Professional Development and Research

Professional Development Team

	Alefiya Faizullabhoy, MBA, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, FAND (Webinar Chair) has more than 14 years of experience as a Registered Dietitian and has been a Certified Diabetes Educator since the past 10 years. Alefiya has experience in the pediatric as also the pregnancy population. Currently, she works in a busy Endocrinology outpatient practice in a large New York based Health system. Her work with adults is focused on weight management in patients with pre diabetes and diabetes. Alefiya is passionate about promoting healthy food choices and disease prevention. She also teaches nutrition and diabetes wellness classes, precepts dietetic interns and allied health professionals interested in obtaining their CDE credentials. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling and dabbling in home renovation projects.
	Tori Delgado, RD, CSOWM, LD (Resources Co-Coordinator) Tori Delgado RDN, CSOWM, LD is a Registered Dietitian with 11 years of experience working in the field of weight management and bariatric surgery; the last 8 years working for Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA. Tori is currently working as a data analyst for Emory Clinic Division of GI/General Surgery where she supports general and bariatric surgeons in research and quality improvement projects and she is the Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Coordinator/Clinical reviewer for Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. Tori previously counseled pre and post bariatric surgery patients as the lead dietitian at Emory Bariatric Center. Tori completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Dietetics at University of Georgia and dietetic internship at Southern Regional Medical Center. In her free time, Tori enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and working out.
	Samantha Stavola, MHA, RDN, LD (Resources Co-Coordinator) is a Register Dietitian/Nutritionist with over 9 years of professional experience in the Bariatric industry. She served as the Council on Practice chair for the Philadelphia Dietetic Association 2015-2017. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree from La Salle University and Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Drexel University. She holds Adult Weight Management Certificates In-Training Level 1 and 2 from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Sam has also been a guest speaker at international conferences and is working on authoring several book chapters for an international publication.
	Madhuri Tripurana, MS, RD, CD (Bariatric Subunit Chair) received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Food Science and Nutrition from Central Washington University. She currently works as a Clinical Nutrition Manager at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, WA. She has been an RD since 2006 and was instrumental in starting Eastern Washington’s first Outpatient Bariatric Nutrition Education program. She precepts dietetic interns from WSU and CWU and is actively involved in promoting various wellness events in the community.
	Maggie Huey, RD, LD, (Pediatric Subunit Chair) is a clinical dietitian at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Maggie completed the Cincinnati Didactic Program in Dietetics and Dietetic Internship at the University of Cincinnati in 2018. She is currently working to receive her Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Cincinnati. Maggie has been a volunteer with WM DPG during the past year and recently stepped into a leadership role. She serves on her local Greater Cincinnati Dietetic Association as the current Membership Chair and President Elect. When away from school and work, Maggie enjoys hiking with her fur kids, Phoebe and Cooper, and completing home renovations.
	Georgia Giannopoulos, MS, RD, NBC-HWC, CSOWM, CDN, SHRM-CP (Coaching & Wellness Subunit Chair) Hello! I am Georgia. I have over a decade of experience working in nutrition, health, and wellbeing at a top-ranked hospital. I am a proud first-generation college graduate who holds a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Research from Cornell University and a Master of Science from New York University. I completed the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Dietetic Internship and the Mayo Clinic Wellness Coach Training Program. I love my family and being a mom.

Research Team

	Jane Sylvestre, MS, RDN, LDN ( Research Briefs Editor) Jane has been working with bariatric patients for over 13 years. She has received a Master of Science in Human Nutrition from Texas Woman's University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed her dietetic internship at the Houston VA Medical Center in Houston, TX. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University and recently published a paper on Telehealth and bariatric surgery in Topics in Clinical Nutrition.
	Shelly Summar, MSEd, RD, LD (Newsletter CPEU Editor) serves as the manager of Weighing In, a program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, working to lead community collaboration to support healthy lifestyles. She has over 25 years of experience treating children and families for nutrition related issues. She received her undergraduate degree in Nutritional Sciences from Kansas State University and her Masters in Exercise Physiology from the University of Kansas. She also completed a Certificate of Training in Childhood & Adol Weight Management.
	Jacob T. Mey, PhD, RD (Newsletter Assistant CPEU Editor) Dr. Jacob T. Mey, PhD, RD completed his nutrition and dietetic training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He then pursued a PhD in Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he investigated skeletal muscle mechanisms in individuals with diabetes. Jake is now an Assistant Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center where he investigates human metabolism and nutrient utilization to better understand the role of food in health and disease. He is a passionate advocate for the RD profession and encourages all health professionals to be active members on social media.