Speakers
Kristina Arrieta
Kristina is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She has worked in WIC clinics and hospitals helping mothers breastfeed and currently works as a breastfeeding trainer for DSHS.
Pam Berens
Dr. Pamela Berens is a generalist OB/GYN working as an Associate Professor at the University of Texas in Houston. Her interest in lactation began after the birth of her first child while she was a chief resident. Since that time she has become a proponent of education regarding lactation. She lectures for the Department of Health in Texas regarding breastfeeding with her focus predominately on; breast complications arising during lactation, maternal medical complications and their impact on lactation and clinic and hospital policies and their impact on lactation. These lectures provide background information for peer counselors, hospital and clinic personnel, nurses, doulas, lactation consultants, midwives and physicians in lactation. She also speaks at national meetings. Dr. Berens is a member of the Harris County Breastfeeding Coalition and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, an international group of physicians interested in education and promotion of lactation. She has also written review articles regarding evaluation of breast masses during lactation and supportive physician practices encouraging lactation. Most recently, she has worked with Dr. Thomas Hale on the text, Clinical Therapy in Breastfeeding Mothers, reviewing common illnesses and the optimal choices for therapy in breastfeeding mothers. She has also been involved in clinical research in breastfeeding mothers using fenugreek among other ongoing research projects.
Sandra Brown
Sandra Brown has worked for the State of Texas WIC program for 5 years. Her responsibilities have included special formula approval and training, policy revision and technical assistance to local WIC agencies. She is currently involved in the administration of the infant formula and cereal contracts and the maintenance of the formula product database.
Liz Bruns
Liz has worked with formula issues her entire career at the WIC state office. She has helped create formula policy, trained on formula policy and other issues related to formula, and “worked the beeper”. Prior to state service, Liz worked in WIC as a Nutritionist in Angelina county and Austin/Travis county.
Brian Castrucci
Brian C. Castrucci, MA is the Director of the Family Health Research and Program Development Unit (FHR&PD) in the Office of Title V and Family Health Planning at the Texas Department of State Health Services. FHR&PD includes subject matter experts and researchers who, with Mr. Castrucci’s leadership, collaborate to create synergy between research and practice by collecting, analyzing and interpreting state and national data to identify trends and problem areas and researching and promulgating best practices and evidence-based interventions that have applications to public health. In the area of breastfeeding, Mr. Castrucci has analyzed the impact of delivering an infant in a hospital with international board certified lactation consultant on breast-feeding initiation, added breastfeeding questions to the Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and is the principal investigator for the WIC Infant Feeding Practices Survey.
Amy Culp
Amy Culp, RD, LD is a skilled nutrition expert with a passion for promoting nutrition and wellness. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian specializing in eating disorders, sports nutrition, weight management, and “family” nutrition (working with parents to raise healthy and happy eaters). Amy and her husband Yancy (a certified personal trainer) own sCULPture Nutrition & Fitness in Austin, TX, where they often work together to motivate clients to optimize their health and well-being. Amy also works as a sports dietitian for the University of Texas athletes, and as a nutrition consultant and speaker for large and small companies nationwide. Armed with her wealth of nutrition knowledge, public speaking abilities, and true passion for healthy living, Amy feels she is doing her life’s work when she educates the public on strategies of living a healthy lifestyle. She particularly enjoys utilizing a non-diet approach to help clients make peace with food. Amy earned her Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Food and Nutrition form San Diego State University (SDSU), and completed her clinical training at the highly competitive and challenging VA San Diego Healthcare System. While at SDSU, Amy exhibited outstanding leadership abilities as President of the Student Nutrition Organization, was awarded with scholarships and was chosen as the Outstanding Dietetic Student of the Year for the State of California by the American Dietetic Association. Prior to starting her private practice, Amy worked in nutrition communications on a healthy dining guide, educated the general public as a nutrition education consultant, and worked with the students of the University of Texas to improve their nutrition and wellness. Amy is an active member of the American, Texas, and Austin dietetic associations, the Sports, Cardiovascular & Wellness Dietetic Practice Group, Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group, and Austin Eating Disorders Specialists. In her free time, Amy enjoys cooking, being physically active (like her husband’s boot camps!), relaxing with her family, and eating chocolate (in moderation)!
Esther Diaz
Esther Diaz learned Spanish while living and studying in Mexico for ten years. She holds a BA in Spanish and is certified by the American Translators Association for translation from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. In addition, Esther worked as an in-house medical translator and telephone interpreter for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and taught medical terminology there. She later worked at WIC headquarters in Austin, where she developed and presented Spanish for WIC. She has more than 25 years of experience as a translator and trainer.
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She has overseen the coordination of breastfeeding promotion and support activities in Texas WIC since 1999. As part of her job duties, Ms. Erickson has developed important initiatives for the WIC program such as the statewide Breast Pump Program, the African American Breastfeeding Promotion Campaign, the Infant Feeding in Disasters Initiative, and the prenatal Breastfeeding Education Bag project. Tracy also travels the State as one of the trainers for the Department of State Health Services Principles of Lactation Management training. Ms. Erickson has served as a board member for the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin since 1999 and is an active member of the Texas Breastfeeding Coalition and the Central Texas Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Breastfeeding Coalition.
Carlos Galvan
Carlos has worked for the State WIC office since 2006. He currently serves as a Nutrition Education Liaison for several local agencies. His responsibilities include approving local agency NEBF plans, Training plans, as well as on-site training and IDL. He has clinical experience as a nutritionist at LA 39 in Jacksonville. He also brings Head Start experience from Region 7 ESC Head Start program based in Kilgore, TX. Carlos has spent most of the last 10 years working in public health or pre-school nutrition programs.
Jennifer Greenburg Seth
Ms. Seth is the Program Coordinator for the University of Texas Nutrition Education Team where she played a key role in the development and implementation of a large-scale study of preschooler feeding practices in the state of Texas. She holds a Masters of Science from the Harvard School of Public Health and focuses her work on incorporating theories of health behavior into program development and evaluation. Ms. Seth has worked on several health promotion programs and studies that involve low-income and Hispanic populations.
Gail Gresham
Gail worked as a nutritionist with WIC for six years. She then worked at the Department of State Health Services Texas WIC Program as a Nutrition/Breastfeeding Education Specialist primarily working with the Pump Program. She currently works as the Breastfeeding Coordinator for the Austin/Travis WIC program. Her in-depth knowledge about the Pump Program and WIC Breastfeeding and Peer counselor program have helped her get moms the breastfeeding support they need to change a mom’s perception that she “needs” formula.
Erica Harris
Erica Harris works at the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in the nutrition education training group, where she develops trainings for local agency staff and serves as a nutrition education liaison. Prior to joining DSHS, Erica taught nutrition at the Texas Culinary Academy, served as an AmeriCorps health educator, and worked as a research assistant for the Women’s Health Initiative diet intervention study at Stanford. She is a registered dietitian, and completed her dietetic internship and master’s degree in nutrition education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York City.
Michael Hayes
Michael Hayes is the Program Director for Family Initiatives in the Office of the Texas Attorney General. His experience ranges from working directly with teen parents to developing and leading nationally recognized demonstration projects for low-income fathers and families. Mr. Hayes has worked closely with WIC, Head Start, Nurse Family Partnership, Healthy Families, Parents as Teachers, American Humane Association, the Air Force Family Advocacy Program, and other family support programs to develop innovative materials and training to increase positive father involvement and promote healthy co-parenting relationships.
Amanda Hovis
Amanda Hovis has over 4 years of experience as a WIC nutritionist. She has been the lead project coordinator for the obesity prevention projects for the past 3 years. She has trained several groups of peer counselors and set up several health fairs for WIC participants in Williamson County.
Suzie Humphries
Suzie is one of the most compelling speakers on the platform today, taking her message from corporations to conventions, hospitals to classrooms; she is at home with people of all ages and all walks of life. The reason men and women relate to her is because she tells the truth about her failures and her arguments with her husband and how she wrestles with her hilarious but "painful" relationship with her 95 year old mother. These stories prove her point that, regardless of what the situation or the problem in the job or the relationship, it is NOT the "problem that's the problem" it is "MY THINKING ABOUT THE PROBLEM." It is "close to the bone stuff." It is everybody's "stuff!!" She has criss-crossed the country to over 2,000 groups, every kind imaginable. She has stayed in fancy hotels, and "mom and pop" motels. She has spoken to small town Chambers of Commerce and big city founding fathers and her message of truth and plain spoken values rings in the hearts of all communities who are not just trying to "survive" the times but flourish in them. She believes that you can do anything you want to do and enjoy getting there "heartbreak and all!" When she leaves the stage there remains the unmistakable warmth of having been touched, and the unshakable affirmation that whether ordinary or extraordinary, through good times or bad, caught in mid-frailty or new accomplishment "Life really is the greatest thing ever!"
Paula Kanter
Paula Kanter has worked for the WIC Program for several years. She worked for the Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services Department WIC Program in 1995 before accepting a position with the WIC State office in 1996. At the State office, she worked as a Clinical Monitor for two years before transferring to the Clinic Services Branch where she now works with policies and the WIC food packages. Paula is looking forward to implementing the new food package changes.
Pam McCarthy
Pam McCarthy is a MS, RD - Renegade Dietician - who develops programs, materials and messages that change lives. She is principal of Pam McCarthy and Associates in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been a consultant on health issues since 1991. She has developed innovative strategies for helping companies impact employees health. She has conducted numerous focus groups on WIC-related issues and identified emotional and direct benefits of mothers related to nutrition and physical activity behaviors. In 2004, Pam developed 20 emotion-based messages for WIC clients and trained staff on how to provide emotion-based counseling.
Bridget McCauley
Bridget McCauley works for The Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin, a non-profit organization whose mission is to accept, pasteurize and dispense donor human milk by physician prescription primarily to premature and ill infants.
Krista Neal
Krista Neal has been a formula specialist for Texas WIC since spring 2006. She's helped write formula policies and procedures, and maintained the Texas WIC Consolidated Formula Information Listing. She's been a Quality Management Consultant for Texas WIC and a dietitian at the local level in both Texas and Oklahoma.
Cathey Plyler
Cathy began her career as a clinical dietitian and served as Director of Dietary Services at Val Verde Memorial hospital in Del Rio, Texas for 8 years. Her WIC experience includes positions as a High Risk Dietitian at Project 7 in Dallas and as a Clinic Manager and Breastfeeding Coordinator for Project 17, UTHSC WIC Program in Houston. Prior to Cathy’s position at the state WIC office, she provided nutrition services for children with special health care needs as an ECI Dietitian for the Early Childhood Intervention Program of Tarrant county.
Dr. Stephen Ponder
Dr. Stephen Ponder is a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist with 38 years of personal experience with type 2 diabetes. Like many in this hall, it was this close connection with diabetes which led him to become a lifelong student of this condition. A Certified Diabetes Educator since 1989, Dr. Ponder served on the NCBDE from 1994-98 and was that organization's chair in 1996. He has dedicated his professional career to the improvement of diabetes-related outcomes through education of patients and health care professionals. His most recent challenge has been in dealing with the epidemic of children with the Metabolic Syndrome and type 2 diabetes across south Texas. Dr. Ponder now sees twice as many new cases of type 2 diabetes compared to type 1 diabetes. Recently, the state of Texas created a school-based screening program for acanthosis nigricans, a physical marker for insulin resistance. The clinical referrals from that program have been nothing short of staggering in their impact and have served as a call to action for the South Texas medical community to develop better public health and individual strategies to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes and its correlation on families impacted by this disease. Through his experience, Dr. Ponder promotes the concept of type 2 diabetes as a family disease, since the majority of families with children to teens with type 2 diabetes also possess numerous other family members, often parents or other first degree relatives, touched by this disease. He will present his perspective of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children as very much a family affair and will make practical suggestions for addressing this truly monumental health problem of the new millennium.
Diane Powers
Diane Powers, BA, IBCLC has been involved with breastfeeding education for 30 years. First as a LaLeche League Leader, then as a Lactation Consultant in private practice, and mostly recently as a full time – hospital and clinic based – lactation consultant. For the last 18 years she has worked with approximately 800 mother/baby pairs a year. Diane has a passion for understanding the “BIG WHYS” in the challenges that are presented in breastfeeding, and a desire to break down those obstacles in a manner that is easily understood whether by new parents or by professionals. Diane has published 5 articles in JHL, has undertaken 2 research projects, and lectures as often has her employer will allow her to leave her day job.
Anita Ramos
Anita has worked for the WIC Program for a total of 19 years. She began her WIC career in 1989 with Austin-Travis County WIC Program where she was a Nutritionist for 3 years. She left the clinic setting and went to work for the State Office where she has been for 16 years. She was a Nutrition monitor for 2 years; the WIC Policy and 800 WIC number section manager for 2 years; and a certification/clinical trainer for 12 years.
Dr. Jose Reyes
Dr. Jose Reyes held professional positions in non-profit program management, treatment development, staff development and diversity integration. He has published in the area of acculturation and has studied extensively the impact of organizational inclusion on positive health outcomes. He is a national trainer and presenter on the topic of health disparities and cultural competence.
Ponna Sambasivan
Ponna Sambasivan, originally from Ottawa, Canada, joined DSHS as a clinical monitor with the Quality Management Branch in February, 1999. Ponna has a Master’s degree in Foods and Nutrition from India and completed the Dietetic Internship in Ottawa, Canada. She worked at the Carlington Community and Health Services in Ottawa until her move to Austin. In this position, she worked on a variety of programs including Prenatal Nutrition, Community Gardens, Collective Kitchens, Diabetic Support Group and provided individual counseling at the clinic. Since December, 2007, Ponna works as a Nutrition Education Consultant in the Nutrition Education Branch of the Nutrition Education/Clinic Services Unit.
Shellie Shores
Bio to come...
Bonnie Spear
Dr. Spear has had over 28 years of experience working in pediatric nutrition. She currently serves as Project Director for an MCHB-funded Leadership Training in Pediatric Nutrition. She was Co-editor for the Bright Futures in Practice: Physical Activity Publication and is lead author on the middle childhood chapter for Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition. She is the co-chairs of the Middle Childhood section of the Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision which was released in December, 2007. She served as chair of the treatment writing group who developed evidence based recommendations for the treatment of childhood obesity which was published in December 2007. Dr. Spear co-chaired the Alabama Obesity Task Force which developed the Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Overweight and Obesity in Alabama.
Jewell Stremler
Jewell Stremler, CLE, is the Peer Counselor Coordinator for the Texas Department of State Health Services. She has over 20 years experience in breastfeeding promotion. Since she started the WIC Peer Counselor Program in 1991, over 3,000 mothers have been trained as breastfeeding peer counselors in Texas. Today approximately 300 peer counselors are working in 64 WIC Local Agencies and 48 hospitals. She is currently developing and piloting the WIC Peer Dad Program.
Mary Van Eck
Mary Van Eck, MS, RD is currently the Texas WIC Nutrition Coordinator and Branch Manager for Nutrition Education at DSHS. She has been with the State Agency WIC Program for 13 years. Before that she worked at Austin Travis County WIC Program, for Kellogg Company and for Wyeth Labs. Mary’s proudest achievements, however, are her 4 perfect children.
June Villarreal
June Villarreal is an Education Coordinator from the Texas Office for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities. She spends 90% of her time presenting to audiences around Texas to help raise awareness on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Prior to working at the Texas Office for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities, June worked at the Health and Human Services Commission for 10 years.
