,
Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition group, please visit: www.SCANdpg.org
To learn more about the Greater New
York Dietetic association, please visit: www.GNYDA.org
To learn more about the nutrition
programs offered by Teachers College, contact:
The two recent alumni who are featured
are happy to be contacted by current students and faculty from the Teachers
College Program in Nutrition community:
