About Me

I grew up in Yuma, Arizona, a rural, bi-national, agricultural community. My life experiences here have deepened my desire to serve the underserved, leading me to pursue a career as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. In the future, I plan to work as an RDN in Yuma providing medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education.

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As both an undergraduate and graduate dietetics student, I've had the opportunity to intern and work at the Regional Center for Border Health. I've worked at the Center for Children with Special Needs and Autism where I helped develop resources for parents and participated in activities that would improve food-related behavior and tolerance in children with special needs. I subsequently worked in the OB-GYN Department where I developed a Spanish-English prenatal nutrition handbook and provided MyPlate counseling to patients under an OB-GYN and RDN's supervision.

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During my internship experiences, I particularly felt drawn to women's health and pregnacy-related nutrition. I believe prenatal nutrition is a special area where we can implement interventions that affect two generations at once - the mother and the developing fetus. We have the chance to empower the patients, who are going through physiological changes that they can't control, by educating them about diet and lifestyle changes they can make to have a beneficial impact on themselves and their babies - and potentially, through epigenetic changes, can even impact the reproductive cells in the fetus, which could benefit a third generation.

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My other interest is in culinary dietetics, teaching patients how to use food to promote and support health across cultures, life stages, and wellness states. We all have to eat and it's vital that we inclusively teach people the tools and information about how to use their food for health.

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I firmly believe that education is the key to reducing health disparities. In my job as a Health Educator at the Regional Center for Border Health, I have enthusiastically worked to develop nutrition and wellness programs and curriculum at the newly formed Institute of Nutrition. I use a multi-modal approach to education. My passion is to improve the health literacy of the Yuma border region and serve my community through the delivery of medical nutrition therapy and health education.