ADA News and Views



8/2010 -salary info

6/1/2010
From: Patricia M. Babjak (ADA CEO)
Subject: Policy Initiatives & Advocacy 

As you know, I have been closely analyzing our Association’s capabilities and needs in the areas of public policy and advocacy. To both strengthen and broaden ADA’s efforts, I have determined that ADA needs a structure that will accomplish two distinct yet related goals:
1) Expand ADA’s advocacy and policy efforts and
2) Sustain the viability and credibility of the dietetics profession.

To accomplish these vital goals, I am pleased to announce the hiring of two new Vice Presidents to ADA’s Headquarters Team after reviewing over 50 resumes. Both are ADA members with a passion for the profession, with many years of experience working on important food, nutrition and health policy issues. They will work together to positively affect the health of all Americans through food and nutrition by actively increasing ADA’s advocacy and public policy efforts at the federal, state and local levels.

Jeanne Blankenship, MS, RD, has been named Vice President of Policy Initiatives and Advocacy;
Mary Pat Raimondi, MS, RD, has been named Vice President of Strategic Policy and Partnerships.

In addition to the talents and experience that Jeanne and Mary Pat bring to these new positions, the appointments signal a significant organizational priority shift to these key areas to fulfill ADA’s vision, mission and strategic goals.

Jeanne Blankenship is a senior dietitian at the University of California, Davis Medical Center, and a nationally known authority on women’s health issues, bariatric surgery and weight loss. She is the current chair of ADA’s Legislative and Public Policy Committee and serves as the ADA representative to the United States Breastfeeding Committee. Jeanne brings strong analytical, organizational and networking skills to the position. She has an extensive history of monitoring, evaluating, and reporting outcome data in a variety of settings and demonstrated results in developing public policy and advocacy programs. In her new position, Jeanne will focus on state government relations and on providing guidance and support to grassroots lobbying, including work with the Legislative Public Policy Committee and the ADA Political Action Committee; state/local legislative and regulatory monitoring; public policy/legislative priority development; and member grassroots programs, including leadership development. Jeanne is the current chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee.

Mary Pat Raimondi is program director for health and nutrition at the University of Minnesota Extension, where she helps shape the university’s federal and state legislative public policy key messages and manages multiple grants and innovative programming. She brings expertise in program management, social marketing, food and nutrition trends and policy analysis to the position. She is also a former LPPC chair and a current member of the Board of Directors and House of Delegates Leadership Team. Mary Pat brings methodical, thoughtful and strategic expertise in public policy, marketing and nutrition education to her new position. She will focus on federal government relations and lobbying, including federal regulatory relations; alliance and coalition building; public policy strategy development; and identification of new policy and program opportunities. 

Both of these remarkable RDs also possess a great deal of experience with practice issues such as clinical privileging, informatics and scope of practice.  The delineation of their job functions is attached.  I know they will work very well together, with all ADA staff and with all organizational units.  They have demonstrated skill sets in relationship building; strategic thinking and planning; and in modeling ADA’s values of collaboration and communication.  Jeanne and Mary Pat will work in close alignment as they refine the structure of the overall unit.

Jeanne will start at ADA June 7, and Mary Pat will join us later in the month.  Both Jeanne and Mary Pat will relocate to Washington, DC. The vacancies on the House Leadership Team and the Board of Directors left by Mary Pat and the Legislative and Public Policy Committee left by Jeanne will be filled by the President and Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Please join me in welcoming Jeanne and Mary Pat to ADA’s Headquarters Team!
_____________________________________________________________

Date:               April 14, 2010
To:                  DPG Members
From:             Harold Holler, Vice President, Governance & Practice
Subject:          Nutrition Informatics Education Program

The American Dietetic Association and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) are excited to offer members an opportunity to participate in the “10x10 Informatics Education Program”.  Participation in the course will provide you with a detailed overview of biomedical and health informatics designed specifically for RDs, DTRs and ADA members.  You will gain a broad understanding of the field from the vantage point of those who implement, lead, and develop IT solutions for improving health, healthcare, public health and biomedical research.
This program is made possible through collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).  If you complete the entire course, you will earn 51.5 CPE credits.  The fee for the program is $2,000.  The registration deadline is June 2, 2010.  To learn more about this opportunity (course description, competencies, complete curriculum, course logistics and readings), please visit the ADA/AMIA/OHSU web page:
https://www.amia.org/amia-ohsu-ada-10x10-offering - be sure to scroll down the page to see all the information noted above.
For questions regarding the registration, payment, receipts, or invoices, please contact Susanne Vellucci at AMIA (susanne@amia.org).  If you have questions regarding the curriculum or technology for the course, please consider contacting two ADA members who have participated in the 10 x 10 course: Lindsey Hoggle (Lhoggle@healthprojectpartners.com) or Marty Yadrick (myadrick@computrition.com).

3/10/10
Journal of the American Dietetic Association Announces 2010 Cover Photo Contest!
The Journal is looking for ADA members with an eye for photography and a head for dietetics.  Beginning in March 2010, the Journal will be accepting original photographs from ADA members as part of our second annual Journal Cover Contest.  Submit one (1) original photograph representing any area of food, nutrition, or dietetics by August 30, 2010, and you could see your masterpiece on the cover of the Journal in 2011!  Finalists will be reviewed and judged using a subjective scoring grid based on creativity, image quality, representation of trends in nutrition and dietetics, and appeal to the Journal readership.  The winning entry will be voted on by you, ADA’s members, at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in November 2010. You must be an ADA member to enter the contest.  For more information and detailed contest rules, link here. 

11/25/09
Fall 2009 House of Delegates meeting outcomes - click here for details

11/23/2009
We are delighted to announce new obesity policy-related research funding opportunities, issued by NCI, NHLBI, NIDDK, NICHD, OBSSR, and CDC.   
Grant applications are encouraged that propose to:
1.     Conduct evaluation research of obesity-related “natural experiments” (defined here as research on community and other population-level policy interventions) that may affect diet and physical activity behavior, and/or
2.     Develop and/or validate relevant community-level measures (instruments and methodologies to assess the food and physical activity environments at the community level).

Additional details are available at the links below.  Note that standard receipt dates apply. (Details on due dates here:  http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm)
·         R01: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R01)
·         R21: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R21)
·         R03: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R03)
Please contact us if you have additional questions!
______________________________________
Robin A. McKinnon, PhD, MPA
Health Policy Specialist
Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch
Applied Research Program
Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Blvd. MSC 7344, EPN 4028
Bethesda, MD 20892-7344
Phone: +1-301-594-3599
Fax: +1-301-435-3710
http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/

11/19/2009
ADA rates holiday meatless meals - click here for details

11/13/2009
The American Dietetic Association, through the Association Positions Committee (APC), is beginning the process of updating/developing the following positions:

The following positions will be developed using the evidence analysis process:

The following papers will each be developed as a position paper with a companion practice paper: (A short, succinct position paper with a companion practice paper addressing practical application.)

 APC is asking you to identify individuals who would be qualified to serve as an author of the position and/or practice paper, a reviewer of the draft paper and/or a content advisor to provide guidance during the development/update of the paper/s.

 Author Qualifications
An author needs to meet the following criteria: demonstrates good writing skills, thorough and current knowledge of the topic, the ability to synthesize scientific data and the ability to meet deadlines.  The individual must have the ability to participate in several conference calls (4-6) during the period of position development.  More than one author can be selected. An author's commitment to developing a position is 6-18 months.  The author will have staff support at ADA Headquarters.

 Reviewer Qualifications
Reviewers need to have critical thinking skills, writing ability, in-depth knowledge of the subject and current practice experience, as well as availability to accommodate a 30-day turnaround. Organizational units, such as DPGs, may review a position paper as a group or may suggest individuals to serve in this capacity. 

Content Advisor Qualifications
The content advisor will assist the APC workgroup in the development of the paper.  The selected individual must be an expert in the field, demonstrating thorough and current knowledge of the topic.  The content advisor will participate on all APC workgroup conference calls (4-6) during the period of position development and must have the ability to meet deadlines.  The individual will assist the workgroup in understanding the current science and practice of dietetics in the subject area.

Names, Addresses, Phone Numbers and E-mail Addresses Needed
For each individual suggested, please submit name, address, phone number and e-mail address as soon as possible.  The information may be e-mailed to Donna Wickstrom, ADA Headquarters, at mhtml:{06EC6DEB-4CDB-496E-8D6F-D4D68F4EC5F5}mid:/00000077/!x-usc:mailto:dwickstrom@eatright.org.  Individuals will receive, via email, an invitation to apply and a request to submit her/his curriculum vitae.

Recognition for Authors, Reviewers, and Content Advisor
Those involved in the development of the papers will be acknowledged at the end of each paper when it is published on-line and/or in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Donna L. Wickstrom (800/877-1600, ext. 4835 or mhtml:{06EC6DEB-4CDB-496E-8D6F-D4D68F4EC5F5}mid:/00000077/!x-usc:mailto:dwickstrom@eatright.org ).  Thank you for your assistance!

ADA Foundation Award, Grants and Honors: (10/5/09)

The ADA Foundation offers awards and research grants to ADA members and dietetics students in recognition of their professional accomplishments, to further research objectives and to enable dietitians to enhance their education and skills. The deadline date is December 1, 2009 for many of our Research Grants, Continuing Education Awards, International Awards and Program Development Grants.*

Edna and Robert Langholz International Nutrition Award
Nominate yourself or someone you know for the prestigious Edna & Robert Langholz International Nutrition Award that honors the person whose contribution to nutrition has had the greatest international significance. The recipient will receive a bronze statue representing the award and a $25,000 award (US) The deadline to apply is November 2, 2009.

The Wimpfheimer-Guggenheim International Lecture
The ADA Foundation is currently accepting proposals for the Wimpfheimer-Guggenheim International Lecture taking place at FNCE in Boston, Massachusetts, November 6 to 9, 2010. The focus of the lecture is to raise the nutritional health of the world community by highlighting original international projects in food and nutrition, dietetic education, research and foodservice management. All proposals are due to Beth Labrador, by November 2, 2009.

ADA Foundation Scholarship Deadline:
As the largest provider of dietetics scholarships, the ADA Foundation provides funding to deserving students at all levels of study. More than 1,300 students have been awarded scholarships in the last five years, totaling nearly $2.2 million. Applications* must be postmarked by February 16, 2010. Students must obtain ADA membership at least one month before the deadline to allow for processing.

Champions for Healthy Kids Grants Program
Through this grants program, the ADA Foundation helps extend the work of RDs and DTRs. The grassroots grants provide an opportunity for an RD or DTR to work with a non-profit organization and apply for funding. Deadline to apply is January 15, 2010. 

Applications are available on the ADA Foundation website.


News on ADA's Washington, DC office - click here (9/11/09)