Conferences & Webinars
Thank you to everyone that attended the conference this year. Our Virtual Exhibit Hall is still open, so check it out and support our sponsors and exhibitors that made the conference possible.
Kristen Brogan, MS, RD
Kristen is the Executive Chef to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and also works as a consulting dietitian for her family’s health and performance company, On Target Living, where she provides speaking engagements and wellness retreats for organizations and business executives. Kristen is the author of Target to Table, Healthy & Delicious Meals One Superfood at a Time and a certified yoga instructor and personal trainer. She teaches a lifestyle that blends mindful eating, mindful moving, and mindful resting to build your whole self. Her dream is to one day have her own cooking show on the Food Network, titled Mindfully Delicious.
Naim Edwards, MS
Naim is a Morehouse Man and earned his Master of Science degree at the University of Michigan. He knew when he finished high school that he wanted to dedicate his life to protecting biodiversity. While serving in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, Naim began to see agriculture as the best sector for healing the planet. Naim now works for Michigan State University Extension developing one of the first urban agriculture centers in the country.
Kristen Firby, RDN
Kristen is a clinical dietitian for Michigan Medicine and a member of the Clinical Practice Group and Food Service Systems Enhancement Committee. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University and completed her internship at the University of Michigan.
Jennifer Ford, MA, RDN
Jennifer serves as an Assistant Professor and Program Director of Grand Valley State University’s Clinical Dietetics Coordinated Graduate Program. She has over 20 years of experience as an RDN and throughout her career has worked in a variety of settings, including leadership roles, inpatient clinical dietetics, outpatient nutrition counseling in bone marrow transplant, hematology, oncology, radiation and chemotherapy, community/wellness, and media/marketing. Her past dietetic experience also consists of working in cardiology, neurology, critical care, medical and surgical intensive care, gastrointestinal, orthopedics, medical-surgical, nephrology, diabetes, women’s health, high-risk obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and bariatrics
Charla Gordon, MA, RD, CDCES, CHWC, CHES
Charla has been working with Tribal communities throughout Michigan for over 30 years. Her teaching and coaching skills have evolved over the years as she watched, listened, and learned from clients, coworkers, and many mentors. She is very excited to discuss community-based nutrition programming and the role of the RD in Tribal communities.
Anja Grommons, MA, RD
Anja earned her bachelor’s degree and completed her dietetic internship and graduate studies at Western Michigan University, where she now works as an instructor within the dietetics program. She works full time as a clinical dietitian at Bronson Methodist Hospital in the Pediatric Sub Specialty Clinic where she provides individualized medical nutrition therapy to pediatric patients with malnutrition, food allergies, and gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, Anja is a staff writer for VegOut Magazine, an all-vegan food and lifestyle magazine, and website. She is passionate about plant-based eating patterns and has expertise in vegetarian nutrition throughout the lifespan.
Randalynn Hajek, MPH, RDN
Randalynn is a faculty member at Grand Valley State University for the Clinical Dietetics and Applied Food and Nutrition programs. Previously, she worked as a clinical dietitian in a variety of settings, but primary oncology from 2010-2020. Randalynn has a passion for public health and enjoys yoga and snuggling her two rescue pups.
Lisa Laughman, LMSW, ACSW
Lisa is a licensed clinical social worker who received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Eastern Michigan University and a master’s degree in social work from Michigan State University. Lisa has worked in the areas of addictions counseling, foster care, and employee assistance counseling, and has served Michigan State University as an employee assistance counselor since 2003, and as an emotional wellness consultant since 2005.
Wanda D. Lipscomb, PhD
Dr. Lipscomb is the Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry and has served in several other administrative roles at the college including Associate Chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry, and Director of Admissions. Dr. Lipscomb is the Director of the Advanced Baccalaureate Learning Experience (ABLE) Program, a conditional admissions post-baccalaureate program established in 1986. The ABLE Program has provided the educational pathway for over 300 students from underrepresented minority and disadvantaged backgrounds to enter medical school after successful completion of the program. There are over 250 medical doctors from diverse backgrounds in the health workforce because of this innovative program.
Elizabeth “Libby” MacQuillan, PhD, RDN, CHSE
Dr. MacQuillan earned her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences from Western Michigan University, where she earned high honors for both her research and teaching efforts, receiving the All-University Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Award and the All-University Graduate Research Excellence Award. She is the first RD in the U.S. to earn the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator credential from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She is currently the Program Director of the Applied Food and Nutrition DPD program at GVSU and has worked clinically as both a dietitian and a lactation consultant. Her research interests include spatial analysis of nutrition-related health outcomes, maternal-infant nutrition, and pedagogical advancements in the clinical education of RDs, such as the use of simulation, and her work has been published in several prestigious journals and presented at several national meetings.
Bethany Muma, PharmD
Dr. Muma completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Butler University in Indianapolis and went on to complete her residency training at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Bethany is a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist and currently works for Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo. In her role, she specializes in chronic disease state management, predominantly working with patients with type 2 diabetes.
Takara Page, MS, RDN
Takara is a Professor at Grand Valley State University. Previously she managed a large hospital system in Southwest Michigan and specialized in nutrition support and malnutrition.
Amber Pearson, PhD
Dr. Pearson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Michigan State University. She is a health geographer with a focus on social justice and understanding the unexpected tenacity, adaptability, and resilience of the underprivileged. Her research relates to aspects of the built, physical, and social environment that bolster health in the face of adversity.
W. Saige Richardson, PT, CLT-LANA
W. Saige has been in the Physical Therapy profession for over 30 years. Since 2008, she has specialized in the treatment of patients with pelvic floor dysfunction(s). Saige is an adjunct instructor with Herman and Wallace providing continuing education while also treating a full-time caseload consisting of a variety of patients as the Clinic Director for Team Rehabilitation in Lansing.
Sarah Smith, MS, RD
Sarah is an outpatient dietitian at Sparrow Health Systems in Lansing. She counsels clients in regards to their nutritional issues and needs, teaches numerous classes in the demonstration kitchen, teaches lecture classes to patients about cardiac nutrition and pulmonary nutrition, and is the clinical dietitian for Sparrow Homecare.
Check back later for more MiAND webinars!
Do you need CPE? Purchase our Recorded Webinars!
Did you miss our 2020 Friday Forums or Spring Conference webinars? Now is your chance to purchase our previously recorded webinars to watch from the comfort of your home, at a great price! For MiAND members, it’s less than $12/CPEU if you purchase the packages!