Food As Medicine 2022, Speakers

Erin Pellegrin is Unite for HER’s Director of Culinary Nutrition. As part of their team of dietitians, she shares the nutrition mission and philosophy by providing counseling services, guidance about healthy eating and grocery shopping, cooking classes, and online content for women and men diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancers.  

Prior to joining Unite for HER, she worked as a clinical dietitian in Philadelphia in the inpatient and outpatient oncology settings. She received her nutrition degree from LaSalle University in Philadelphia and has a BA in Communication/Journalism from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

Elizabeth is the Manager for Culinary Medicine at Spectrum Health, part of the broader Lifestyle Medicine Practice. Elizabeth oversees the programming for a variety of audiences from the underserved population, medical residents, patients, corporate employees, and community members.  She is a speaker at various corporate and community events and if you tune in at the right time, you might catch her on TV, demonstrating how to make mouthwatering dishes. 

Elizabeth has a passion for teaching people ways to cook dishes that are healthful, affordable, beautiful, and delicious.  She has traveled the world and brings those unique flavors back to Michigan.  

Nebeyou Abebe is the senior vice president of social determinants of health (SDoH) for Highmark Health, a $21 billion national, blended health organization that includes one of America’s largest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers and a growing regional hospital and physician network. Based in Pittsburgh, Pa., Highmark Health’s 37,000 employees serve millions of customers nationwide through the nonprofit organization’s affiliated businesses including Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Insurance Group, United Concordia Dental, HM Health Solutions, and Helion. In his role at Highmark Health, Mr. Abebe leads an SDoH team that spans the enterprise and forges close ties with the communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York, uncovering non-clinical opportunities to improve the health and well-being of members and the region at large. 

Catherine Macpherson is a Registered Dietitian and serves as the Senior VP of Healthcare Strategy and Chief Nutrition Officer for Mom’s Meals, where she leads product, partnerships, pilots, and policy work for the organization.  Catherine served as Vice President of Medication Adherence and Immunizations at Walgreens; led Healthcare Product Strategy at WebMD; managed health and wellness programs for Ceridian, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Institute for Cancer Research, and served on numerous scientific advisory boards.  She earned her Master of Science degree in Nutrition from the University of Minnesota and her BA from the University of Michigan. 

Kurt Hager is a doctoral student studying the effectiveness of nutritional interventions and policies on chronic disease in the US. Kurt previously worked at a Feeding America food bank in Minneapolis, MN in community outreach and led an initiative to integrate nutrition services for low-income patients into Hennepin County Medical Center. During his doctoral studies, Kurt worked at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School on a state-wide project engaging physicians, insurers, legislators, and community-based organizations to expand and scale Food is Medicine services. Kurt has participated in recent Food is Medicine policy initiatives with the Aspen Institute, the Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, and the National Produce Prescription Collaborative.   

As Chief Experience Officer at FarmboxRx, Jenn Kerfoot is the head of Client and Member Experience Operations. In this role, Jenn leads the strategic planning, design, and implementation of initiatives that drive Member Satisfaction & Retention. Additionally, Jenn spearheads the Member Insights function using qualitative and advanced analytic approaches to understand the gaps in care and unmet needs of populations. Jenn has helped companies articulate and achieve success across several aspects of the healthcare space. As a military veteran, Jenn brings leadership and vision to diverse audiences and offers a unique perspective on start-ups and high-growth stage companies. With a passion for organizational mission and values, as well as the unique competitive advantage of establishing a strong culture, Jenn works with all departments to streamline processes and programs that integrate the member experience into every aspect of the business. 

Brent Ling strives to increase quality life years, eliminate disparities, and improve low-income consumers’ experience with the healthcare system throughout the United States. He works to accomplish these goals through the integration of the innovative produce prescription model within healthcare practice as well as advocating for the model with policymakers and healthcare leaders. Mr. Ling is an advocate for health in all policies and a strong supporter of open and accessible government structures — this belief is rooted in over a decade of experience as a social-benefit small business owner, manager, investor, and front-line worker. 

David Maffeo is responsible for the efficient coordination of support services at Boston Medical Center. These services include Food and Nutrition, Environmental Services, Patient Transportation, Laundry, Guest Support Services, Interpreter Services, and the Mailroom. David also oversees a program called “Nourishing our Community” which is a three-pronged approach to addressing Food Insecurity. David also leads the organization’s sustainability efforts as well as plays an active role on the hospital’s emergency management team. 

Cathryn Couch is the founder and CEO for Ceres Community Project, a non-profit based in Sonoma County, California. Ceres provides 200,000+ organic medically tailored meals annually to low-income people struggling because of a health challenges. 

Couch is a founding member of the California Food is Medicine Coalition and sits on the Advisory Board for the national Food is Medicine Coalition. Couch is also on the board for Partnership HealthPlan of California, she is an advisor to the Aspen Institute’s Food & Society initiative and a member of the Food Lab at Google. She also helps lead Hearts of Sonoma County – a collaborative working to reduce heart attacks and strokes; and participates in Marin HEAL and Marin Food Policy Council, and the California Food & Farming Network.   

Originally from Brooklyn, Stephanie achieved her Masters in Urban Planning in 2005 from the University at Buffalo. This led her to take on a leadership role as Executive Director at HOCN in 2007. Through her leadership, HOCN’s ambitious approach to fighting blight and property abandonment in Buffalo has made a real difference in improving whole neighborhoods. Her guidance has expanded HOCN’s work into Buffalo’s Eastside community as project manager and co-developer. These partnerships have given community groups the opportunity to strengthen the trust between residents and prospective developers by providing a platform for the community to have their voices heard, views considered, and needs to be acknowledged. When Stephanie’s not advocating for disenfranchised communities facing housing insecurities, she and her family enjoy being outdoors, doing yoga, and music. 

 Maura Plante believes in the power of food. She founded the charity Living Hungry in 2016 to nourish homeless children in Palm Beach County, FL.  Maura first witnessed nutrition transform hungry students’ lives. Next, she shifted her focus to helping food-insecure diabetics and their families. Grounded in research with Tufts University, Maura designed the Healthy Food Prescription using food as medicine. Now in its 4th year, her clients enjoy drops in HbA1Cs, weight, and increases in health and vitality. Maura leverages 20 years at Fortune 500’s, degrees from Georgetown University and Columbia University in her innovative Food-as-Medicine work. 

Katie is the Director of Whole Person Care at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School. Katie joined the Center in 2014, and currently focuses her work on advancing policies to better enable the US health care system to respond to patients’ health-related social needs. Through these initiatives, she has had the opportunity to collaborate with community-based organizations, state agencies, health care providers, and coalitions to develop strategies to increase access to innovative services, including Food is Medicine interventions. Katie is a co-convener of Food is Medicine Massachusetts and a member of the Massachusetts Bar. 

David M. Eisenberg, MD, is the director of culinary nutrition and adjunct associate professor of nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the founding Co-Director of the Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives conference, and founding Executive Director of the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (www.teachingkitchens.org), a group of 45 organizations with teaching kitchens, intended to establish and evaluate best practices relating to nutrition, culinary, and lifestyle education. As the son and grandson of professional bakers, David aspires to bring together the culinary and medical communities to enhance comprehensive health care for all. 

Diana Johnson is a Program Officer with The Rockefeller Foundation’s global food initiative. She oversees the Food is Medicine portfolio for the US food team. She has more than a decade of experience working in food and health equity, with a focus on urban food systems, chronic disease prevention, participatory governance, and emergency food planning and response. Before joining the Rockefeller Foundation, Diana provided leadership on sustainable food systems and strategy at the City of Toronto. Diana holds a BHSc in Health Science from Western University in Canada and a MA in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Della Miller is the founder and CEO of Community First Communications, advocating, promoting food and health justice and building healthy self-sufficient communities in Buffalo, New York. 

She has extensive hands-on experience, as a Health and Healing Circle facilitator, Reiki Master teacher, culinarian, healthy food cooking classes, strategic planning for commercial kitchen development, and radio co-host of “Growing Health”. 

 Della co-authored academic nutrition publications on nutrition and families.  Her current project is developing emergency food preparedness brochures “Emergency Food Guides”.  She is a member of Buffalo Food Equity Network, Good Food Purchasing Coalition, Buffalo and Erie County Food Policy Council, and a Clean Air Coalition board member.  

She is a graduate of SUNY Empire State College with her B.S. in Community and Human Services/Nutrition and Holistic Health.