Episode 36 - Mary Lesser - Sports Nutrition and Considerations for the Young Athlete with GI Disorders

In this episode of Nutrition Pearls: the Podcast, co-hosts Nikki Misner and Jen Smith speak with Mary Lesser PhD, RD, dietitian on the topic of Sports Nutrition. Originally a Northern California native, Mary is currently an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Nutrition and Metabolic Biology Department at the University of California, Berkeley as well as a Pediatric Sports Nutrition Dietitian at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. Nutrition is and has been her major field of study for the past twenty+ years! The field has allowed her to pursue her passion for research, education, as well as practicing in the clinical setting. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree at UC Davis in Clinical Nutrition with a minor in Human Development and then went on to complete her Master of Science Degree in Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston, MA. While working on her Masters, she completed her Dietetic Internship at Tufts Medical Center and is currently a Registered Dietitian. She then returned to UC Davis to complete her PhD in Nutritional Biology, with an emphasis in Developmental Nutrition and then moved down to the Bay Area to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

Mary chose Nutrition because she has always felt that following a healthy lifestyle and eating pattern are very important and has always incorporated (as well as encouraged) this philosophy into her own life as well as the life of others. She is one who likes to have a little variety in her life so as of right now, her current (and future!) plans include a career that involves research, clinical work, teaching, and translating science into community outreach + policy/advocacy efforts.

In research, she is interested in investigating the nutrition environment during early development (pregnancy, lactation, early childhood) to observe (if any) persistent developmental effects (of the fetus, neonate, child) that may increase or decrease chronic disease risk later in life. And in practice, Mary enjoys working with young athletes on their Sports Nutrition needs and goals.

Nutrition Pearls is supported by an educational grant from Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Resources:

www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/-/media/project/ucsf/ucsf-bch/pdf/sports-nutrition-2016-meals-snacks.pdf?rev=177fc88db39d4ef096bc3760a73c5a8e

Produced by: Corey Irwin

NASPGHAN - Council for Pediatric Nutrition Professionals

cpnp@naspghan.org

Episode 35 - Jessica Carder - RD & IBCLC’s Insights into Breastfeeding and Neonatal Nutrition

In this episode of Nutrition Pearls: the Podcast, co-hosts Megan Murphy and Jen Smith speak with Jessica Carder about breastfeeding and the role of human milk in supporting the health and development of infants from the NICU through the first year of life. Jessica is a registered dietitian and lactation consultant with almost 10 years of experience in the pediatric nutrition field, almost 5 years' experience working with the NICU population, with a specialized focus on lactation since 2019.

Nutrition Pearls is supported by an educational grant from Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Resources:

Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine

La Leche League International - Breastfeeding Support

Breastfeeding USA

Lactation Education Resources

Video Archive - Global Health Media Project

GOLD Lactation Online Conference 2025 | Lactation & Breastfeeding Conference

Produced by: Corey Irwin

NASPGHAN - Council for Pediatric Nutrition Professionals

cpnp@naspghan.org

In this episode of Nutrition Pearls: the Podcast, co-hosts Megan Murphy and Jen Smith speak with Megan Horsley on her involvement with an intensive tube feed weaning program. Megan is a pediatric dietitian at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She has 18 years of experience in pediatrics with a focus in cardiology and currently practices as a Lead dietitian as well as a cardiac float, serving all areas of cardiology (the Critical Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, the Acute Care Cardiology Unit and Outpatient Cardiology). Her most recent work has involved establishing a tube wean program in 2020 for heart patients which focuses on optimizing oral skills and getting them safely off their feeding tube.

She is a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician and in addition maintains her Certification as a Specialist in Pediatric Nutrition. She is involved in many projects, research, and quality improvement work, including the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC), the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION) and the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS). She has also served as a board member of the Congenital Heart Alliance of Cincinnati since 2017 and is a member of the Prolacta Clinical Advisory Board (PCAB) since 2019. Megan has eighteen years of professional practice in pediatric nutrition and twenty-one years of personal experience as a heart mom herself. She plans on continuing to concentrate her efforts on improving the nutritional care, experience and outcomes for all children affected by congenital heart disease.

Nutrition Pearls is supported by an educational grant from Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Resources:

Tool Kit: NPC-QIC Tube Weaning — NPC-QIC

Kaskie, S., Horsley, M., & Marcuccio, E. (2024). Experiences in Tube Weaning Children with Congenital Heart Disease and Oral Feeding Aversion. Pediatric Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03515-8

Wong, J., Loomba, R., Allen, K. Y., Chan, T., Coolidge, N., Del Grippo, E., Horsley, M., Slater, N., Spader-Cloud, M., Steltzer, M., & Marcuccio, E. (2024). Structured Tube Weaning Using the Hunger Provocation Method in Infants with Single Ventricle Heart Defects: A Multicenter Study. Pediatric Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03558-x

Horsley, M., Hill, G. D., Kaskie, S., Schnautz, M., Brown, J., & Marcuccio, E. (2022). Evaluation of an Outpatient and Telehealth Initiative to Reduce Tube Dependency in Infants with Complex Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatric Cardiology, 43(7), 1429–1437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-022-02864-6

Weaning from a feeding tube in children with congenital heart disease: A review of the literature: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1058981321000801?via%3Dihub

Cardiology Feeding Tube Wean Clinic

Produced by: Corey Irwin

NASPGHAN - Council for Pediatric Nutrition Professionals

cpnp@naspghan.org