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Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
VIRGINIA A. STALLINGS, M.D. (chair), Chief, Nutrition Section, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition and Deputy Director of the Stokes Institute, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Professor of Pediatrics, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Stallings, a member of the Food and Nutrition Board, has expertise in both pediatrics and nutrition science. Dr. Stallings holds a B.S. in Nutrition and Foods from Auburn University, an M.S. in Human Nutrition and Biochemistry from Cornell University, and an M.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Dr. Stallings has also served as the chairperson for the Food and Nutrition Board’s Committee on Nutrition Services for Medicare Beneficiaries.
TOM BARANOWSKI, PH.D., is Professor of Behavioral Nutrition, Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Baranowski earned a B.A. in politics from Princeton University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Kansas. Dr. Baranowski’s research interests are in dietary assessment procedures, intervention activities with interactive multimedia, and using the Internet to encourage dietary and physical activity behavior change.
RONETTE BRIEFEL, DR.P.H., R.D., is Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. She earned a B.S. in Nutrition from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health Administration and a Dr.P.H. in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public
Health. Dr. Briefel’s research interests include national nutrition policy, survey research on the dietary, food security, nutritional, and health status of the U.S. population, and dietary intake methodology. She has analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data on the dietary intake and nutritional status of low-income populations, including pregnant women and children participating in WIC. Dr. Briefel is a member of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and the American Public Health Association.
YVONNE BRONNER, SC.D., R.D., L.D., is Professor and the Director of the M.P.H./Dr.P.H. Program at Morgan State University. Dr. Bronner earned a B.S. from the University of Akron, an M.S.P.H. from Case Western Reserve University, and an Sc.D. in Maternal and Child Health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Bronner’s research interests include the nutrition assessment of school children, including internal and external environment and breastfeeding promotion among African American women, and the epidemiological investigation of African American dietary knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Early in Dr. Bronner’s career, she served as a WIC nutritionist.
LAURA E. CAULFIELD, PH.D., is Associate Professor, Center for Human Nutrition and Division of Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Caulfield earned a B.S. in Human Nutrition from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. in International Nutrition from Cornell University. Dr. Caulfield’s research interests are in areas of maternal and infant nutrition including the role of maternal and fetal nutrition in influencing parturition, labor and delivery consequences for the mother and newborn, and the role of appropriate feeding for the postnatal growth and development of infants and children.
EZRA C. DAVIDSON, JR., M.D., is Associate Dean, Primary Care and Professor (and former chair 1971–96), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. He earned a B.S. from Morehouse College and a M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College. Dr. Davidson has had an active career in research, education and clinical and public services. He was an early contributor to the development of the technology of fetoscopy and fetal blood sampling. His research interests include fetal research and policy, adolescent pregnancy, and biomedical ethics related to reproduction. Dr. Davidson has been a member of the Institute of Medicine since 1991.
THERESA O. SCHOLL, PH.D., M.P.H., is Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Medicine. Dr. Scholl earned a B.A. at Immaculata College, an M.P.H.
in epidemiology and biostatistics from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Temple University. Her research interests include nutrition and gestational weight gain related to pregnancy outcomes and adolescent pregnancy. She is a member of the American College of Epidemiology.
CAROL WEST SUITOR, D.SC., R.D., is a nutrition consultant working out of Northfield, Vermont. Currently, she is assisting the March of Dimes’ Task Force for Nutrition and Optimal Human Development. In recent years, she served as a study director for the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine and as project director for the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. Dr. Suitor holds a B.S. from Cornell University, an M.S. from the University of California at Berkeley, and an Sc.M. and Sc.D. from Harvard School of Public Health. Her doctoral research at the Harvard School of Public Health focused on nutrition screening for low-income pregnant women. She occasionally consults on dietary assessment methods for the Harvard group. Dr. Suitor is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Society for Nutrition Education.
ROBERT WHITAKER, M.D., M.P.H., is Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of General and Community Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Whitaker’s research interests focus on childhood antecedents of adult chronic disease with particular interest in the area of childhood obesity. He earned a B.S. in chemistry at Williams College, an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an M.P.H. from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine.