Chair
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Vandana Sheth, RD, CDCES, FAND
Vandana Sheth is a nationally recognized and award winning registered dietitian nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist, certified intuitive eating counselor, CEO of a successful nutrition and wellness coaching business, global media spokesperson and author of My Indian Table: Quick & Tasty Vegetarian Recipes. She is passionate about positively impacting people with science based nutrition information that is simple, realistic and flavorful.
As the current National Media spokesperson for ADCES and a former National Media Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, she has done hundreds of media interviews and is a sought after nutrition expert for global TV, print and digital outlets. She is also a medical expert reviewer for US News & World Report and the author of a published cookbook My Indian Table: Quick & Tasty Vegetarian Recipes.
Vandana graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Los Angeles, completed a certificate program in gerontology, certificate program in Food Allergy Management, a certified intuitive eating counselor and is board certified as a diabetes educator. She was honored to receive the 2021 Outstanding Dietitian of the Year Award (California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), 2021 Outstanding Nutrition Entrepreneur Award - Nutrition Entrepreneurs DPG, 2020 Outstanding Diabetes Educator Award (California ADCES), and the 2016 Excellence in Private Practice, Business and Communications award by the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. As a dynamic speaker she has presented at FNCE®, CAND Annual meeting, CA ADCES, FARE conference, local nutrition chapters, dietetic internship roundtables, corporate wellness clients and community events. She serves on the advisory board on Diversity in Dietetics, and the National Arthritis Foundation.
Vandana is originally from Chennai (Madras), India and lives in Southern California with her husband. Vandana can be reached at www.vandanasheth.com and on social media.
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Chair-Elect
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Prabhdeep Sandha, BS, PhD
In her role as an Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Dr. Sandha will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the Department of Nutrition, College of Professional Studies, Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) in Denver, CO. She is passionate about community nutrition, maternal-child nutrition, nutrition policy, and research & statistics. She completed her Ph.D. in Nutrition Policy with Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Applied Statistics at the University of Mississippi. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Punjab Agricultural University, India. In addition to her degrees, Dr. Sandha has held several professional positions related to her field since 2016. These positions include Graduate Instructor at the University of Mississippi; Doctoral Graduate Assistant, Institute of Child Nutrition; Graduate Research Assistant, Office of Food and Nutrition Security; Clinical Dietitian and Nutrition consultant at 1) Satyam Hospital and Shivam IVF center, 2) Apex Hospital, and 3) Twat’cha Skin center and aesthetic clinic, India; Product fortification and developer, Industrial consultants and Laboratories, India. Fun quirk: She loves to go out for a run, loves to cook, dance, paint, and enjoys listening to Punjabi music!
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Past Chair
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Sangeeta Shrivastava, PhD, RDN, FAND
Dr Sangeeta Shrivastava is the owner of insurance based private practice Dr Sangeeta Nutrition and a part time faculty at California State Polytechnic University Pomona, CA. She holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry.
Nutrition and Dietetics are not only her profession but true passion where she visualizes to empower each person about a healthy lifestyle to reduce the burden of health disparities in the community. As a clinical dietitian, she strongly believes that if nutrition is at the forefront of the care, the cost of health care, length of hospital stay, and rate of readmission will be significantly reduced.
Born and raised in India where Ayurvedic Lifestyle was the daily norm of Sangeeta’s grandparents- She feels that integrative approach is the best way when we talk prevention of chronic diseases- where we can blend ancient wisdom with modern medicine to find the root cause and treat health problems in a holistic manner. As an educator she strongly believes-it’s doable to blend the integrative approach in modern medicine/ nutrition. She co-authored a chapter on Ayurveda in the latest text of Integrated and Functional Medicine.
Sangeeta is the winner of the Emerging Dietetic Leader Award in CA in 2018, she also earned AIND: MIG Star Award during FNCE®️ in Washington DC. Sangeeta was named Outstanding Faculty by CPP athletic department based on her student nomination in 2019, Sangeeta is also the recipient of Excellence in community nutrition award from CA Academy in 2022. Sangeeta has co-authored a chapter on Ayurveda in a functional medicine textbook.
She is immediate past chair of IND-MIG and CA coordinator for DIFM DPG. She also served as president of the California Academy- Orange District 2013-2016.
She lives in Southern California with her husband and 2 sons.
Sangeeta can be reached at a.sangeeta.aa@gmail.com, http://drsangeetanutrition.com/
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Treasurer and Secretary
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Mandeep Virk Baker, PhD, MPH, MSC, RD, FAND
Dr. Mandeep K. Virk-Baker has extensive public health research and administration experience and has served high-level state and academic leadership positions. With more than two decades leading work in public health, community nutrition, community outreach, health promotion, and as a public health scientist trained at the Johns Hopkins University, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/ the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Dr. Virk-Baker is deeply passionate about improving public health.
Dr. Virk-Baker is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Oneota and is leading several comprehensive community-based participatory nutrition and healthy eating projects for the local area. Dr. Virk-Baker’s vision for the research program includes using a social-ecological framework to design and implement multi-level nutrition, tobacco, and cancer prevention interventions and to establish a Comprehensive Center for Community Development for eliminating health disparities and promoting health equity. For further details, please visit https://suny.oneonta.edu/people/mandeep-k-virk-baker. As the Secretary & Treasurer for MIG IND, Dr. Virk-Baker is looking forward to contributing to this amazing community of professionals, actively advocating for cultural diversity in the field, and advancing the MIG mission.
Dr. Virk-Baker lives on a family farm in the beautiful foothills of Catskills mountains of Upstate New York with her husband and two kids. In her spare time, she likes to explore the outdoors with her family. She is an excellent “Baker” and enjoys creating new recipes. Dr. Virk-Baker can be reached at Mandeep.virk-baker@oneonta.edu.
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Nominating & Awards/Honors Committee Co-Chair/Nutrition Services Payment Specialist/Policy Advocacy Leader
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Rita Batheja, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND, AFMCP
Rita is the founder, past chair, policy and advocacy leader, Nutrition Service Payment Specialist (NSPS), Nominating Committee, Awards, and Honors committee Co-Chair of the Indians in Nutrition and Dietetics member Interest group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (Formerly Asian Indians in Nutrition and Dietetics – AIND MIG) Nationally and Internationally recognized Rita is Integrative and Functional Medicine Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist in private practice in Baldwin Harbor- Long Island- New York. She is also the fellow of the Academy and serves as the house of delegate (HOD) of NY State Academy to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Passion for profession drives Rita to be a professional volunteer at the District, Affiliate, National organization, and with many community organizations. Rita utilizes mind-body principles and systems biology personalized approach to heal individuals for optimal health. She is the originator of AAPI’s Indian Physicians eBook I, II, and III on “Optimal Health using principles of Functional Medicine and Nutritional Genomics". In 2000 planted the seeds of the book "Indian Foods: AAPI's Guide to Nutrition, Health and Diabetes”. Rita is the recipient of many awards and honors to her credit including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics prestigious Medallion award for her lifelong leadership, Visionary award by Indian American Dietetic Association - (currently known as the IND MIG,) and Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine Practice Group, Excellence in Legislative activity award by Diabetes Practice Group and The NY State Academy, Service award by the Vegetarian Nutrition Practice Group, AAPI President's Special recognition award by Indian Physicians Association in the USA - (AAPI), and awards from several Indian community organizations. Rita is featured in many magazines, print and Indian News media, and professional journals like JAND, Food Service, and many others. Rita is originally from Mandvi- Kutch- Gujarat State. Studied at the MS University in Baroda. Rita can be reached at krbatheja@gmail.com.
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Nominating & Awards/Honors Committee Co-Chair
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Catherine Conway, MS, RDN, CDN, CDE
Cathy works as Chief of Nutritional Services and Diabetes Program at YAI National Institute for people with Disabilities. I work with individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Cathy is recipient of Award of Excellence in Service and Leadership, Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, American Dietetic Association, 2004, Award of Excellence in Service and Leadership, Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, American Dietetic Association, 2010, Award of Excellence in Practice for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Health Dietetic Practice Group, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2015 and Award of Excellence in Service, Asian Indian Member Interest Group, 2018. She is one of the authors for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Updated Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance for Registered Dietitians (Competent, Proficient, and Expert) in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, December 2020. She is the Policy and Advocacy Leader (PAL) for VN DPG and is on the Board of Directors for ANDPAC. Cathy lives in New York City. Cathy says “I am not from India but love everything Indian”. Cathy can be reached at catherineconway@msn.com.
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House of Delegate IND MIG Representative
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Mudita Arora MSc, MS, RDN, LD
Mudita Arora MSc, MS, RDN, LD, is the Past Chair for the IND MIG and past State Media Representative for the Kentucky Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is a native of New Delhi, India, and currently lives in Los Gatos, California. She received a BSc. in Home Science, MSc. in Food Science and Nutrition from India, a second MS Degree in Hospitality & Dietetics Administration from the University of Kentucky as well as a Culinary and Management internship at Penn State University. Mudita worked as a Neurology Dietitian in Augusta, Georgia; Clinical Nutrition Manager at the University of Maryland Medical System and as the Consultant Dietitian for Patient Dining Project and as a Director of Food and Clinical Nutrition Services at the University of Kentucky HealthCare. Currently, she is working as a Clinical Nutrition Manager and subject matter expert (SME) for Healthcare Food Service Systems and Special Projects in San Jose, California. Interesting Fact: She has completed pro bono diabetes management and weight loss consultation for Kentucky guests on famous Dr. Phil’s line of production, TV show ‘Face the Truth’. Mudita can be reached at mudita.arora@gmail.com.
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Communication Co-Chair
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Mariana Leon
Mariana Leon is a bilingual, Hispanic-American. She joined IND MIG in order to gain cultural awareness and experience in leadership roles. She will complete her dietetic internship with California Polytechnic University, Pomona in June of 2022. She is enthusiastic to work in either adult or pediatric clinical care, and the outpatient setting. She believes strongly in the provision of knowledge and education, and aspires to become a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She is passionate and skilled in creating original educational materials aimed to provide creative and reader friendly medical nutrition therapy to patients.
Mariana can be reached at Email: marianaleon.nutrition@gmail.com.
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Communication Co-Chair
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Vikram Kaleka, MSHS
Vikram Kaleka is a soon-to-be RD who recently received his MS in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from Columbia University. He received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Middlebury College, Vermont, where he also completed a minor in Sociology. Helping him complete his Dietetic Internship at Columbia, Vikram was one of the first recipients of the Dietetic Registration Diversity Internship Scholarship. His interest in nutrition stems from a personal health journey that culminated in him losing over 100lbs. As such, Vikram is very interested in novel diet strategies such as intermittent fasting, an area in which he developed his thesis research at the Columbia University Medical Center. Prior to coming to Columbia, Vikram worked with Max Hospital in New Delhi, India. Vikram’s other interests include cultural humility and post activism. His work in cultural humility has been published by the Vegetarian Dietetic Practice Group and in the field of post activism his writing is soon to be published in Multispecies Speculations, a multidisciplinary online”.
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Global Liaison
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Rupal Shah, MSc, CDE, UGC NET Qualified
Rupal graduated and completed her Master's in Foods, Nutrition & Dietetics from Mumbai, India. Rupal is passionate towards providing the most advanced & scientifically proven medical nutrition therapy for weight & disease Management. She is also trained on the use of a low FODMAP diet for IBS by Monash University. Rupal is a winner of Wimpfheimer Guggenheim International Exchange in Nutrition Dietetics & Management Award, FNCE® 2018, Washington DC. She also serves as a Country Representative chair for International Affiliate of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In her free time, Rupal is an avid food, fitness & nature enthusiast. Most often, she can be found at one of her favorite fitness studios, cycling/ trekking unexplored destinations, cooking up a storm in her kitchen or geeking out about the latest nutrition research.
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IDEA Liaison
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Priyanka Sagar, MSc, RDN, LD, CLT
Priyanka Sagar is a native of arid Rajasthan, India, currently home is frigid Minnesota. She has worked as an RDN consultant in Minneapolis for many years and an owner of her private practice, Ginger Spice Health, LLC. Her passion is to educate people in the prevention and management of chronic diseases through lifestyle and nutrition, utilizing Food as Medicine and integrative approach, so they could lead a fulfilling life! To promote healthy nutrition in her community, she has actively volunteered to educate elementary school kids, along with authoring articles to raise nutrition awareness at a local non-profit organization, she's also contributed to health fairs and nutrition seminars for local women’s association. Priyanka holds her master’s degree from Rajasthan, India and internship from Louisville, KY. Fun fact- she also has dietetic internships from AIIMS hospital (New Delhi) and PGI hospital (Chandigarh) along with working experience at Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi. She enjoys travel and spending time with her family back in India when time allows; she loves recreating healthy vegetarian recipes, in fun and colorful ways on her blog called www.gingerspicehealth.com. She can be reached at sagarpriyanka@hotmail.com.
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Networking Committee Co-Chair
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Chandni Sen Sinha, MS, RD
Chandni is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutritional science, graduated from San Jose State University in 2016. Her professional experience spans across multiple domains, including: food regulations, corporate, acute care, senior care, private practice and school food service. She has held dietitian certifications in countries, such as Australia (2010) and India (2005). She is also an active member of nutrition organizations, namely the California Dietetic Association (CDA), San Jose Peninsula District (SJPD) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She completed a well received master’s thesis in oncology nutrition wherein a screening tool was developed and was also awarded a scholarship. Currently, she works as a Regulatory Affairs Lead at the Albertsons Companies. Her role involves using evidence-based literature and research to support the business, industry and product development. She evaluates product characteristics, ingredients and claims to ensure accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements established by the federal and state agencies- FDA, USDA, CDFA and others. She works collaboratively with the cross-functional team members to review and evaluate science and evidenced based literature to validate claims, educate the project team on nutrition claims using current science and evidence-based literature in developing evidence-based scientific information that is clear and customer focused. Previously, she has worked as a Clinical Nutrition Manager at a skilled nursing facility where she oversaw food service operations in planning, directing, controlling, and supervising the functions and personnel to ensure the provision of quality food service and nutritional care. She also provided nutritional screening, assessment of patients for appropriate nutrition interventions in accordance with physicians orders personalized to cultural background, preferences, and religious practices. She also worked at Bon Appetit at Google, overseeing quality control, reviewing and approving recipes and assessing compliance with the core program expectations of the Google Food Program. She is also a gastronomic enthusiast and likes to culturally engage in food tourism activities, such as cooking classes, guided tours to markets and gastronomic centers, food festivals, farm to table activities and visits to local producers.
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Networking Committee Co-Chair
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Sheetal Parikh, MS, BS (Hon.), RDN, LDN
Sheetal Parikh has been very passionate about plant-based nutrition since her childhood. She holds two Bachelor of Science degrees and one master’s degree in dietetics and nutrition. She brings her unique experience and skills in the nutrition world by blending eastern and western cultures with innovative diets. She is specializing in Plant-Based Nutrition, and has been a vegetarian all her life, and promotes vegetarianism and its health benefits. Since 2019 she has been an Author for Vegan/Vegetarian diets for the Nutrition Care Manual for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). She has been involved with setting standards for RD Exam Passing Score Study Task Force and Item Writing Workshop for Commission on Dietetic Registration(CDR). She served in the positions of Advisory Board Committee for Diversity and Inclusion for AND; Florida State Coordinator and Diversity Liaison for Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group. She achieved the feat of being a BSDN Advisory Board Member for Keiser University; the institution from which she graduated and won an award for Outstanding Student of the year 2017 from Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. At present, she works as Lead Regional Dietitian in Clinical and Patient Services for Morrison Healthcare and also Counsels Patients and Clients on the importance and advantage of eating Plant-Based foods for their and the earth’s well-being. She is proficient in creating new plant-based recipes; designing techniques for happy & healthy cooking; preparing appetizing meals for her clients, family, friends, and colleagues. She lives with a motto of “You are what you Eat”.
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Networking Committee Co-Chair
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Suvosree Chatterjee, MSc, RDN, CDN, CDCES
Suvosree serves as Diversity Liaison and Membership Co-Chair for the Connecticut Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and was chosen as a ‘Spotlight Member’ in 2020. She works for the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Passion for people drives her to constantly seek and make new friends. She is actively involved with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its many Dietetic practice groups (DPGs). She is originally from Kolkata (Calcutta), state of West Bengal in India. As a first class student in BSc (Honors) in Food and Nutrition she was awarded National Merit Scholarship from the University of Calcutta. She also graduated with First Class in MSc in Food and Nutrition from the University of Calcutta. Suvosree is a life member of the Indian Dietetic Association and Nutrition Society of India. She worked as a dietitian under the government of India. She went for her RD course work at the Simmons University in Boston, US. She brings versatile experience in the field of Nutrition. Suvosree loves Yoga and Ayurveda and practices a specific dietary habit from India known as ‘Sattvik Diet’. She is a vocalist in Indian Classical music.
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Professional Resources Committee Chair
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Fatheema Begum Subhan, MPhil, PhD, RDN
Dr. Fatheema Subhan is an Assistant Professor at California State Polytechnic University Pomona. She is a Registered Dietitian and received her PhD degree in Nutrition and Metabolism from the University of Alberta, Canada. She is a CIHR Health Impact Fellowship recipient. Her research interest includes development, implementation, and evaluation of community-based nutrition interventions for diabetes management, school-based health promotion programs and maternal and infant nutrition and health. Her work aims to empower individuals and communities to be able to make nutrition education and healthcare support accessible to reduce health-inequities in the ethnic minority communities. Fatheema can be reached via her email fsubhan@cpp.edu.
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Student Committee Chair
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Malina Raluca Badica
Malina Badica currently lives in California and is a senior student at the University of Northern Colorado majoring in Dietetics. She came to the United States in May 2017, from Romania where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Food Engineering at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca in 2009. After moving to the US, she has continued her passion for healthy nutrition, and in the Summer of 2019 started pursuing her second Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics at the UNCO in the Distance Dietetic Program. Her future goals are to graduate in the Fall of 2021, apply for 2022 Spring Match, volunteer as much as possible and gain a vast experience in dietetics. Although she has not chosen her dietetic specialty yet, she is inspired by her 5-year-old son and is inclined toward pediatrics nutrition, as she feels that adequate and proper nutrition is crucial for children’s growth and development. Her work experience in Romania involved managing her company in energy efficient replacement windows for homes both in Romania and Italy, being proficient in Italian. In the US, she has worked for almost two years as an ESL tutor at Fullerton Community College, where she collaborated and guided students with diverse backgrounds. Her journey in adapting to a new culture has been interesting and exciting. Thus, being far away from her home, she feels grateful to be part of IND MIG community, and attain cultural awareness and leadership goals. Malina can be reached at badi4290@bears.unco.edu.
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