Navigating Your Dietetic Career Path: a Panel Discussion

Ainsley M Malone, MS, RD, LD, CNSC, FAND, FASPEN

Clinical Practice Specialist
American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Columbus, OH USA

Ms Malone serves as a Clinical Practice Specialist for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) where she works to support clinical practice activities for the organization. She retired in 2023 from her 40-year career as a nutrition support dietitian within the Mt. Carmel Health System in Columbus where she assisted in the management of patients requiring enteral and parenteral nutrition.

Ainsley is a global and national leader in malnutrition related activities having served as an author of the 2012 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics/ASPEN Malnutrition Consensus Characteristics and the 2018 Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) consensus characteristics. She is currently serving as Co-Lead of the GLIM Implementation and Dissemination working group. Over her longstanding career, Ainsley has served in many nutrition leadership capacities including President of ASPEN 2013-14 and on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics where she currently serves as Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Wesley McWhorter, DRPH, MS, RDN, LD, CSCS

Assistant Professor, Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
The Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living
UTHealth School of Public Health
Houston, TX, USA

Wesley is an Assistant Professor in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of Culinary Nutrition for the Nourish Program at the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. Dr McWhorter is appointed as a faculty member at McGovern Medical School, serves as a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and is an advisory council member for the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative. A professional chef, Dr McWhorter focuses on interprofessional nutrition education through hands-on culinary medicine courses.

Monica Salinas, MS, RD, CDN, CNSC

Clinical Dietitian - Critical Care
Montefiore Medical Center
Adjunct Professor - Nutrition
New York University
New York, NY, USA

Monica is a Registered Dietitian at the Moses Division of Montefiore Medical Center in New York and has been the Nutrition Support Clinician for the past five years. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Wellness from Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico and a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from NYU.

Monica works closely with the Critical Care team. During the COVID 19 pandemic, she helped develop a nutrition therapy protocol that helped dietitians across Montefiore Health System with the nutritional management of patients with COVID 19.

Aside from her job as a critical care dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center, she is an adjunct nutrition professor at NYU.

Jasmine Westbrooks, MS, RD, LD, CDCES

Co-founder
EatWell Exchange Inc.
Raleigh, NC, USA

Jasmine is currently working as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist residing in Raleigh, North Carolina. She believes in a realistic approach to improving nutritional habits for a better quality of life. Her interest in nutrition blossomed from health problems dominating herself and family's life but could have been corrected through preventive diet measures. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition Dietetics from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and her Master’s Degree in Clinical Nutrition from Rosalind Franklin University at Chicago.

Jasmine is the Co-founder of EatWell Exchange Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the primary goal of bridging the gap in health outcomes by guiding communities in making positive lifelong changes while respectfully maintaining their culture. Along with her colleague, Ashley Carter, they provide community outreach and various culturally relevant nutrition programs geared towards preventing chronic diseases. They go out in the community and teach all ages — adjusting their presentations to relate to their culture and making practical changes that are relevant to their needs. They work with communities that are considered food deserts by helping their local gardens gain support which will increase access to healthier foods in those areas. EatWell Exchange partners with nonprofits, businesses, organizations, and schools to reach various low-socioeconomic populations.

Jasmine has a consulting company, Nourish Through Nutrition, teaching about diabetes, mindful eating and making behavioral changes. She emphasizes making changes around lifestyle while also debunking food myths, helping people develop better relationships with their food and making healthier food choices that are sustainable and last a lifetime. As a media dietitian she has been featured on many local and national media outlets such as Today's Dietitian, WFLA Tampa, Philadelphia channel 17, NBC Miami and many more.