Beyond the Ramp: Building an Accessibility Culture for Clinicians & Students with Disabilities

Dr. Baxter completed a BS and Coordinated Program (Texas Christian University), MS and PhD (Texas Woman’s University), and Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Medical College of Georgia). She was Principal Investigator on NIH competitive research grants primarily about children’s dietary recall accuracy. She has 98 peer-reviewed publications and 5 chapters. She has presented many posters at FNCE, sessions at FNCE, and webinars. She resigned her Research Professor position in late 2016 due to an acquired disability. Her past/present service includes the Academy (Disabilities in Nutrition and Dietetics MIG [Co-founder and Chair], COGA MIG [Treasurer, Membership Chair], NOBIDAN [Mentor], Research DPG [Treasurer, Diversity Liaison, Mentor], EAL Adult Weight Management Workgroup, 2022 Farm Bill Task Force, 2022 Strategic Advancement Group for Diversity and Inclusion, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Board of Editors 2007–2022, Diversity Leaders Program 2017–2019 cohort); Foundation (Second Century Philanthropy Council, Scholarship Committee); and South Carolina affiliate (President, Foundation Liaison, IDEA Liaison). Her honors include the 2012 South Carolina Outstanding Dietitian of the Year, 2016 Research DPG First Author Publication Award, and 2017 Monsen Award for Outstanding Research Literature.

Alena Morales is a Registered Dietitian with a background in clinical nutrition and disability access labor. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Nutritional Sciences and Disability Studies programs, she has spent the last five years exploring the critical relationship between nutrition and disability as a sociocultural identity in research, professional, and advocacy spheres. Currently she serves as a Clinical Dietitian for Palomar Health in San Diego. Prior to this, she helped conduct qualitative research at UCSF that analyzed the impact of food access programs for people with disabilities. She also worked in Disability Access and Compliance for the University of California, where she created access policy and wellness programs for disabled affiliates and opened one of the first disability cultural centers in the country. Her current disability advocacy projects are focused within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Disabilities in Nutrition and Dietetics MIG.