Dr. Uma Naidoo is a Harvard trained nutritional psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutritional biologist & author of the national & international bestseller: “This is Your Brain on Food.”

Michelin-starred chef David Bouley described Dr. Uma Naidoo as the world’s first “triple threat” in the food and medicine space as the nexus of her interests have found their niche in Nutritional Psychiatry. Her book has been published in 22 countries and 18 languages.

Dr. Naidoo founded and directs the first and only hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the USA. She is the Director of Nutritional and Metabolic Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital & Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at the MGH Academy while serving on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.

She serves as a regular media contributor at CNBC and is on the Harvard Health Publishing Editorial Advisory Board. She has working with the World Economic Forum in the New Frontiers of Nutrition initiative.

After being one of only four US physicians to be invited to meet personally with the former HRH The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, she was then invited work on a Brain Food collaboration in the UK.

She is currently developing the first and only CME based educational program at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard to educate other clinicians globally about nutrition for brain health.

Dr. Uma has appeared as a Nutritional Psychiatry expert on Live with Kelly & Ryan, Today Show, 700 Club, ABC, and been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Thrive Global, Harpers, Shape, Parade, Boston Globe, AARP, and more.

Visit her at https://umanaidoomd.com.

Kathleen McBeth is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, with a focus on health psychology, adjustment to illness, and psychosocial oncology.

Kathleen has been working with oncology patients and their caregivers since 2006 for the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Kathleen is a current Board member of NNECOS and an active member of the Nursing and Allied Health Professional Advisory Committee (NAHPAC). She is a member of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, on the steering committee for Vermonters Taking Action Against Cancer, and the vice president of the Stowe Weekend of Hope.

She has presented at the University of Vermont Women’s Cancer Conference, the Dartmouth Lymphoma Symposium, the Norris Cotton Center Survivorship Meeting, the Stowe Weekend of Hope, and at the Northern New England Oncology Society annual conference to name a few.

Kathleen’s focus is on the psychological impact of the cancer diagnosis and how understanding the emotional response can help to facilitate treatment and communication within the oncology team.

Kelsey Kirkwood is a Senior Research Data Analyst at the American Society of Clinical Oncology where she has worked for more than a decade. Areas of interest include the healthcare workforce, geographic access to care, health services research, and data storytelling. She is a longtime contributor to the State of Cancer Care in America article series in the JCO Oncology Practice.

Kelsey has a bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics from Whitman College and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University. In graduate school, she concentrated on cancer epidemiology and comparative effectiveness outcomes research.

Stephanie LeBlond is a social worker at Stephens Memorial Hospital and Cancer Resource Center of Western Maine, where she assists assist our patients with emotional, financial and basic needs, including travel and food support.

Dr. Nirav Kapadia is a full time staff physician, the Medical Director of Radiation Oncology services at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Northern Cancer Center, and the inaugural Medical Director of the Levy Serious Illness Healthcare Delivery Incubator. In addition to clinical work, his research and administrative interests are focused on value creation in health care delivery, by focusing on intersection between quality improvement and health services research and policy.

Before joining Dartmouth, Dr. Kapadia was chief resident of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan where he developed interests in health care administration and health service research. While on the faculty at Dartmouth, he has researched the variation in use of radiation therapy, while completing a Master’s degree in healthcare leadership from The Dartmouth Institute, focused upon integrating health services research methods, statistical and financial analysis, provider communication, quality improvement approaches and management skills to improve the value of health care delivery. Ongoing research with collaborators at TDI and around the nation focuses on financial toxicity experienced by cancer patients, the effects of bundled payments on cancer care, the use of Medicare claims data analysis to understand variation in cancer treatment among healthcare workers as well as the impact of structural norms on aggressive cancer care at the end of life. As Medical Director of the Levy Incubator, Dr. Kapadia oversees the selection and execution of multidisciplinary teams charged with rethinking how to deliver health care to seriously ill patients.

Dr. Kapadia currently sits on three national committees tasked with payment reform and quality—the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology Payment Reform, Quality Measurement, and Payer Relations Committees. He earned his AB in Biophysical Chemistry at Dartmouth College, his MD at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed his clinical training in internal medicine and radiation oncology at the University of Michigan.

Kristian Sogaard, MAT

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Kristian is a second-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. At Geisel, he has completed research examining financial toxicity in cellular immunotherapy patients at Dartmouth Health, serves as President of the Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity, and was selected as a Medical Education Scholar.

Prior to attending Geisel, Kristian taught for two years in New York City as a 2019 Teach for America Corps member while simultaneously completing a Master's Degree in Education. He completed his undergraduate work at Amherst College, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology. During his undergraduate studies, Kristian was involved in research at UCSF, Mount Sinai, and FIMM including publications in the Journal of Oral Oncology and Journal of Transplantation Proceedings.

Amy Chang

Larner College of Medicine at University of Vermont 

Amy Chang is a 3rd year medical student studying at the University of Vermont- Larner School of Medicine. She studied Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley and then worked for a year in a neurobiology lab studying locomotion. Due to her background in public health and experience with the underserved community, Amy is interested in improving health outcomes in vulnerable populations. She had the pleasure of working with the US Dept of Health and Human Services to understand the impact of the Affordable Care Act on minorities and a community mental health initiative for at risk youth. Before she came to Larner, Amy worked at two different clinics that focused on treating immigrants and people experiencing homelessness. At Larner, Amy leads the student interest group, Here to Help, which provides a monthly resource for people experiencing homelessness. Her current clinical interests are in neurology, oncology, and surgery.

Nicholas Alana, MD

Portsmouth Regional Hospital

Nicholas Alana is a 2^nd year Internal Medicine resident at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. Originally from Austin, TX, Dr. Alan chose to pursue residency outside of Texas to expand his horizons and ended up here in New England. He is planning on pursuing a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology after residency and became interested in this project involving statins and DIC through a co-resident with similar interests. In his free time, Dr. Alana enjoy lifting weights, exploring different types of cuisine and hiking in the White Mountains.