Kofi D. Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP

Dr. Essel is a board-certified community pediatrician at Children’s National in Washington, D.C. Dr. Essel serves as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, the Director of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Culinary Medicine Program, the Director of the GWU Community/Urban Health Scholarly Concentration, and the Director of the GWU Clinical Public Health Summit on Obesity. Dr. Essel has dedicated his career to advocacy/research around healthcare training, health disparities, and community engagement, with expertise and national recognition in the areas of addressing obesity stigma, and food insecurity in families. Dr. Essel earned a BS from Emory University with a focus on Human Biology and Anthropology, and earned his Medical Degree and Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology from GWU. He completed pediatric residency and General Academic Pediatric fellowship training at Children’s National Hospital.  

Carrie Stoltzfus, MPH 

Carrie Stoltzfus is the Executive Director of Food & Friends, an organization that provides medically-tailored meals and nutrition counseling to individuals in metropolitan Washington that are living with serious and chronic illnesses. She has been with Food & Friends in various roles since 2003 and has been Executive Director since 2019. She earned her Master of Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she focused on social and behavioral health. Ms. Stoltzfus has lent expertise to numerous local initiatives aimed at improving health and nutrition in the Washington, D.C. area. These include: Fair Food for All DC; the Mayor’s Council on Physical Activity, Heath and Nutrition; the Senior Advisory Coalition’s Nutrition Subcommittee; the Ward 8 Health Council; and the national Food is Medicine Coalition, where she sits on the advisory board.

Kristy McCarron, MPH

Kristy McCarron is the Vice President of Community Health and Wellness at the YMCA of Greater Washington. Ms. McCarron oversees the strategy and operations of the association’s Wellness and Community Health Departments. This includes evidence-based health interventions (such as the Diabetes Prevention Program, SNAP-Ed, Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring, and Nutrition Counseling), clinical integration, and fitness programs. Ms. McCarron is a Mayor-Appointed Council Member of the Washington DC Food Policy Council and Co-Chair of the Council’s Nutrition and Health Working Group. Ms. McCarron has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Certificate in Food Systems and Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Advisor

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP, CCMS
Culinary Medicine Specialist Board
 

Conflicts of Interest

 All speakers have no conflict of interest to declare.

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