MEMBERS LOGIN
MEMBERS LOGIN
MEMBER PROFILES

Meet some of our members and learn about how they are advancing the field of sports nutrition around the globe.

Geetanjali Bhide

India

Karen Keane

Karen Keane

Ireland

original-2F7EC62D-AD3C-4704-B3EB-145DE8E2690F-705x557

Tilly Spurr

England

Floris-480x480

Floris Wardenaar

Amsterdam

Apurva Surve

India

Erick Mosquera

Ecuador

Salah eddine Haddou

Morocco

Lachlan Mitchell

Australia

Isabel Martinez

Philippines

Rachael Thurecht

Australia

Maged Ossama Aly

Egypt

Renata Altamirano

Mexico City

Angela C. Durfour

Canada

Majeedah Belding

Canada

Caitlin Edmonds

Sydney

Sarah Chantler

South Africa

Kinita Kadakia Patel

India

Johanna Ledesma Granados

Colombia

Karen Chia-Lun Lee

Taiwan

Daphne Wu

Hong Kong

Catalina Fernandez

America

PINES is a leading global organization of qualified nutrition and exercise professionals who strive for excellence in sports nutrition in order to achieve optimal support for performance, health and injury prevention for active and athletic individuals worldwide.

Important links

Newsletter

We care about your data in our privacy policy.

Social network

Follow us on our network

Envelope Instagram Facebook X-twitter Linkedin

© 2024 PINES 

DESIGNED BY ICS

Scroll to Top

Geetanjali Bhide

India

PINES members include many trailblazers from around the globe. Here, we introduce you to Dr. Geetanjali Bhide, who is reshaping the landscape of sports nutrition in India! Geetanjali is renowned in her homeland for her unwavering dedication and unmatched expertise in the field. While she exudes calm and composure, her impact on the Indian sports scene is nothing short of profound.

Geetanjali specializes in crafting personalized nutrition journeys for diverse needs, from tackling lifestyle diseases to fuelling the passion of fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and non-athletes. As a mom to a budding gymnast, she understands firsthand the challenges faced by families of athletes, adding a personal touch to her work.

Pioneering Sports Nutrition in India
When sports nutrition was barely a baby step in India, she embarked on her PhD journey, paving the way for its growth across the nation. Geetanjali’s PhD work on ‘Effect of antioxidant supplementation on sports performance of selected Indian athletes’, won her Young Scientist’s Award from the Nutrition Society of India. She has also won the JN Bose Memorial Award in Community Nutrition from the Indian Dietetic Association and the latest RND Sadhana Award at the National Institute of Nutrition for Best Sports Nutritionist 2024.
As the founder nutritionist at the Army Sports Institute, Pune, India, she played a pivotal role in creating the dietary regimens of the nation’s finest athletes. Geetanjali has worked tirelessly alongside experts in the field of sports medicine to establish nutrition protocols for athletes participating in the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and other national and international events.

Nurturing the Next Generation
Alongside her consultancy, she is also a prominent educator, guiding students in dietetics, nutrition, clinical, and sports nutrition at both graduate and postgraduate levels. At the heart of Geetanjali’s endeavours lies the Sports Specific Nutrition Management (SSNM) course, an educational initiative of the Association of Sports, Nutrition and Fitness Sciences (ASNFS). As a secretary of the Association and a course coordinator, she oversees this course to nurture the next generation of sports nutritionists. She is often invited as an expert in sports nutrition for several national and international events.

Lifelong Learner & Author
Despite her work commitments, Geetanjali remains a lifelong learner. She has continuously updated herself with the latest in nutrition by taking up certifications in nutrigenomics, ketogenic diets, functional lab report analysis and Ayurvedic dietetics.
Geetanjali’s contributions aren’t confined to the realm of academia and consultancy; she is also an accomplished author, with her book ‘Nutritional Guidelines for Sportspersons’, serving as a guiding light of wisdom for aspiring nutritionists and athletes alike. More than 1200+ copies of her books have sold to date.
More recently, Geetanjali has embarked on a new venture with the establishment of Dr. Geetanjali Bhide’s Nutrition and Research LLP (DGBNR LLP). Through DGBNR LLP, Geetanjali aims to further her mission of empowering athletes with the knowledge and resources they need to excel in the field of play.

Unwinding & Giving Back
In her downtime, Geetanjali unwinds as a fitness enthusiast, practicing yoga and dedicates her time to her other passions like volunteering as a translator to a school program, Vidya Vahini and engaging in Indian classical music practice.
What truly sets Geetanjali apart is her innate humility and quiet confidence. Despite her towering achievements, she remains grounded and approachable. Through her tireless efforts, she continues to pave the way for a brighter, healthier future for athletes and aspiring sports nutritionists across India.

You can reach her at geetanjali.kk@gmail.com and visit her website https://geetanjalibhide.com/

Written by PINES member Mridula Naik.

Karen Keane

Ireland

Dr Karen Keane is a lecturer in public health nutrition and sports science at the Atlantic Technological University, Ireland. Karen is an academic associate on the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr) and a member of the Sport and Exercise Nutrition group at the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI). Karen completed her PhD at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom in 2017. Her doctoral thesis investigated the Polyphenol Pharmacokinetics and Cardiovascular, Cognitive and Exercise Pharmacodynamics following Montmorency Tart Cherry Intake in Humans, the findings of which are published in several recognized nutrition journals, respectively. Since completing her PhD, Karen’s research interests have expanded to include the correlates of eating behaviors in sport and health and the female athlete. Karen continues to collaborate extensively with colleagues across the globe in academia, elite sport, national governing bodies and industry.

Alongside academia, Karen works as a performance nutritionist creating and developing resources and workshops whilst adopting a food first approach to help promote healthy eating and optimise sport performance amongst athletes. Karen previously worked with Sunderland academy for several years before moving back to Ireland in 2020. At present, most of her applied work is within the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), which is Ireland’s largest sporting organization.

Tilly Spurr

England

What you do as a sports nutrition entrepreneur?

I have a split role working as a senior lecturer in applied sports nutrition and as a practitioner in elite sports. The security of a consistent role at a university has allowed me to build a strong network of contacts across sports and the luxury to read or take part in research. I also have great access to labs and technology that I may not have if working totally on my own.

The majority of my work and research is in team sports performance. I enjoy working as part of a multi-disciplinary team using nutrition to support the work of coaches and other sports science staff. I feel being fully embedded into a team allows for a much better connection with everyone and greater buy-in from athletes working on specific goals. Although I have regularly worked in football (soccer) and field hockey, I predominantly work in basketball and cricket. I am also part of the Akolyte group working in esports.

As well as having contracted roles with England Basketball and Sussex Cricket, I have my own consultancy company, ‘Eat Yourself Brilliant’. Originally focusing on the education of good nutrition and the development of resilience in talented young athletes, the company now has a wide range of clients from across sports, the education sector and business. I am also a director of Cast Iron Coffee Roasters, a speciality coffee company founded with my husband Guy.

Some of your biggest challenges

Timetabling is my biggest challenge. Working for several organisations can mean that they all want things in the same week or even on the same day. I write a lot of lists and have a meticulous online filing system to try and keep track of everything I am doing and have done.

The challenge that I am most often asked about by newly qualified students is the uncertainty over what to charge for different services. I have no magic formula for this, though I am getting better at it. I believe that most people will do some work for no fee while they build up a reputation, but you do not want to make a habit of this as it undervalues the service that you offer. Knowing how long different tasks will take you is the key, then choosing an hourly rate you are happy with.

Some of your biggest rewards

Working with young athletes and being part of their journey is rewarding. Recently, I was approached at an event by an athlete’s parents, whom I had supported ten years ago. It was amazing to find out that they credited some of his subsequent success to the knowledge he gained then.

Words of wisdom to newbies.

My main advice would be to know yourself and what you enjoy. Nutrition is a massive field with many fantastic roles you can have. Nutrition support within professional sports can mean long hours, evenings, and weekends, but if you can find a role you love, within a sport you love, it is incredibly rewarding.

Floris-480x480
17
18
19
16
20

Floris Wardenaar

Amsterdam

Daan Hoogervorst is an independent (sports) nutrition scientist and high-performance physiotherapist with a Master’s degree in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. He specializes in working with high-performance athletes, particularly in the sports of cycling and kickboxing. Previously, he has served as a nutrition expert and head of nutrition for several professional cycling teams such as the UCI WorldTour team Qhubeka/NextHash and team Ribble-Weldtite Pro Cycling.

Daan Hoogervorst is also well-known for his contributions to various magazines and newspapers, including Women’s Health. Additionally, he has authored guidelines for nutritional advice and dietary treatment for sports and heavy physical activity for the Dutch Sports Dietetics Association (NVD).

At the moment, Daan is providing a lot of 1:1 treatment and coaching and he is responsible for the health and lifestyle program of Musical Master (Dutch musical talents). Furthermore, Daan loves to share knowledge with health professionals by giving webinars and lectures, translating science into practice. Daan is currently the Treasurer of PINES.

Daan Hoogervorst was born on the 15th of May 1995 in a small town near Leiden, The Netherlands. While studying physiotherapy, his interest in nutrition grew and led to completing a minor in sports nutrition at HAN University of Applied Sciences. After completing the minor, Daan joined the team of sports and exercise nutrition at HAN University of Applied Sciences and started collaborating in the field of research under the supervision of Floris Wardenaar. Daan has a special interest in gastrointestinal complaints, dietary and ergogenic supplements (as well as third-party testing), and exercise-related nutrition. Furthermore, Daan has completed his Master of Science in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation with special attention to the holistic approach to the human body. In his free time, Daan enjoys being in nature, especially at the beach. To stay in shape, Daan can be found on a racing bike regularly.

Apurva Surve

India

Apurva is a consulting sports nutritionist from India. She graduated from  Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thakersay Women’s University in India with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition. She is also a former national-level athlete and an International Judge in the ancient Indian sport of Mallakhamb. Because of her passion for sports & aptitude for science, she decided to pursue a career in sports nutrition.

Apurva began advising athletes on nutrition in her spare time after completing a Master’s degree in nutrition and working full-time. There were and still are many misconceptions about sports nutrition in India. Athletes, coaches, and parents are now confronted with two major issues: a lack of awareness of, and access to, appropriate nutrition information. With this in mind, she approached a number of coaches and sports organisations and led a number of nutrition workshops for coaches, athletes, and parents. She has over a decade of experience assisting fitness enthusiasts and athletes in achieving nutrition and performance goals. She has done product testing, recipe development, content writing, and health and nutrition workshops, in addition to counselling athletes from sports such as Mallakhamb, Cricket, Swimming, Long Distance Running, Gymnastics, Kabaddi, Badminton, Tennis, Football, Karate, and Boxing.

Apurva has worked as a nutrition advisor in various Indian sports academies, fitness centres, and corporate offices, and has spoken at various national and international conferences held in India. She was appointed Assistant Professor at a Mumbai undergraduate nutrition and dietetics programme. She is currently a visiting lecturer for nutrition and sports nutrition topics at various Mumbai universities and academies.

PINES Role:

Apurva has been a PINES professional member since November 2020. She received the 2022 PINES IOC sports nutrition scholarship for the second year of the IOC Sports Nutrition Diploma. She recently accepted the role of Executive Officer at PINES and now assists with administrative duties for the smooth operation of PINES as well as the delivery of special projects.

Erick Mosquera

Coordinator

Erick was born in Ecuador where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. Later, Erick earned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Nutrition Diploma and a Sports Nutrition master’s degree from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). He is a Level 2 ISAK Anthropometrist and a UK anti-doping sports advisor. Currently, he works with athletes from the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and LJMU in the high-performance program under the supervision of Dr Carl Langan-Evans. As a master’s student, Erick assisted in multiple research projects related to areas such as energy availability, substrate utilization, and body composition.

From his undergraduate degree years, Erick gained experience in the development of educational programs aimed at different age groups. In addition, Erick was a nutrition and dietetic intern at primary and secondary care hospitals. The experiences in the clinical area prompted him to develop as a sports nutritionist that aimed to help people prevent nontransmissible chronic diseases through nutrition and exercise. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Erick continued his education process with online courses and international conferences. Later, he began to study the IOC Sports Nutrition Diploma, which motivated him to venture to study for a postgraduate degree at LJMU.

His first work experience in sports nutrition was with CrossFit athletes. Over two years his commitment and dedication led Erick to work with various athletes from all over Ecuador. Furthermore, his learnings from his undergraduate years allowed him to create online nutrition courses for CrossFit athletes. In search of expanding his horizons of knowledge, Erick began to work with athletes from other disciplines such as soccer, cycling, triathlon, and mountaineering. Finally, when Erick arrived in Liverpool, he became part of a multidisciplinary team in the high-performance centre of LJMU.

Erick’s long-term goal is to develop the Ecuadorian Sports and Nutrition Institute for the development of athletes and sports-related practitioners. Furthermore, Erick aims to promote the willingness of new generations to develop sports-related research in Ecuador. Therefore, he is improving his skills as a researcher with the help of multiple mentors such as Dr Floris Wardenaar, Dr Jose Areta, Prof. Neil Chester, and Dr Carl Langan-Evans.

PINES Role

In 2021 Erick joined PINES as a sign of gratitude after obtaining a scholarship for the second year of the IOC Sports Nutrition Diploma. First, he joined PINES as a member and afterwards, he applied for the global representative position in Ecuador. As a representative, Erick translated to Spanish the South-African and Swedish food fact sheets. He also created the Ecuadorian food fact sheet, and now he is a member of the PINES Europe team alongside  Nidia Rodriguez, Sarah Chantler, and Renata Altamirano.

Salah eddine Haddou

Morocco

Dr Salah eddine Haddou is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Nutritionist from Morocco. His passion for sports in general and football, in particular led him to join Hassania Union Sports Club of Agadir in June 2017 where he implemented the first Sports Nutrition and Dietetics unit in professional Moroccan football. He is known for promoting a food first approach in facing nutritional challenges such as dehydration, fuelling, recovery, and special monitoring during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslim players.

Dr Salah eddine Haddou has an experience of more than 20 years as a pharmacist, and he recently completed the IOC Program in Drugs in Sports. Thanks to this achievement, he implements science based, doping free supplementation within other strategies to optimize body composition in football players and enhance their performance via changing their individual nutritional behavior.

Recently, Dr Salah eddine Haddou co-founded Nutrisense, a consulting company specialising in sports nutrition providing services for several institutions such as the Moroccan National Olympic Committee, Moroccan Royal Federation of Triathlon, Moroccan Royal Federation of Swimming, and Professional Soccer Clubs such as Wydad of Casablanca, Moghreb de Fez and recently Fath Union Sports of Rabat.

Dr Salah is the PINES global representative for The Kingdom of Morocco

Lachlan Mitchell

Australia

Lachlan is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Accredited Sports Dietitian with a keen interest in peak performance. At present, Lachlan is a lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Australian Catholic University, Australia, where he teaches into the newly launched Masters of Dietetic Practice and the undergraduate Nutrition Science degree.

Lachlan was immersed in sport from a young age, enjoying a variety of team and individual sports,
primarily rugby union. This led Lachlan to study a double degree in exercise and sport science and nutrition and dietetics at the University of Sydney. This resulted in an insatiable appetite for
learning, particularly in the areas of physiology and biochemistry. Upon graduation, he gained experience working as both a dietitian and exercise scientist in a variety of settings throughout
Australia, Ireland, and Canada. Lachlan then went on to complete his PhD at the University of Sydney where his thesis examined the influence of dietary and exercise practices of competitive, drug-free bodybuilders on body composition, physiology, and body image.

Lachlan subsequently took up a postdoctoral fellowship at University College Dublin working in public health nutrition, examining the prevalence of childhood obesity and associated factors throughout the Republic of Ireland. He also worked closely with the UCD Ad Astra elite athlete program, providing dietary guidance to national and international level athletes. More recently, Lachlan began work at Australian Catholic University in Sydney, where his research focus is in the areas of energy expenditure and athlete nutrition knowledge. After years of bumps and bruises on the rugby field, Lachlan also has a research interest in nutrition and injury rehabilitation/tissue
remodelling.

PINES role

Lachlan has been a member of the Communications Committee since December 2019 and a Communication Officer since early 2020. He enjoys using his global network to keep PINES members up to date with cutting edge research taking place throughout the world. Lachlan is excited to be involved in the continued growth of PINES.

Isabel Martinez

Philippines

Isabel Martinez is a nutrition scientist and sports dietitian who specializes in gastrointestinal
issues in endurance and ultra-endurance athletes. Aside from her dietetic credentials both
in the Philippines and USA, she earned her Master of Science inn Kinesiology from the
University of Illinois and holds a Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic
Committee as the program’s scholarship recipient. Isabel is currently a doctoral candidate at
Monash University in Australia investigating management strategies for exercise-associated
gastrointestinal symptoms. She assists in teaching several course units such as exercise
physiology, sports nutrition, and precision and personalised nutrition, and is involved in
various sports nutrition consulting which includes exercise testing services and development
of sports nutrition products. When not in the lab, you will likely find her outside running or
windsurfing down at the bay.

IMG_7613-e1646615832622-1500x1349
50333791_209873233192930_7488077547008163840_n-e1646615632796-1500x1266
Rachael T

Rachael Thurecht

Australia

Rachael is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Sports Dietitian who has a passion for nutrition, teaching and research. Currently, Rachael is a Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia where she teaches into a variety of first and second year courses.

From a young age food, nutrition and playing sport (mostly softball, squash and swimming) were keen interests. During her Bachelor Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours) she developed an interest in how our individual traits and circumstances impacted on our eating behaviours. Her Honours research focused on Australian dietitians’ perceptions of the healthiness of packaged foods. Through this project Rachael realised research was a great way to combine her interests. After graduating, she had the opportunity to pursue these interests through a USC, scholarship supported PhD.

Rachael’s recently completed PhD centered on the development and validation of an Athlete Food Choice Questionnaire that could be utilised with a sporting and culturally diverse group of athletes. Her research sought to translate current knowledge on the multifactorial construct of food choice into a questionnaire for practitioners, researchers and individual athletes to examine the relative influence of various factors on food choice. Through this project Rachael was fortunate to get to collect data at the 2017 Universiade (Taipei, Taiwan) and 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast, Australia).  At these games she was also part of the Nutrition Service Team that provided training and advice to the caterers. Additionally, she helped host the nutrition desk within the athlete’s dining hall, where she assisted athletes with food selection and individual consultations.

Research interests

  • Determinants of food choice in diverse populations, especially athlete eating behaviours
  • Operational definitions and perceptions of the healthiness of foods
  • Development and validity of survey instruments

USC Research Bank – Rachael Thurecht

PINES role

Since August 2018, Rachael has been the Executive Officer for PINES.  However, starting in February she will transition from this position into a new role as a Communication Officer. Rachael enjoys sharing knowledge and experience with the PINES global network of sports nutrition professionals. She looks forward to continuing to contribute to the growth of PINES in her new role.

Rachael-Taipei-2017
Rachael-GC2018

Maged Ossama Aly

Egypt

PhD researcher (Nutrition), IOC Dip (Sports Nutrition), MPH (Nutrition), MBChB

Maged is an Egyptian nutrition physician specialist with a master’s degree in public health (Nutrition), IOC sports nutrition diploma, and currently he is doing his PhD in Nutrition at the High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt.

He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University in 2012. After that, he got his master’s degree in public health, majoring in Nutrition from the High Institute of Public Health, Egypt in 2017. Maged believed that the area of dietary supplements and doping must be tackled, so he assessed the prevalence of dietary supplement use among athletes in Alexandria, Egypt in his master’s thesis. His PhD project then focused on the health education of physical education students who are the future coaches and how can they advise their athletes to get their needs from their food; the “Food First” approach. 

In 2018, he joined the Alex Knee Center team as their Nutrition Specialist. One year later, he volunteered in the Egyptian Special Olympics as one of their medical staff. Currently, he is the Secretary-General of Alexandria Physicians Nutrition Association (APNA), Egyptian Medical Syndicate. He has extensive experience dealing with athletes. 

Maged’s experience ranges beyond sports nutrition to exercise science, research and lecturing. He is a visiting instructor of sports nutrition at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, the University of Sadat City, and the National Nutrition Institute, Egypt. He has also given many free webinars and oral presentations at several nutrition and sports conferences in Cairo, Alexandria, and Upper Egypt, trying to share the knowledge he has gained. 

Maged has plans not only to give lectures but also to construct a training program that can be copied everywhere in Egypt. The goal is to have uniform up-to-date evidence-based training for nutritionists, rather than individual random efforts. He hopes in ten to fifteen years from now the network he is trying to build in Egypt will become fruitful and ensure all sports clubs have access to professional qualified sports nutritionists to provide the athletes with proper information to enhance their performance and support their health.

In 2022, Maged became the PINES representative for Egypt, and he works to extend the Egyptian sports nutrition network and make collaborations with other sports nutrition professionals in the Middle East and Northern Africa regions and the rest of Africa. 

Maged was a former taekwondo and mixed martial arts athlete, and he enjoys cooking and traveling.

Renata Altamirano

Mexico City

Born and raised in Mexico City, Renata is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)in the United States, a Certified Sports Dietitian Nutritionist by the Mexican Sports Nutrition Federation, and a Level 2 ISAK Anthropometrist.  She earned her master’s degree in Sports Nutrition with a focus on Sustainability at the University of Colorado in the United States. As a graduate assistant for Dr. Nanna Mayer, she led various projects integrating sports nutrition into food literacy strategies. Renata did research on body composition and developed educational resources for athletes, coaches, and teachers, for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and for U.S. Figure Skating. 

She gained experience working with college athletes (NCAA Division I athletes) as a Sports Nutrition Fellow at the University of Utah. This role provided invaluable insight into navigating the sports dietitian role within various multi-disciplinary teams. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked along Susie Parker-Simmons as a winter sports dietitian at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee where she collaborated with sports dietitians from other winter sports National Governing Bodies (NGBs) on the elaboration of nutrition education materials. Her favorite tasks were providing team nutrition education with hands-on activities in the Teaching Kitchen to local and visiting athletes and coaches.

Additionally, she deeply enjoyed teaching cooking enrichment classes in Denver Metropolitan area to children ages 3-17; introducing nutrition, geography, history, science, mathematics and team building through entertaining food education. Renata taught basic kitchen skills and recipes from around the world with seasonal foods at private and public schools, summer camps, after-school programs, libraries, private parties and online classes.

Renata relocated to Barcelona, Spain in January 2022. Continues working remotely and in-person with her private practice based in Mexico, United States and now Spain. She is passionate about integrative and hands-on learning experiences with food such as cooking with athletes and getting them to local farmer’s markets to educate about proper fueling for health and performance. An advocate for traditional cooking methods and sustainable food, she is now learning Catalan language and traditional food as she immerses in a new culture.

PINES Role

Renata has been translating sports nutrition research to Spanish speaking dietitians for many years now, previously as a Coordinator of Scientific Diffusion for the Mexican Sports Nutrition Federation since 2015 where she also promoted PINES along Mexican sports dietitians. That year, she joined PINES as student member participating as a volunteer in the ACSM annual meeting PINES session. Later she became professional member. On June 2020 she joined the America Region as a Global representative and as of May 2022, Renata has joined the Europe team as a Coordinator along Nidia Rodriguez, Sarah Chantler, and Erick Mosquera.

Angela C. Durfour

Canada

MEd, RD, CSSD, IOC Dip Sports Nutr, ISAK 2, HPC, PhD Student

Angela Dufour has been working as a high-performance certified (HPC) sport dietitian within the Canadian sport system, including the Sports Institute Atlantic and the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network (COPSIN) for the past 20 years.  Angela has been the Lead Performance Dietitian for the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Team Canada since the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics. She attended the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and she leads a national directive on sport supplement policy, provisions, tracking, and education in Canada with Own the Podium. Angela is also a service provider for Major Games Canada overseeing food and nutrition provisions at all major games.  She has worked with many National Sports; mainly, the Womens National Softball Team leading into Tokyo 2020, Canoe Kayak Canada, Rowing and Karate Nova Scoia and Women’s National Hockey team.

Angela graduated with her Masters in Adult Education and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a Diploma in Sports Nutrition, 2007, is a Level 2 Anthropometrist, certified by the International Society of Anthropometry Kinetics, and has a thorough understanding of body composition assessment. She is currently pursuing her PhD studies in the Higher Degree by Research program at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia in the area of Food Service Pandemic Provisions for Athletes at Major Games, Focusing on Safe, Sustainable and Suitable Food. Angela’s previous extensive work experience in the food service/catering industry has led her to take a keen and unique interest in catering for athletes in major events and connect with her supervisor Fiona Pelly who has considerable research experience in this area of Food Service Sports Nutrition.  Angela’s research is pragmatic in its approach with the aim to develop, implement and evaluate a framework for safe food provision at major sport and competition events during a pandemic and beyond in attempt to answer the following:

  • What are the priorities to meet safe food provision and a safe eating environment at a major games to prevent the spread of communicable disease?
  • How does this inform a practical application of a proposed Food Services Framework/model.
  • How compliant are caterers at a major sporting events to the approach outlined in the framework?
  • What is the opinion of the key stakeholders on the application of the framework from an operational perspective at a major sporting event?

It has been evidenced in previous research of the importance of nutrition and expert involvement in the food provision for major sporting events, but little is known about how prepared caterers feel they are to adapt to new provisions as it relates to pandemic situations.

Angela is also a part-time faculty instructor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax NS where she supervises masters and post graduate human nutrition students in practical research projects through practicums. She is the owner of her private sports nutrition consulting and education practice: Nutrition in Action and Performance Nutrition Academy Ltd.

Angela enjoys cooking, media relations and communications with food commodity groups such as almond board of California, Florida Citrus and California Prunes to name a few. Her personal interests are cycling, running, swimming, paddle boarding and can often be found shooting hoops with her son or in the hockey rink.

Read Angela’s experiences and review of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Fiona Pelly

President

Majeedah Belding, our executive assistant to the communication committee, started her interest in sports nutrition as a recreational athlete wanting to improve her own performance. She has completed over 100 races including 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon, triathlons, adventure races, and obstacle course races.

Her specialization in sports nutrition began during the first year of her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition with Honours degree at Acadia University, in Nova Scotia, Canada. She expressed interest in sports and quickly became involved in the growing partnership between the Acadia school of nutrition and the Acadia Athletics department. This involvement gave her the opportunity to work with several Varsity athletes and teams at Acadia, as well as be invited as a guest speaker for various athletes and athletic groups outside of Acadia University. This opportunity not only deepened her understanding and knowledge of sports nutrition, and also lead to a TedX talk at Bishops University.

Majeedah is also keenly interesting in conducting research. She has presented research posters at two Canadian Nutrition Society Conferences; been a speaker at a Fitness Summit in New Brunswick, Canada; and been involved in several research studies including a published study titled: Three Weeks Daily Intake of Matcha Green Tea Powder Affects Substrate Oxidation during Moderate-Intensity Exercise in Females.

Her desire for further education and specialization has continued and lead to the completion of the International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sports Nutrition.  She is currently enrolled in the Master of Science Sports Nutrition at Stirling University, Scotland investigating the sports nutrition knowledge impacts, if at all, on varsity athletes who have nutrition education integrated into the athletics program. She would also like to pursue a Ph.D. investigating the potential ergogenic effects of the Haskap berry.

Majeedah is a registered dietitian in Canada, who has a private practice called Majeedah Belding Nutrition conducting virtual counselling for sports nutrition, heart health, healthy eating & meal planning, eating on a budget, and plant-based eating.

Majeedah feels extremely lucky to be a part of the PINES community with the wealth of knowledge and experience that is shared by the members.

Role as a PINES Executive Assistant

As an executive assistant for the communications committee, I provide support such as compiling the monthly newsletter which aids PINES to share featured articles, member resources, the latest in nutrition research, as well as sharing professional opportunities.

Caitlin Edmonds

Sydney

Caitlin Edmonds, a member of the PINES Communications Committee, first developed an interest in sports nutrition during her time as a young athlete, fascinated by the role food had to play in elite performance. This led Caitlin down the path of completing a combined degree of a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science, followed by a Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics. Through these studies, Caitlin grasped the absolute necessity for the presence of qualified nutrition professionals within all athletic performance environments.

Caitlin came to join PINES after completing her Masters Research Project at the University of Sydney, under the supervision of the late Associate Professor Helen O’Connor. This project, with the wealth of knowledge shared by her team of experienced supervisors, provided her with exposure to elite sports nutrition around the world and highlighted the enormous benefit of collaboration amongst sports nutrition professionals. This unique exposure to sports nutrition encouraged Caitlin to establish a sports focused career path.

 

Throughout her studies, Caitlin also had further engagement with the sports nutrition field through an internship, which eventuated into her first Dietitian role working with elite and emerging athletes in sports such as soccer and netball. This provided Caitlin with first-hand experience in applying sports nutrition theory into tangible health and performance strategies to support athletes in excelling within their sports. This role also provided invaluable insight into navigating the Dietitian role within a sports multi-disciplinary team.

Caitlin has since expanded her roles within the nutrition industry, continuing to work with athletes within private practice and team sport roles, with a specific focus in the development of younger and emerging athletes. She has also recently commenced work as a casual academic at the University of Sydney, sharing with student Dietitians her learnings in entering and working within the profession. Caitlin is passionate about the importance of knowledge sharing and productive discussion amongst nutrition professionals to continue to strengthen the field and develop as practitioners. For this reason, Caitlin feels incredibly lucky to be a part of PINESand its role in encouraging global communication in the industry.

Role as a PINES Communications Committee Member

As a member of the PINES Communications Committee, I provide social media support in allowing PINES to share commentary on the latest in nutrition research and provide opportunity for connecting nutrition professionals across the globe via social media.

Sarah Chantler

South Africa

Growing up in South Africa, Sarah is acutely aware of the role, power and impact of sport. Sarah’s first step towards working in sports nutrition (MSc Exercise Science, University of Cape Town) coincided with South Africa hosting the Soccer World Cup, and has continued since then. Sarah started to work with athletes while completing her MSc at the practice of Shelly Meltzer and Associates and slowly developed and built on turning the theory into practice. Having both a mentor and collaborating with a team of dietitians was a vital phase for Sarah’s development.

Being based at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa was important for Sarah as it allowed for both exposures to athletes of all sports, sizes and backgrounds, but also to improve her understanding of the multidisciplinary approach towards sport. Sarah has a strong belief in the power of the relationships around an athlete and enjoyed working with other professionals to optimise the holistic management of athletes. A part of Sarah’s work within adolescent rugby was developed and led to her presenting a model for Nutrition Literacy in adolescent athletes at the annual meeting of the South African society of Sports Medicine (SASMA) in 2017. Improving evidence based practice and the relationships within nutrition professionals in South Africa, Sarah was part of the team from the practice to organise a conference for those working in sport across the country in the same year.

In late 2017, Sarah was considered for a funded PhD at the Rugby Research Unit based at Leeds-Beckett University in the United Kingdom, and took the opportunity for both advancing her research profile and for professional development. Her PhD is focused on the impact of rugby based training on the markers of gut permeability and gut damage.

Part of her PhD includes being the lead performance nutritionist for the Yorkshire Rugby Academy and co-ordinating their nutrition education program and athlete management. Other roles now include teaching activities at the university and continuing to promote evidence based practice for all nutrition students.

Role as a PINES Global Representative

As a global representative I aim to promote PINES to other nutrition professionals in my region. I want to continue to help new nutrition professionals to develop networks that will help promote better sports nutrition practice and collaboration across the region.

Working as part of the team of dietitians (Shelly Meltzer and Associates) at the South Africa Rugby U16/17 camps.

Combining mentoring and the stories of players and coaches as part of a nutrition question and answer session to highlight process driven outcomes for the U18 academy players.

Working on practical pitch side strategies with the next generation of players at the Yorkshire Rugby academy.

Post sports nutrition conference in Cape Town – the happy organisers – after the work had been done.  From L to R: Shelly Meltzer, Sarah Chantler, Marie MacGregor, Louise Clamp, Rowena Visagie.

Kinita Kadakia Patel

India

Let me begin by giving you a brief introduction of myself, I am Kinita Kadakia Patel, founder of MEALpyramid. MEALpyramid is a nutrition based consulting center specializing in sports-specific diets with two centers in Mumbai, India.

I hold a graduate (BHSc.) and post-graduate degree (MSc.) in Dietetics with research in Sports Nutrition.

Additionally, I have done certificate and diploma courses with the following groups

·        The Oxford College – London

·        Sports Dietetics Association – Australia

·        International Sports Science Association – USA

I am the global representative for PINES in India. My associations are with many of India’s’ leading schools and sports teams. I work very closely with cricket in India as the Sports Nutritionist for the Mumbai Indians team of the Indian Premier League, National Cricket Academy and many individual athletes. I also head the Nutrition Department at the Exercise Science Academy by ACSM in Mumbai and have been a member of the Commonwealth Games Food Planning Committee 2010 that took place in Delhi, India. I was core faculty and organizer for the yearly Summit of ESA-Fit and Nutri-ESA [an evidence based conference associated with ACSM]. I was covered as the sports nutritionist for the Netflix series Cricket Fever.

In addition to various other affiliations, recognitions and awards, I have been awarded as the “Best Nutritionist of the Year 2013”, by Vogue Magazine. I have also most recently written and published a book for Random House on Sports Nutrition titled “The Athlete in You”. 

Besides being a practicing sports nutritionist, I am lecturer, columnist, a fitness enthusiast and a mother. I am marathoner, swimmer and HIIT workout lover.

Finally, to sum it up India is slowly becoming aware and taking the profession of Sports Nutrition more seriously. As a representative of PINES I am thrilled to work closely with global partners in order to broaden the organisation’s reach bring awareness to the sports nutrition profession in this vast country.

Johanna Ledesma Granados

Colombia

Johanna, a PINES representative to South and Central America, started her academic and experience toward sports nutrition when she was an athlete and represented the Colombian volleyball team in international events. This gave her an opportunity to focus on sports nutrition during her study in human nutrition at Javeriana University, Colombia and deepen her knowledge. By the time she was studying in her final year, she had been working with swimmers, tennis and soccer players through an internship. She learned about athlete assessment as part of a wider professional team and developed many professional skills. The wide experience obtained allowed her to apply for a job in sports nutrition in Bogotá. After that, she specialized in sports administration in Colombia and completed a sports nutrition certificate in Spain. Currently, she is a candidate for IOC diploma in Sports Nutrition in 2020.

Johanna has worked for the Colombian Olympic Committee and Sport Ministry for 5 years supporting an interdisciplinary approach and nutritional assessment in Paralympic sports, young athletes and elite athletes. She uses a wide range of nutritional strategies to support athletes including:

  • Meal plan programs
  • Kinanthropometry (Anthropometrist ISAK level 2)
  • Prescription of nutrition supplements
  • Nutrition advice / support for travel (Competition support)
  • Field nutritional testing – for example, assessing sodium concentration in sweat and assessing sweat rate to define hydration protocols 

Johanna has participated within the Colombian medical team at the Paralympic Games in London 2012, South American Games in Bolivia 2018, Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia 2018 and Pan-American Games in Peru 2019. Currently, her aim is to connect sport nutritionists in Colombia to strengthen knowledge and professional experience to be increasingly visible to the world. Because of this, she is a member of PINES seeking to become a “bridge” between Colombian nutritionists and the PINES community around the world.

Role as a PINES Global Representative

As a PINES global representative she has promoted sports nutrition updates and PINES with nutritionists in her country using the web and social networks. Johanna has also contributed to a food factsheet for Colombia (you can see the factsheet here).

 

Karen Chia-Lun Lee

Taiwan

Karen Chia-Lun Lee is an Exercise Physiology and Fitness Training Program Director at the National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU). Karen is a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and Yoga Instructor through the Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) and also is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and European College of Sports Science (ECSS). She completed her Master of Science at the National Taiwan Normal University (2003-2005) and she received her PhD in Exercise Physiology from the National Taiwan Sport University (2005-2008). Areas of research focus on strength and conditioning, sports nutrition of youth and adult athletes, sports performance, functional fitness of older adults, and supporting the athlete-testing and training program. Karen is the author of book chapters translated into Chinese and over 30 scientific papers. Karen now spends most of her time supervising students in the physical education area and consulting to a number of local and national sporting organizations. Her research in sports nutrition and conditioning development has been published in journals including Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Journal of Sports Sciences, European Journal of Applied Physiology, and the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

Memberships: 

2005-present   Taiwan Society of Exercise Physiology and Fitness

2012-present   National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)

2012-present   European College of Sports Science (ECSS)

2004-present   The Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness (SCSEPF)

2008-present   American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

Role as a PINES Global Representative

Karen has been promoting PINES news, activities and scholarship opportunities to members of the Taiwan Society for Sports Nutrition (TSSN) and others interested in nutrition for sport and exercise.

Daphne Wu

Hong Kong

Daphne Wu, our Asia’s Global coordinator, was born in Hong Kong where sports nutrition is only starting to become recognized as a profession. She found her interest in exercise and sports nutrition when she practiced taekwondo at the University of Hong Kong. She noticed that many taekwondo players used improper weight making methods before competition. During her postgraduate study in Dietetics, she had already considered developing her career in sports nutrition. Daphne said “I feel the efficacy of dietary interventions on many diet related diseases are underrated here and these diseases might completely be treated by medication one day in future. The sports world may be the place to better demonstrate the importance of dietary intervention.”

After graduation, Daphne started her work in hospital and medical centres as a dietitian. She then completed her Masters degree in the area of glycaemic index and exercise performance under the supervision of Prof. Stephen Wong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong during her limited spare time. Afterwards, she taught nutrition, exercise and weight management in a school of continuing education while continuing her dietitian work. Daphne provided dietary consultation to apprentice jockeys and monitored their diets. She found that some of these adolescent athletes struggled with their body weight and had certain behaviours of disordered eating and worked with the other professionals to deal with these dietary problems. Daphne wanted to further explore the area of sports nutrition more and thus she took the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Diploma of Sports Nutrition. She was in the first batch of graduates. She still remembers director Ron Maughan mentioning at the graduation ceremony that the IOC course would have more upcoming graduates, but the first batch of graduates only happened once.

 

Prof. Ron Maughan and Dr. Susan Shirreff at the graduation ceremony of the IOC Diploma of Sports Nutrition.

After working for years, Daphne decided to pursue a doctoral degree. She said “It is a hard decision to quit the jobs and then go back to study full time. Besides providing dietary advice to special groups of people with dietary needs, I want to educate more people proactively.” Without giving up her interest in sports nutrition, Daphne turned her research interests towards the glycaemic index and exercise as well as cognitive performance under the supervision of Prof. Craig Williams and Prof. Jo Bowtell at the University of Exeter. She also took time to complete the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Programme during her Ph.D. study and now is an Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy. Daphne said there were many memorable moments and things besides study. The back-to-school period helped her become familiar with British foods and food cultures. She got involved in the London Olympic Games 2012 and has enjoyed meeting her IOC colleagues at scientific conferences.

Daphne is now working in a tertiary institution in China. She is teaching exercise related courses covering nutritional strategies for endurance and weight making exercises, nutrition, and food science. Moreover, she is supervising students regarding dietary intake of collegiate athletes before and after the Summer Universiade (World University Games), nutrition and health, and food security.

Role as a PINES Global coordinator.

As a global coordinator, Daphne wants to deliver more evidence-based nutrition information via PINES to professionals in China working in the fields of exercise and sports nutrition. Accessing information is challenging and build up the critical thinking skills to evaluate the massive amount of information over the internet takes time. She would also like to connect with others in Asia who share common foods and food cultures. PINES is grateful to Daphne for preparing the international food factsheet that will assist athletes and their sports nutritionists as they prepare for travel to China.

 

 

Catalina Fernandez

America

M.A., RD, IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition

Catalina Fernandez, our America’s Global coordinator, started her career in sports nutrition as an athlete; being a former volleyball player for the Costa Rica national team. This had her questioning the impact diet had between other players from big teams that looked and performed different from hers.

She decided to pursue a degree in Human Nutrition in Costa Rica, where no sport nutrition class existed, so her real career started when a professor from the Human Movement School “adopted” her for the thesis project. He helped her obtain a scholarship for a master’s degree in the US and introduced her to international conferences, like the ACSM Annual Meeting, where she met personalities in the field like Louise Burke, who guided her into taking the IOC Diploma.

Employed by the Costa Rica Olympic Committee in 2015, she started developing the Nutrition Department and a sports nutrition culture in general around the different sports, with the philosophy of working side by side with athletes and coaches on the field, bringing science into practice in their daily routines. Her work lead her to be the first sports dietitian to assist Team Costa Rica at the Olympic Games, in Rio 2016.

Being able to show how nutrition and the guidance of a sports dietitian impacts the performance and preparation of elite athletes, nowadays, the Nutrition Department grew to the point of employing two more dietitians, having the chance to expand the attention to more sports and starting some level of specialization. Besides working on the preparation of athletes from sports like boxing, surfing and cycling on their road to Tokyo, other projects being developed right now are:

  • Creating specific nutritional protocols (sport characterization, testing, strategies, etc.) for the Tokyo sports together with the rest of the multidisciplinary team.
  • The publication of a recipe book that includes typical Costa Rican recipes with sport nutrition tips for athletes, with the objective of encouraging them to be more involved in cooking their own food, while they also learn.
  • The use of a brand new educational kitchen recently built in the Olympic Committee, and the development of a cooking workshop program for athletes (using the recipe book)

Role as a PINES Global Representative 

As a global representative I help to promote PINES to other nutrition professionals in my region. I have also just completed an international food factsheet for PINES to assist athletes and their sports nutritionists prepare for travel to Costa Rica.

Member-profile-CF-1-773x1030
Member-profile-CF-2
Member-profile-CF-3
Member-profile-CF-4
MEMBERS LOGIN