With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer two IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded annually, based on applications by candidates from all corners of the world.
SCHOLARSHIPS
IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer a few scholarships for members studying for the 2025 IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition. We are pleased to announce the two PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Hemant and Mukong!
Hemant Mehta
India
Hemant Mehta, a dedicated speed skater and passionate advocate for sports nutrition, earned his B.S. in Medical Nutrition and Dietetics from JNU Medical College and Hospital, where he also completed a comprehensive dietetics internship. Currently, he is pursuing further education in sports medicine through FIFA, combining his expertise in nutrition and medicine to develop holistic approaches that enhance athletic performance and overall health. As an athlete, Mehta has firsthand experience in the critical role of proper nutrition in achieving peak performance. This understanding inspired him to establish HEAM Nutrition Sciences—a platform dedicated to empowering local athletes and individuals to perform at their best while preventing lifestyle-related health issues. Mehta’s ultimate goal is to bridge the gap in access to high-quality nutrition and sports science education. He is committed to ensuring that athletes of all levels have the knowledge and resources necessary to excel. To Mehta, nutrition is not merely an essential component of athletic success; it is the foundation of a healthy, fulfilling life.
Mukong Peter Zhung
Cameroon
Mukong Peter Zhung is the Founder and CEO of Lachofit, a nutrition and fitness app tailored for Africans. With over 5 years of experience as a food and nutrition technologist, he is an Internationally Accredited Certified Sports and Exercise Nutrition Expert and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. As a food engineer and business development manager at Rader Foods, he has been instrumental since 2020. In 2024, he became the Sports Nutritionist for FECASAVATE, enhancing the performance and recovery of Cameroonian athletes in Savate. Mukong holds an MEng in Food Processing Technology and is passionate about developing healthy foods and beverages for sports performance. He is also a creative thinker and personal development coach, advocating for youth development through social media campaigns and webinars through the YALI Network. His accolades include the TOYP award by JCI-Cameroon, and a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Embassy Yaoundé.
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer a few scholarships for members studying for the 2024 IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition.We are pleased to announce the two PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Mariana and Nicolas.
Mariana Leiva Del Vecchio
Costa Rica
I’m Mariana, a 26-year-old Costa Rican. I grew up in a family that cared a lot about staying active and eating healthy, which fueled my own interest in sports. My interest in applying for the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition scholarship arises from the passion I have for learning and working in this area, which has led me to obtain the Diploma of the International Sports Nutrition Course of the Mexican Federation of Sports Nutrition, Level 2 of ISAK, and the Sports Nutrition course of the University of Costa Rica.
I have reaffirmed this in the experience I have had as a volunteer in the sports nutrition area at the Sporting Football Club, a club of first division in Costa Rica, that was created in one of the lowest-income areas of the country, with the mission of offering opportunities for young people to emerge through sport. During my time here, I have had firsthand experience of what it means to bring knowledge and practice of sports nutrition and adapt it to the reality of young people with limited resources to improve their sports performance.
Completing this diploma will be a transformative experience for both me and the sports nutrition community I work with in my home country, and it is especially significant for regions like mine, with fewer resources and educational opportunities, where access to formal high-quality education opportunities in sports nutrition in the country is limited or non-existent and is often a challenge. This diploma program offers a unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge and expertise in sports nutrition, which can be used in various ways to make a positive impact. Therefore, obtaining this diploma will not only enrich my knowledge and help me stay up-to-date with evidence-based information and practices in sports nutrition but will also allow me to act as a bridge between advanced sports nutrition concepts and the communities in my country, where such knowledge is scarce, often finding that athletes, coaches, sports teams, and even dietitians and nutritionists are misinformed about adequate sports nutrition to ensure the health and safety of athletes.
Nicolas Gunn
New Zealand
I am a Registered Nutritionist in New Zealand and a Registered Dietitian in Argentina.
My journey is accompanied by significant certifications, including Sports Nutrition from Sports Nutrition Australia (SNA), a Sports Nutrition Diploma from The Clinical Nutrition Association (Argentina), and ISAK level 2 in Kinanthropometry. Early in my career, I honed my skills in hospital food management in various Argentinean hospitals.
In 2016, I embarked on a new chapter in New Zealand, initially engaging in face-to-face client interactions. The onset of the pandemic in 2020 prompted me to transition to online practice. My global collaborations span NZ, Australia, and Argentina, involving mentorship at the Holistic Performance Institute. I’ve proudly collaborated with esteemed professionals.
Presently, I contribute my expertise as a senior Nutritionist in a bariatric clinic while maintaining my online practice, both independently and with an established and prestigious New Zealand online clinic. I’ve also taken up a lecturing role in sports nutrition at the University where I earned my degree (UNSTA).
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer a few scholarships for members studying for the 2023 IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition. We are pleased to announce the two PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Maya and Maria.
Maya du Plessis
South Africa
As a registered dietitian, my passion for promoting sports nutrition in South Africa and my rapidly growing athlete client base sparked my interest in applying for the IOC diploma in Sports Nutrition. South Africans are extremely passionate about sports, whether we are competing in sports or just cheering on the grandstands. Sport is a shared passion and interest for most South Africans, regardless of their culture, financial status, language or race, and can bring our often divided country together. Whenever any national team plays, our country is united as one, we forget about our financial disparity and cultural differences to come together and support our national team. This is the spirit of Ubuntu (Oneness) that sport creates in South Africa. Although sport is such an important part of our culture there are only a handful of sports dietitians in South Africa. For context; The Springbok Rugby team, our nation’s most celebrated and highest-paid sports team, only started employing a team dietitian for the first time 3 years ago. Principally, this is because many people are still unaware of what dietitians are able to offer them. Furthermore, we currently don’t have any sport nutrition programs available in South Africa.
Maria Vallasciani
United States of America
I am currently a sports and clinical dietitian and nurse, owner of MVNUTRITION. I have worked in the field of nutrition for almost 12 years and in the sports nutrition field for 4 years. I have about 700 athletes under my service. I have discovered so many gaps in nutrition mainly in the areas of pediatric and female athlete nutrition. I take a solid educational approach and I want to teach athletes. I think I am already making a difference in changing the sports nutrition culture but the more I dig into the field, the more complex it gets and the higher the need to be a better professional to meet athletes’ needs. I work with athletes all around the United States, Europe and South America. I attend conferences, webinars, and networking events because I believe education and staying up to date with evidenced base information will make a difference. I support many athletes at no cost cause many immigrants do not have the possibility of affording nutrition support. I am an athlete myself so I understand where they are coming from. I hope to continue to be able to support athletes and their families as well as to spread the word about sports nutrition in the athletic community.
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer a few scholarships for members studying in the 2022 IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition. PINES traditionally offers two two-year scholarships. This year, because two of the award winners students are already enrolled in the IOC program and have already completed one year, PINES is able to split the scholarship between two students with only one year left in the program, as well as one two-year student.We are pleased to announce the three PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Apurva, Jean and Teele.
Apurva Surve
India
I am a former national level athlete in the ancient Indian sport of Mallakhamb. Because of my passion for sports, I majored in nutrition in college. There were no specialised courses in sports nutrition when I was studying nutrition in my country. I only had one semester of Sports Nutrition in my final year of college. I could relate to the subject since I understood how hard I trained and how tough it was to sustain the sports training sessions while still performing at my best. I and my fellow teammates struggled with what to eat and when to eat it, and we occasionally competed on an empty stomach, as do the majority of athletes in our nation today.
In my spare time after finishing my Master’s degree in Nutrition and working full-time, I began counselling athletes on nutrition. In India, there were and still are many misunderstandings regarding sports nutrition. The athletes, coaches, and parents are now dealing with two significant issues: a lack of awareness and a lack of access to appropriate nutrition information.
Jean Paul Perret
Italy
Completing the Diploma would allow me to increase my knowledge and lay a solid scientific foundation for my practice. In Italy, few dieticians have followed a specific study career in the field of sports nutrition and, often, athletes have to turn to inadequately trained professionals. The same happens within national federations. Despite this shortage of professionals, in my country there are no specific university courses or diplomas recognized by the international scientific community. My strong belief is that a sports dietitian should build his career on his ability to read, understand and communicate scientific evidence. That’s why I decided to apply for the IOC Diploma. His program, strictly based on teaching how to research and analyze current and past literature, is, in my opinion, the best way to train classes of professionals capable professionals, eager to always be up to date.
Teele Tiidt
Estonia
I believe that diet is one of the key components in delivering a successful performance and I have always believed it should be taken as an integral part of athlete’s training programme. Top results are achieved by well-planned, science-based strategies developed and carried out in close collaboration with coaches, physiotherapists, doctors, nutritionists, and the service staff. I would also like to argue that the aforementioned perks are, unfortunately, most often present only in developed countries.
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer a few scholarships for members studying in the 2021 IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition. PINES traditionally offers two two-year scholarships. This year, because two of the award winners students are already enrolled in the IOC program and have already completed one year, PINES is able to split the scholarship between two students with only one year left in the program, as well as one two-year student.We are pleased to announce the three PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Thandeka, Erick and Olivia.
Thandeka Portia Nomusa Mhlanga
South Africa
I’m Thandeka Portia Nomusa Mhlanga, a 30 years old African female. I completed my Bachelors degree in 2011 at Medunsa-University of Limpopo, did my community service in 2012 at Matibidi Hospital, and in 2013 I was appointed as a Junior Dietitian at Matikwana Hospital. I worked there until April 2018. Currently, I have been employed since 2018 as Senior Dietitian at Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.
I will complete my Masters’ Degree in Dietetics with the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in May 2021. Obtaining this degree will equip me with skill which will improve the management of and services provided to patients/clients. Within the field of Dietetics, I have special interest in the clinical and academic sectors of the profession and welcome any other opportunity that avails itself to me, I will diligently rise to the task. In my spare time, I offer voluntary services to the Special Olympics (South Africa) organization.
Erick Mosquera
Ecuador
I am Erick Mosquera, and I am a Nutritionist and Dietist graduated from the University of Cuenca in Ecuador. I am certified as a level II anthropometrist from the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK).
During 2020, I initiated the Sports Nutrition Diploma offered by the International Olympic Committee. Currently, I am one of the owners of a CrossFit training center. I also work with Ecuadorian CrossFit athletes to enhance their performance during training sessions and competitions. However, I noticed that most of the athletes of different sports disciplines from my country acquire their sports nutrition knowledge from dubious sources. In this context, I worked the last months in creating sports nutrition courses for athletes and coaches. I strongly believe that as sports nutritionists we need to focus primarily on our communication skills, so coaches and athletes can understand sports nutrition science and follow our practical recommendations.
Olivia Qi Wong
Singapore
I graduated from The Ohio State University with a Medical Dietetics degree in 2018, which exposed me to various areas of dietetics during my supervised practice. Upon graduation, I returned to Singapore and started my first dietetics job as a clinical dietitian. My interest in sports prompted me to pursue the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition while working at the hospital. During the course of pursuing this diploma, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to work at Singapore Sport Institute (SSI). This allows me to reinforce my learning and apply the knowledge from the IOC Sports Nutrition program to real-life situations, while working with national athletes at SSI.
During my free time, I enjoy baking and keeping myself active!
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer two IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition Scholarships for members beginning their studies in 2020. We are pleased to announce the two PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Mercedes Muniz and Kim Abbott.
Mercedes Muniz
Mexico
A 24 year old nutritionist from Mexico City. Mercedes graduated at the top of her class in 2018. Since graduating she has been practicing in one of the leading sports nutrition practices in her country, learning from top mentors.
Mercedes has been passionate about sports since she was a child, and in the past few years has been intensively involved in triathlons and running events. This passion for sports has led her to be more involved in leading practices in sports nutrition and related initiatives, such as co-creating a nutrition-app to help balance healthy lifestyles, and a recipe book for novice athletes.
In the following years, Mercedes hopes to learn more about the best practices in sports nutrition to create more programs that help athletes. In particular, she wants to focus on spreading the knowledge of the importance that an adequate diet has in an athlete’s endurance.
Kim Abbott
New Zealand
Kim is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian and Accredited Sports Dietitian (SDA). She graduated and began work as a clinical dietitian in 2001 and moved into sports nutrition work in 2015. Kim currently works part time as a Performance Nutritionist at High Performance Sport New Zealand in Cambridge, working with Rowing NZ and Triathlon NZ athletes. She also works part time as a Specialist Eating Disorders Dietitian at the Waikato District Health Board. This combination of roles has led Kim to develop a particular interest in RED-S, low energy availability & disordered eating in sport. Kim lives in Raglan, a popular surf spot on the west coast of New Zealand. In her spare time, she enjoys running with her dog on the beach, getting out on the water in her sailboat or kayak, relaxing with a good book or trying new things in the kitchen.
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer two IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition Scholarships for members beginning their studies in 2019. We are pleased to announce the two PINES members who were successful in their application for the Scholarship. Congratulations Isabel Martinez and Hoh Hui Shan.
Isabel Martinez
Philippines
Isabel is a professional dietitian and formally trained in exercise physiology and with world-class experience overseas on nutrition and exercise performance research. Her clear understanding of both nutrition and exercise physiology enables her to translate evidence-based findings into practical and feasible guidelines for high performance sport and providing nutritional support to athletes. Outside her professional goals, her passion for sports nutrition and wellness stems from her adventure-loving spirit. Growing up she picked up various watersports and activities – her first love is windsurfing, later on picked up swimming and running in high school and then got involved in freediving and skimboarding in college. She is truly a wind-water junkie! Her curiosity led to her own experiments on manipulating her diet to optimize performance and support recovery – she often plays around in the kitchen, experiments with low-cost concoctions, explores nutritional hacks and test these out when she’s on the road or out in the water.
Hoh Hui Shan
Malaysia
Shan holds a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Dietetics from International Medical University. She is currently working as a sports dietitian at the National Sports Institute of Malaysia (NSI) with national athletes, specializing in water sports such as sailing, swimming, artistic swimming and diving. She was attached locally and overseas with the National Sailing Team for their training camps and competitions. Shan served as a dietitian to 3 past major multi-sport games i.e. 2018 Asian Games, 2017 Southeast Asian Games and 2017 Para ASEAN Games. She is a certified ISAK Level 1 anthropometrist, certified swimming coach, certified lifesaver, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) Accredited Advisor, and member of PINES, SDA and Malaysian Dietitians’ Association (MDA). Shan was a state swimmer and currently still competing in swimming, open water and aquathlon races. Besides being a sports dietitian, she coaches young swimmers from level of learn-to-swim to competitive swimming. She is inspired to continue to acquire in-depth knowledge on sports nutrition.
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer two IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded annually, based on applications by candidates from all corners of the world. Juliane Heydenreich from Germany and Marta Kozior from Poland were the successful applicants in 2017. We asked both, to share their experience in a short report.
Juliane Heydenreich
Germany
The begin of the year 2017 was quite challenging, since I gave birth to my second child and the first weeks after birth I just was trying to organize my life with full-time motherhood, start of the IOC-course, and part-time PhD. However, I was very happy and satisfied with the first year IOC course since the quality of the lectures was really great and I learned a lot although I had some preliminary knowledge about sport nutrition.
In March I did a presentation about Nutrition for Recovery in Sport which was part of a symposium made for sports physicians. Here, I was able to apply my obtained knowledge and transfer the research into practice. Since also some athletes joined the meeting it was quite interesting to get know their thoughts about the topic as well and to see which problems might occur in real-life.
Marta Kozior
Poland
When I was asked to write the second note to PINES Newsletter about my experience in the last twelve months, I thought that it was a great year! The transition from 2016 to 2017 was smooth and from the beginning of the year I have continued working with athletes from different sport disciplines at University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland, which I find extremely interesting. When the second year of IOC Diploma in Sport and Exercise Nutrition started in February, it was time to think about the topic for the final assignment in September and to plan my preparation for the final exam in November. I completed the IOC Program in December last year. My enjoyable IOC Program experience led me to invest more time in my professional development. I prepared a PhD proposal with the consultation with my supervisors at UL. The proposal was accepted and in the first progression review, after six months, I received very positive feedback. In the next three years, I will be investigating the optimisation of nutrition for athletic training and competition. As an early Christmas gift to myself, I booked flight tickets to Newcastle for the International Sport and Exercise Nutrition Conference in December. Despite flight delays due to the weather conditions, it was wellspent time. I exchanged knowledge, discussed presented topics and networked with researchers and practitioners from around the world. It also was my first opportunity to meet with the IOC Diploma program directors and “virtual classmates” in Newcastle.
We have a chance to meet again in April 2018. This time we will meet in Lausanne in Switzerland for the IOC Diploma gradua
With the generous support of Sportsoracle, PINES is able to offer two IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded annually, based on applications by candidates from all corners of the world. Chai Wen Jin from Malaysia and Liyan Huang from Singapore were the successful applicants in 2016. We asked both, to share their experience in a short report.
Chai Wen Jin
Malaysia
Starting the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition at the same time being a new mother for a two months old infant is a new life challenge to me. The challenge rose to a higher level after my 3 months maternity leave ended, however, I didn’t regret my decision to take the course and I am grateful for the scholarship awarded by PINES.
2016 is the 11th year I have worked as a sports nutritionist at the National Sports Institute of Malaysia. Providing sports nutrition services to our national badminton athletes (including the Rio Olympic 2016 medallists) has been part of my job. I also played the role of guide to the junior sports nutritionists and dietitians under the Sports Nutrition Centre. The first year as an IOC Diploma student enhanced my critical review abilities and allowed me to be better transfer information from literature to practical application.
Liyan Huang
Singapore
2016 has been a hectic and exciting year not just for me but I believe for everyone in the sports scene because of the Rio Olympics! This is also the year I embarked on year-2 of the IOC Diploma Program and having to juggle full time work, part-time studies and full time parenting made every single day zip by in the blink of an eye.
The year started with an assignment on the LCHF (low carbohydrate, high fat) diet and it got me intrigued enough to try the diet on myself. It was a good experience (both the assignment and the diet!) as I got to try a new eating style. Being Asian, cutting out rice and noodles at meals was difficult – both taste wise and logistically. It helped me appreciate the determination of those who adopt such a lifestyle. I modified the diet along the way, increasing the amount of carbohydrate and found a sweet spot to sustain my energy level and yet lose some weight. Changes in my physical appearance caught the attention of my aesthetic sport athletes and suddenly I had many athletes asking me the secret to my weight loss. Of course I could not tell them to go on the LCHF diet, but I made use of the opportunity to educate them on the importance and relevance of carbohydrate periodization. To convince my clients, I learnt that it is easier to walk the talk.
