Christopher has been a consultant and writer with the Gardner group for nearly four years, helping produce grants and publish manuscripts. He hold an MA in Endocrinology and PhD in Cellular Biology from Indiana University and University of Michigan and with Stanford’s Creative Writing Program. He has worked as a writer both within staff positions at Stanford and a Faculty appointment at Dartmouth Medical School, in industry at Genentech, and in government science positions at NASA and DOE. He was a previous editor for JAMA and Ann int Med and advises academic clients on manuscript and grant writing. He is also an award-winning writer of three novels. A native Californian, Christopher lives in the wilds of Vermont with his wife Maureen.

Antonella Dewell is a Registered Dietitian who has worked at SPRC since January 2007. For 7 years, she was a full-time research study coordinator for Dr. Christopher Gardner, recruiting participants for and running several clinical trials. She then started a part-time private practice, counseling people one-on-one and specialized in the low FODMAP diet for patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She has continued to work with the Nutrition Studies Research Group writing research papers, summarizing data for study participants and helping with various research-related tasks. In her free time, she loves cooking (so much that she took 6 months off to attend culinary school and become a chef), running and dancing Argentine Tango.

Diane joined the Nutrition Studies Group in October of 2013. Prior to working at Stanford University, she received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics at San Jose State University in 2011. Since 2013, she has served on several studies as a diet assessor and research associate for the group until 2019 when she stepped into the role of clinical research coordinator for the RAMP Study. In addition to nutrition, Diane enjoys cooking, the outdoors, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Lindsay is a Registered Dietitian who has been working at Stanford since 2016 as a diet assessor on numerous studies. She received a masters degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. In her free time she enjoys reading, hiking, and traveling with her family.

As a registered dietitian, Elizabeth has spent the last decade in various nutrition-related roles ranging from patient counseling to employee well-being programming to teaching. She appreciates the nourishment and pleasure that food provides. But she is also drawn to the many disciplines that share intersections with food - culture, sustainability, politics, and socioeconomics just to name a few. She joined the Nutrition Studies Group in May 2022 as a health educator.    

Megan joined the Nutrition Studies Group as Communications Director in January 2024. She has over 15 years of experience in communications and has spent her career promoting research, programs, and advocacy efforts all centered around health equity. Prior to her role at Stanford, she led communications at Partnership for a Healthier America where she worked on national food equity campaigns, including the “Pass the Love” campaign with former First Lady Michelle Obama. She is passionate about leveraging storytelling and digital media to foster healthier people and places.

Dalia is a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Diabetes Educator. She has always been interested in both Nutrition research and its application in clinical practice and has worked in both environments. For 14 years she was a clinical dietitian at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation counseling people with diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders and other conditions. She understands the power of diet in disease prevention and treatment and in her current role as a research dietitian she strives to elucidate the use of dietary measures to effectively promote optimal health. Some of the studies Dalia has worked on include the effects of a low carb or low fat diet on weight loss, relationship between dietary intake and adipocyte function, the effect of dietary fibers on the microbiome, and personalizing dietary recommendations for optimal blood sugar control.

Roujheen joined the Nutrition Studies Group in November 2023 as Study Coordinator. Before joining the Nutrition Studies Research Group, Roujheen coordinated a trial with the Stanford Solutions Science Lab, aimed at using brief psychological interventions to improve health outcomes in children with obesity. She developed a passion for nutrition research as an undergraduate studying public health at UC Berkeley.

She has engaged in several research projects studying the impact of the Soda Tax in the Bay Area and soda marketing on college campuses. She has her master's degree in public health nutrition from UC Berkeley, where she studied the correlation between income and healthy eating.

Beyond research, she enjoys experimenting with new recipes and browsing through markets and grocery stores. As a Bahá'í, Roujheen also enjoys participating in activities that bring people together and contribute to making a positive impact in her community.

Darleen recently graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in Neurobiology and a minor in Sociology. During her time at UCSD, she worked in a neuroscience lab investigating how social support influences postpartum anxiety and depression in mice. There, she gained hands-on experience with behavioral testing, brain slicing using a cryostat, neural tissue imaging, and running various assays.

In addition to her research background, Darleen worked as a medical assistant and phlebotomist, where she developed strong communication skills and clinical experience interacting with diverse patient populations.

Outside of work, she enjoys crocheting, spending time at the beach with friends, thrifting for unique finds, and hanging out with her niece.

Erika has been working within the School of Medicine for 8 years in the areas of population health, palliative care and nutrition education. She joins the team as a health educator for the FeFiFo Family and our Maternal-Infant Microbiome studies. Prior to Stanford, Erika earned her Masters in Public Health Nutrition from UC Berkeley, with a focus on equitable food systems and integrating food as medicine in health care. In her personal time, you can find her in the kitchen, exploring in the mountains or curled up with a book and her two black cats.

Andrea is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Prevention Research Center. She completed her doctorate in Nutritional Sciences at University of Florida in partnership with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as an Intramural Research Fellow. Her research focused on effects of dietary and culinary interventions on cardiometabolic and psychological health. Andrea received her Bachelor of Science degrees in Nutrition and in Kinesiology at Texas A&M University. During this time, she worked on multiple nutrition protocols through two fellowships at the NIH Clinical Center and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

To support her interests in integrating dietetics, research, and culinary medicine, she received her culinary training through Rouxbe Cooking School and a restaurant internship. Andrea subsequently completed her dietetic training through The Ohio State University to become a Registered Dietitian.

Outside of the lab, clinic, and kitchen, she loves all kinds of exercise, outdoor activities, food photography, music, podcasts, beach reading, and exploring new places.

Tierra was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she pursued her academic journey at Centenary College of Louisiana and LSU Health Shreveport Medical School, establishing a strong foundation in medicine. After completing her residency at Baylor College of Medicine’s Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, she advanced to a pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at Stanford University in 2023 and is currently a second-year fellow. Concurrently, Tierra is earning a Master of Science in Health Policy to develop the analytical and leadership skills necessary for driving advancements in pediatric healthcare.

Her clinical and research interests center on preventing and treating childhood obesity through evidence-based interventions. She collaborates with Dr. Christopher Gardner and the Stanford Prevention Research Center to explore how maternal diet and microbiome influence early-life obesity risks. By integrating nutrition science, translational research, and health advocacy, she aims to develop practical, scalable strategies that improve long-term health outcomes for children.

She is dedicated to enhancing patient care, advancing clinical research, and shaping policies that support healthier futures for children.

Cate Ward, PhD, RD, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Stanford Prevention Research Center. Cate received her doctoral degree in Metabolic Biology from UC Berkeley, where she characterized metabolic flux changes of the unfolded protein response. She completed her dietetic training at UCSF and continues to see patients through her private nutrition practice. As a fellow, she studies metabolic and microbiome differences across dietary interventions, currently focusing on the FeFiFo-MOMs study.