The minds behind MyDiet™ are world-renowned nutrition experts with extensive experience in the United States and Latin America. Our experts are actively involved in the research and development supporting the MyDiet™ program and they welcome your feedback and questions.
Dr. Lara is an expert in nutrition and public health with more than 30 years of experience in his native Venezuela. An academician and researcher, Dr. Lara has been affiliated with the health sciences department at the University of Carabobo in Venezuela since 1970. He's a former president of the Latin American Society of Nutrition (1991-1993). In 1984, he founded the clinical nutrition research unit at the University of Carabobo, which was named after him. Dr. Lara has received numerous distinctions, including the Gold Medal awarded by the Venezuelan Health Ministry and was secretary of health for the state of Carabobo from 1994 to 1998. Dr. Lara has also worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and Unicef.
He received his Master's in Science from Columbia University in New York City and was the first clinical nutrition student on a scholarship at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Since 1982, Dr. Lara has been an adjunct professor for the University of Miami's international program.
Dirk G. Schroeder, MPH, ScD
Dr. Schroeder, an expert in international health, is a tenured associate professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. Prior to Emory, Schroeder was a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University from 1992 to 1993. From 1989 to 1991 he worked for the Guatemala-based Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama.
Schroeder has worked throughout Latin America for more than a decade, providing technical assistance to the World Health Organization and the PanAmerican Health Organization. He's also worked for the Asian Development Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Washington Business Group on Health.
Schroeder has been awarded many honors and distinctions, including a Future Leader Award (International Life Sciences Institute of North America,1998), Professor of the Year (Rollins School of Public Health, 1997) and a Fulbright Fellowship (Indonesia, 1985-1986).
Schroeder received his Doctor of Science and Master in Public Health degrees from Johns Hopkins University and has a bachelor degree with honors from Stanford University. He is the author of Staying Healthy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, now in its fifth edition; five chapters in other books; 22 articles in peer-reviewed journals; and 15 articles in other publications. He has worked in or traveled to more than 75 countries and is fluent in Spanish.
Dr. Trowbridge is an epidemiologist with extensive experience in managing and evaluating public health nutrition programs. During his 14 years as director of the Division of Nutrition at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Trowbridge was directly involved in the development of CDC guidelines to promote school nutrition and physical activity. He also helped frame CDC recommendations for the prevention and control of iron deficiency.
During his tenure at the CDC, Trowbridge's contributions were recognized with numerous awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. As executive director of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) from 1996 to 1998, he was responsible for developing and managing a variety of research projects addresing key health and nutrition issues among children and adolescents as well as adults and the elderly.
Trowbridge received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University (1964) and his MD from Harvard University (1968). He has an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1973). He did his residency at Mass General Hospital in Boston (1968-71). Trowbridge is board-certified in pediatrics. He is fluent in Spanish.
Nina Nazor, a native from Mexico, is Dietitian and Diabetes Educator with extensive experience in nutrition education and nutritional management of chronic diseases. She has worked for several pharmaceutical companies and is a regular contributor for six Internet portals addressing health and nutrition issues in Mexico. Nazor graduated with honors from the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico.
Helena Pachón is a nutrionist with vast international experience on children's nutrition issues. She graduated with honors from Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1993, with a degree in Biology.
Since 1997, Pachón has been at the international health department at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health coordinating research projects in nutrition, in cooperation with the PanAmerican Health Organization and national public health institutes throughout Latin America.
