Food as Medicine and Medically Tailored Dietary Interventions: Clinical Efficacy and Implementation Across Care Settings (Oral Session 1)

Chair(s)

• 

  Sarah Johnson, PhD, RDN, FASN

  Associate Professor
  Florida State University
  Tallahassee, Florida, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Chair(s)

• DS

  Donya Shahamati, MS (she/her/hers)

  PhD student
  University of California, Irvine
  Irvine, California, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Presenting Author(s)

• 

  Rachel Ram, MPH, CHES

  Program Manager, Whole Person Health
  NACHC
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• NF

  Nurgul Fitzgerald, PhD, MS, RDN

  Associate Professor
  Rutgers University
  New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Marcia de Oliveira Otto, PhD

  Associate Professor
  The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  Houston, Texas, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Kathleen Holton, PhD, MPH (she/her/hers)

  Professor
  Departments of Health Studies and Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior
  American University
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Robert Anderson, III, PhD, MS (he/him/his)

  Postdoctoral Research Associate
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

NUTRITION 2026 Oral Sessions feature the presentation of multiple abstracts organized around a common theme and highlight outstanding research representing the abstract topical areas. Complete abstract text for each abstract which will be presented at NUTRITION 2026 will be available on July 24.

Presentations:

• 8:30 AM - 8:42 AM ET

  Integrating Food Is Medicine Programs in Community Health Centers to Advance Nutrition Security and Cardiometabolic Health
  

  Presenting Author: Rachel Ram, MPH, CHES – NACHC

  Co-Author: Amy Flowers – NACHC
• 8:42 AM - 8:54 AM ET

  Developing a Culturally Tailored, Multi-Component Food-is-Medicine Intervention Toward Sustainable Dietary Behaviors for South Asians With Cardiometabolic Disease
  

  Presenting Author: Nurgul Fitzgerald, PhD, MS, RDN – Rutgers University

  Co-Author: Kelly Naranjo – God's Love We Deliver

  Co-Author: Aparna Kalbag – Institute for Health, Healthcare Policy and Aging Research

  Co-Author: Lisa Zullig – God's Love We Deliver

  Co-Author: Maya Azar Atallah – Rutgers University

  Co-Author: Parth K. Kharkar – Institute for Health, Healthcare Policy and Aging Research

  Co-Author: Abdulrahman Alsayegh – Rutgers University

  Co-Author: Aayush Visaria – Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

  Co-Author: Soko Setoguchi – Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Institute for Health, Healthcare Policy and Aging Research
• 8:54 AM - 9:06 AM ET

  Greater Plant Protein Intake and Diversity, but Not Animal Protein, Are Associated With Lower Malnutrition Risk Among Individuals With Oropharyngeal Cancer
  

  Presenting Author: Marcia C. de Oliveira Otto, PhD – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

  Co-Author: Ji Yun Tark – Baylor College of Medicine

  Co-Author: Ruosha Li – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

  Co-Author: Vlad Sandulache – Baylor College of Medicine

  Co-Author: Shreela V. Sharma – UTHealth Houston School of Public Health

  Co-Author: Katherine Hutcheson – MD Anderson Cancer Center
• 9:06 AM - 9:18 AM ET

  Confirmation of a Food Is Medicine Approach for Treating Neurological, Psychiatric, and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Veterans
  

  Presenting Author: Kathleen F. Holton, PhD, MPH (she/her/hers) – American University

  Co-Author: Fahimeh Martami, PhD – American University
• 9:18 AM - 9:30 AM ET

  Associations Between Reductions in Food Insecurity and Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity Among Hypertensive Adults: The Healthy Food First Clinical Trial
  

  Presenting Author: Robert E. Anderson, III, PhD, MS (he/him/his) – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Co-Author: Seth Berkowitz, MD, MPH – UNC School of Medicine

  Co-Author: Kyle S. Burger, PhD – Monell

  Co-Author: Carmina G. Valle, PhD – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Co-Author: Lindsey Smith Taillie, PhD – Gillings School of Global Public Health

  Co-Author: Alice S. Ammerman, PhD – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill