Neonatal Fundamentals: Infant Nutrition Assessment

Melody Thompson is a clinical nutrition specialist in Pediatric Scientific and Medical Affairs at Abbott. For more than 20 years, she has worked with term and preterm babies to evaluate and recommend neonatal nutrition therapies to help them get the best start in life and achieve healthy growth and development. Her expertise in neonatal nutrition has helped support many innovative products for neonatal intensive care (NICU) units.

Melody joined Abbott in 1997 and has assumed increasing roles of responsibility as a clinical nutrition expert. Prior to joining Abbott, Melody was the neonatal nutritionist for 20 years in NICUs at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She continues as a clinical consultant there. She is also a Clinical Instructor in the Medical Dietetics Division of the School of Allied Medical Professions at The Ohio State University. She is a guest lecturer at SAMP and also in the OSU College of Nursing – for Neonatal and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner students.

As a nutrition expert, she has co-authored and co-edited the seminal neonatal nutrition book, Nutritional Care for High-Risk Newborns (3 editions) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Pocket Guide to Neonatal Nutrition, as well as numerous papers and book chapters. Melody earned a bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Food Science from The University of Kentucky and completed a Dietetic Internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She has a Master of Science degree in Medical Dietetics from The Ohio State University. She is a registered dietitian and a licensed dietitian in the state of Ohio.