Meet the Team

Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, is a professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Gupta is an attending clinician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and is the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research.

Ruchi has 19 years of experience as a board-certified pediatrician and health researcher. She completed her undergraduate and medical education at the University of Louisville and her medical residency at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, University of Washington in Seattle. She completed her pediatric health services research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and received her Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Ruchi is world-renowned for her groundbreaking research in food allergy and asthma epidemiology, most notably for her research on the prevalence of pediatric and adult food allergy in the United States. She has contributed to impactful academic research in food allergy prevention, socioeconomic disparities in care and the daily management of these conditions. To reduce the burden of these conditions and improve health equity, she and her team develop, evaluate and disseminate interventions for families and work to inform local, national and international health policy.

Ruchi is the author of "The Food Allergy Experience" and "Food Without Fear," has written and co-authored over 180 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and has had her work featured on television and print media. She shares her research with a global audience of experts and families. And as a physician, food allergy researcher and food allergy mom, her driving passion is to improve the lives of children and their families through discovery, clinical care, outreach and education.

Fun Fact: Ruchi coaches basketball in her free time.

Hometown: Louisville, KY

Reema joined the CFAAR team in April 2023. She has extensive experience as a patient service supervisor and food production and diet supervisor at institutions including Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, DuPage County Jail and Lahey Hospital. She has a vast knowledge of modified diets, allergens and therapeutic diets. Reema received her BS in nutrition from Benedictine University.

Fun Fact: Reema has lived in three countries: India, Australia and the United States. She has run 15 full marathons, 25 half marathons and two ultra-marathons around the world. She has lived in the Chicago area for over 20 years, and her son is currently a junior at Northwestern University.

Hometown: Mumbai, India

Hope joined the CFAAR team as a program assistant in November 2022. Prior to joining CFAAR, she worked in development roles mainly within the nonprofit sector and has experience as a project coordinator for large-scale fundraising initiatives. In addition to development work, she also has experience providing administrative and executive support and assisting with database management.

Hope attended Northern Illinois University with a major in nonprofit and NGO studies, where she studied a diverse range of topics encompassing philanthropy, nonprofit management and community engagement.

Fun Fact: Hope solo traveled through Europe and parts of the Middle East for three months. She also has a pet rabbit named Gizmo, named after Gizmo from the movie "Gremlins."

Hometown: Oak Lawn, IL

David has worked in the non-profit world for more than 20 years. He started at the Make-A-Wish Foundation and has spent much of his career working for HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ organizations. David was introduced to the world of research while working at the Howard Brown Health Center and has since worked as the finance operations manager for the Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research and Evaluation Center (SCHORE) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. 

Fun Fact: A few years ago, David went back to school at DePaul University to focus on non-profit management and art therapy. His goal is to someday open up his own non-profit that houses art therapy programs for children with autism and their families.

Tami has worked as a scientific writer for over 20 years and has served as an editor on over 100 scholarly manuscripts that have appeared in peer-reviewed academic journals. Over the summer, she served as a coach for the CFAAR Summer Scholars to conduct literature reviews, engage in manuscript writing and think like scientists. Tami received an MPH in community health sciences from DePaul University in 2017.

Fun Fact: Tami once read her poetry on the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Stage at the Printers Row Book Fair.

Hometown: Buckley, IL

Lucy has successfully coordinated a number of CFAAR's research projects as co-investigator, including:

• The Medicaid project
• The Peanut Allergy Guidelines Assessment Clinician, Pediatrician, and Parent Surveys project
• Understanding Preferred Precautionary Allergen Labeling Language Among Food Allergy Stakeholders project

Fun Fact: Lucy's home away from home is Croatia.

Hometown: Wauwatosa, WI

Alondra graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign where she studied psychology with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience and molecular cellular biology. Her interest in allergy research stemmed from her own experiences with allergies and learning about the underlying biological process during an allergic reaction. Alondra's research and experience volunteering in hospitals fostered an interest in learning about health disparities that impact the quality of healthcare. She plans to pursue a career in healthcare as a nurse practitioner and hopes to have a positive impact by providing culturally-competent care for her future patients.

Fun Fact: Alondra has two turtles named Michelangelo and Donatello.

Perry is CFAAR's inaugural dissertation fellow for the 2023-2024 year and supports the FORWARD study. Perry began working with the FORWARD team in 2017 as a clinical research coordinator at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He is now in his fifth year of the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Marquette University. Perry researches the psychosocial aspects of managing pediatric chronic illness and identifying factors that influence shared decision-making processes and outcomes. He is also interested in the underlying causes of health disparities and addressing them through community-academic partnerships. Perry previously collaborated with the FORWARD team to explore how caregiver attitudes affect health management behaviors and outcomes. For his dissertation, he will further characterize the shared decision-making process for caregivers of children and adolescents with food allergy.

Fun Fact: If he were a fruit, Perry would be a mango.

Hometown: Toledo, OH

Kyle joined the CFAAR team following a gap year in which he spent nine months traveling solo to nine different countries around the globe. This gap year came after the completion of his undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University, where he majored in environment and sustainability studies and minored in Spanish and anthropology. Kyle has a deep interest in solving issues at the crossroads of class, race and public health. He is thrilled to be a part of the CFAAR team on the FORWARD study where he will have the opportunity to learn more about food allergy broadly and, more specifically, the problems and potential solutions concerning quality of and access to care.

Fun Fact: During his travels abroad, Kyle hiked the entire Camino de Santiago route from the south of France to the west coast of Spain, walking over 550 miles in 36 days.

Hometown: Western Springs, IL

Jessika graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BS in biology, where she helped initiate a Planned Parenthood organization on campus. She derived a passion for health sciences after her own experience in a long-term hospital stay. During that time, she grew to appreciate the many components required to aid someone back to health. Jessika has spent time interning at Claude Mendel Medical Center learning the basic components of research studies, with a focus on gastroenterology. She is excited to join this team where she will continue to learn about research and healthcare pertaining to asthma and food allergy.

Fun Fact: Jessika loves the card game UNO. She has collected 12 variations of the game and counting. 

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Priyanka earned a doctorate in the field of allergy and asthma from King George Medical University, Lucknow, India and completed her Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) postdoctoral fellowship program in the area of food allergy from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, India. Priyanka has great acumen for research and teaching; her expertise includes dietetics, clinical and community nutrition, nutrigenomics, and food allergy related investigations and research. She has delivered guest lectures as an invited speaker at various institutes and colleges and is a life member of the Indian Science Congress, National Dietetic Association and Nutrition Society of India. She is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award from Indian College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology for presenting the best paper and has been working on multiple food allergy related research projects.

Fun Fact: Priyanka likes to travel and explore new horizons.

Hometown: Lucknow, India

Bonita is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) who is passionate about working with children and families to help them obtain optimal nutrition in an environment that supports nurturing relationships. The importance of healthy nutrition is something that she learned firsthand growing up on a farm where whole foods were readily available and family meals were part of the daily routine. This foundation led her to work with children and families, helping children experience whole foods in creative ways, incorporating the importance of a nurturing environment. Bonita received her BS in home economics education and worked for the Vermont Cooperative Extension Service before receiving her master's in adult and occupational education and obtaining her certification as an RDN. She has worked in pediatric nutrition through programs such as early intervention, preschool special education and Head Start, as well as working with children and families in private practice. Recently, she earned a certificate in pediatric food allergy nutrition sponsored by Food Allergy Research and Education.  

Fun Fact: Bonita enjoys going on pilgrimages. So far, these have been in the U.S., with future plans of overseas trips. 

Hometown:Little Falls, MN; lived in New England for several years; currently resides in Ithaca, NY

Joanna works on the iREACH project study, looking to improve physician adherence to the Pediatric Pharmacy Association guidelines regarding the early introduction of peanuts to infants. Previously, Joanna was a rental and office manager and worked in finance and administration. She loves to travel as much as time will allow, and lived in the U.K. before moving to the U.S. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, watching movies and spending time with her family.  

Fun Fact: Joanna enjoyed dancing in a folk group when she was a teenager.

Hometown: Roselle, IL

Ariane is a registered & licensed dietitian, nutrition coach, editor and online course creator with the following credentials:

• MS with a concentration in clinical nutrition from New York University
• BS in nutrition science from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City
• Certificate in weight management from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Diploma in sports nutrition

Fun Fact: Ariane recently discovered her love for gardening. She now has tomatoes, several herbs, guava, lemon and coconuts growing very happily in her backyard.

Mayra is a first-generation college graduate, born and raised in Chicago. Her interest in research stems from contributing to research projects during her undergraduate studies, as well as providing legal-interpretation services for Spanish-speaking communities. Her work addresses contemporary health and political topics including disparities in adolescent health, homelessness and immigration policy. Through this bilingual role, Mayra aspires to be a resource for impacted communities and is excited to continue learning more about food allergy and asthma.

Fun Fact: Mayra has studied abroad in Ecuador and South Korea.

Hometown: Chicago, IL

John has a PhD in environmental health from Indiana University-Bloomington, focusing on investigative toxicology. His interest in food allergy started during his undergraduate studies, working as a research assistant in an immunology laboratory studying food allergy sensitization. John went on to obtain an MS in nutrition science before pursuing his doctorate. John is excited to evaluate the impact of environmental contaminants on food allergy, asthma and other atopic diseases.

Fun Fact: John spends much of his free time coaching his sons’ soccer and basketball teams. 

Hometown: Cary, IL

Gail spent several years as a field interviewer on federal research studies that measured the impact of social service programs. She has traveled to communities across the country observing and collecting data in schools and private homes, engaging with people who are seeking solutions to their challenges. In her free time, she enjoys frisbee and cycling.

Fun Fact: Gail loves baking and is learning to decorate cookies. 

Hometown: Streamwood, IL

Ximena graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in molecular and cellular biology and political science with a citizen politics concentration. As an undergraduate, she volunteered at free health clinics and hospitals, where she grew her passion for increasing accessibility to healthcare, breaking language barriers and decreasing health disparities. Ximena developed an interest in allergy and asthma research while working in the pediatrics department as part of the Northwestern Medicine pre-med internship and hopes to attend medical school in the future.

Fun Fact: Ximena enjoys film photography in her free time.

Hometown: Cicero, IL

Hannah received a BS in animal science with a minor in environmental studies from Iowa State University and has since been an administrative professional in fields such as investment banking and veterinary health. Hannah has also served in AmeriCorps. She is excited to assist the team and learn more about food allergy and asthma research.

Fun Fact: In her free time, Hannah enjoys yoga, running, making ice cream, and spending time with her beloved cocker spaniel.

Hometown: Lake Zurich, IL

Brenda has worked in research at Northwestern since 2013 with a focus on studies involving patients with Type 2 diabetes, lupus, kidney transplant and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, she has collaborated with communities and health centers on the west, south and north of Chicago. Brenda's biggest interest in research is strategic recruitment. She enjoys making research easy to understand for all. In her free time, she can be found cycling, bike touring, running, hiking and watching movies. 

Fun Fact: Brenda rode her bike along the entire coast of California and has been vegan since 2006.

Natalie studied biology at James Madison University and earned her master’s in nursing from DePaul University. Natalie worked in the NICU at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for six years before joining Sai Nimmagadda, MD, in the allergy world in 2020. Natalie also works part-time for Bumblebaby, a company that supports new parents through feeding, sleeping, safety and mental health consulting. She lives in Libertyville with her husband and three boys. They love to travel and spend as much time outdoors as possible. 

Hometown: Greenville, DE 

Frances is a a third-year medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is interested in specializing in pediatrics. Frances attended Northwestern for undergrad and studied biology and science and human culture. She is originally from the Bay Area in California. 

Fun Fact: Frances and her family foster rescue dogs until they get adopted.

Khalid holds a master's degree in epidemiology from Michigan State University, where he spent the past ten years supporting in-field and remote research on bacteremic infections in Nigeria and cerebral malaria in Malawi. His graduate fieldwork explored how physicians diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder in Karachi, Pakistan, which became the first published study on this topic in Pakistan in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. While his work centers on quantitative analysis, in 2018, he helped launch a project that utilized photography and audio interviews to better understand issues regarding home healthcare aids in Michigan; this project is now part of the Library of Congress. 

Fun Fact: Khalid loves bicycling, and in the winter, you might see him in a head-to-toe waterproof outfit biking around Chicago.

Hometown: Rochester Hills, MI, and Islamabad, Pakistan 

Jia is the research project manager for the iREACH study. She also supports the FORWARD study, FACE India studies, the Food Allergy Prevalence study, and more. Her research interests include early food allergy prevention, the role of microbiome in food allergy development, and food allergy in a global context. Jia received a BA in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also underwent the pre-medicine track and minored in Spanish.

Fun Fact: Jia can speak 5 languages.

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Ria recently earned her BA in neuroscience and medicine, health and society at Vanderbilt University and interned as a CFAAR Scholar in 2022. As someone with eczema and food allergy, Ria is excited to continue learning about and advancing the prevention of food allergy. She hopes to pursue a career in allergy medicine and looks forward to devling into the theories of allergy development and treatments.

Fun Fact: Jia has served in primary care clinics in both Honduras and Guatemala.

Hometown: Naperville, IL

Kristin is a primary care pediatrician and health services and health policy researcher. She completed her pediatric residency at Seattle Children's Hospital and University of Washington and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship at University of Michigan. As a physician-investigator at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University, Kristin aims to inform the design of health policies and programs that optimize health care access and quality of care for children with chronic diseases, in particular asthma. Her current research is on the population health management of pediatric asthma by leveraging digital technology in outpatient care.

Madeleine helps oversee CFAAR’s portfolio of more than 20 epidemiological, clinical and community-engaged research studies. Her particular expertise on the team includes research project management, grant administration, food allergen labeling policy, school-based asthma and food allergy interventions and educational programming. 

Madeleine completed her Master’s in Public Health at Northwestern University with a concentration in community health research. She is passionate about creating accessible resources and informing equitable policies to improve the health and well-being of individuals with atopic conditions through every stage of their lives.  

Fun Fact: She loves to dance in her free time.

Hometown: Glenview, IL

Olivia is in her third year of medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago. She is most interested in the fields of dermatology and female sexual health. At Rush, Olivia serves as a student ambassador for the admissions team, leads a student-run initiative focused on addressing the evolving needs of persons experiencing homeless in the COVID pandemic and is an executive board member for the Rush Restorative Justice Initiative and the American Medical Women’s Association. She was a previous employee of CFAAR before starting medical school and looks forward to working on projects related to atopic dermatitis.

Fun Fact: Olivia was a competitive baton twirler for 17 years and was able to perform each week for 110,000 fans as a twirler at the University of Michigan. She is now a coach and certified judge for the sport.

Hometown: Wheaton, IL

Pamela recruits patients for research studies at CFAAR. Her role as the primary recruiter for The Natural History of Food Allergy study was the springboard to her role as the project manager for the multi-site FORWARD Study. She also recruited and educated patients for the iTRACC Study. Additionally, she coordinates CFAAR's food allergy conference, Food Allergy Conference for Education and Science and the Conference for Asthma Research and Education. Pamela received a BA in communications from University of Wisconsin. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, watching movies and spending time with her family.

Fun Fact: Pamela was once featured on "The Today Show".

Hometown: Nashville, TN

Alexa attended the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, where she successfully obtained her BS in nursing. Currently, she is actively pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, with aspirations of becoming a skilled family nurse practitioner. Professionally, Alexa has cared for pediatric patients across a wide range of specialized units. She presently serves as a registered nurse within the Resource Team at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where she cares for inpatient pediatric patients. Alexa frequently witnesses the profound effects that food allergies and asthma exert on pediatric patients and their families. This experience drives her commitment to reducing health disparities and enhancing health literacy, particularly in the context of conditions related to allergies and asthma.

Fun Fact: Alexa enjoys going to concerts in her free time and recently saw Taylor Swift.

Hometown: Long Grove, IL

Sai is a board certified allergist with nearly 30 years of clinical experience. For the past twenty years, he has been a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Sai practices allergy and immunology with Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and serves as a member of the executive committee of the Illinois Society for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology as well as a committee member in the section on food allergy for the American Academy and American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. During his career, he has seen over 15,000 food allergy patients and has designed and implemented several food allergy studies.

Angela is a certified physician assistant with 10 years of clinical practice experience in allergy, immunology and family medicine. As a provider, she is passionate about patient education, especially as it pertains to successfully managing food allergy and asthma. Prior to becoming a physician assistant, Angela obtained her Master of Public Health and was involved in food allergy and asthma research at the former Children's Memorial Hospital and University of Iowa.

Fun Fact: SCUBA diving is an old hobby that Angela hopes to resume with future travel.

Hometown: Odebolt, IA

Emily joined the CFAAR team as a Research Data Analyst Associate in May 2024. She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Previously, she has contributed to the field of Alzheimer’s research and breast cancer research. Emily is interested in furthering her knowledge of data science and analysis, in order to better contribute to the world of research. Outside of work, you can often find Emily baking desserts, going for walks along the lake shore, and exploring all that Chicago has to offer.

Fun Fact: Emily recreated the Flappy Bird game on PC as her first game project. She is currently working on a card game app with her childhood friend.

Hometown: Melbourne, FL

Caglar received a bachelor's degree in economics from Istanbul University and earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Missouri. Currently, Caglar is finishing up his PhD in economics at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. His research is on developing and applying econometric and statistical methods to study the causal relationships between public policies and labor market outcomes.

Fun Fact: In his free time, Caglar enjoys making watercolor paintings

Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey

Jessica, a native Michigander, studied music performance and biology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI during her undergraduate education, attended Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school, and completed her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. She then continued her training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX where she completed her allergy and immunology fellowship. Jessica joined the faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as an assistant professor and is an academic pediatric allergist and immunologist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Her primary clinical and research interests are in food allergy prevention and treatment and decreasing pediatric health disparities.

Fun Fact: Jessica studied oboe performance in undergrad and performed in orchestras throughout medical school and residency. She plans to continue her oboe playing in Chicago. 

Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI

Kassidy attended the University of Kentucky and graduated with a BA in health, society and populations. Due to her own environmental and severe food allergies, she has always had an interest in food allergy safety and early allergy prevention.

Fun Fact: Kassidy used to play the flute and the French horn.

Hometown: Tinley Park, IL

Joe graduated from Carleton College with a degree in sociology and anthropology and minors in Spanish and gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Originally from Chicago, they are interested in studying social determinants of health.

Fun Fact: Joe loves to do creative makeup. 

Emily is a certified registered nurse and clinical nurse leader. Her journey with CFAAR began in June 2020 as a Community Advisory Board member. Emily graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in sports science and received her master’s degree in nursing at Rush University in Chicago. She hopes to disseminate CFAAR's research into communities and provide equitable and empathetic care to their patients and caregivers. 

Fun Fact: Emily loves dogs and has a yellow lab named Susie.

Hometown: Sacramento, CA

Paulina attained her bachelor's degree in integrative biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, followed by the completion of her master's degree in biomedical sciences at Saint Xavier University. She has a background in clinical research stem cell projects and a keen interest in managing teams. Motivated by a commitment to improve the healthcare of underserved and underrepresented communities, Paulina is enthusiastic about contributing her expertise to CFAAR.

Fun Fact: Outside of her professional pursuits, Paulina indulges her passion for dance during her leisure time. Notably, she has showcased her talents in competitions in Puerto Rico and Florida, as well as having performed at esteemed venues including Disneyworld and Universal Studios.

Corwin supports Waheeda Samady, MD, in her research and the iREACH study. Corwin graduated from Northern Illinois University, majoring in rehabilitation and disability services. Since graduating, he has worked in applied behavioral analysis therapy, working with young children who were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In the last year, he worked as a training specialist, teaching new employees how to implement behavioral corrective strategies. He is looking forward to learning more about food allergy, and asthma and healthcare in general. 

Fun Fact: Corwin spends much of his time outside with his son and his dog Romo. 

Waheeda is a faculty researcher at CFAAR. She completed her pediatric residency and hospital medicine fellowship at University of California San Diego before joining Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2013. As a junior faculty member at Feinberg, she completed a master's in clinical investigation and began work in the areas of inpatient asthma and infant anaphylaxis. Waheeda has published on the low-severity of infant anaphylaxis, early peanut feeding introduction guidelines and the importance of early diagnosis of eczema in relation to food allergy prevention. She hopes to study these further with support from an NIH Career Development Award. At CFAAR, she is involved in evaluating food allergy prevention approaches, the prevalence of eczema and other associations in children with food allergy and developing supportive tools to help families and medical providers prevent and manage food allergies.

Fun Fact: During medical school, Waheeda learned American Sign Language and participated as a summer student at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Samantha graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a BS in psychology, community health and a Master of Public Health. She was drawn to CFAAR due to her own life-threatening food allergy and her passion for food allergy education, advocacy, and research. Samantha's other public health interests involve food insecurity, mental health, children’s health and environmental health.

Fun Fact: Samantha loves gymnastics and used to be a competitive gymnast, her favorite movie is "The Wizard of Oz" and she loves doing puzzles.

Hometown: Deerfield, IL

Carly graduated from Hope College with a BA in Communication and English with a Creative Writing Emphasis. She assists with daily office administration and communications. 

Fun Fact: Carly loves reading, doing crossword puzzles and spending time along Chicago's lakeshore.

Hometown: Geneva, IL

Shruti focuses on the FAREDATA study with the long-term goal of building a comprehensive food allergy data commons. She is also assisting the team with writing research publications. Previously, Shruti worked at the Central Research Institute as a senior research fellow for the Ministry of Ayush’s Homoeopathy for Healthy Child program. She also worked toward early diagnosis and management of common diseases of children and adolescents. As a business project manager for a chain of clinics, she executed clinical training workshops on a complementary system of medicine, with a focus on chronic diseases and lifestyle disorders for improving patient outcomes. Shruti completed her education in homoeopathic medicine from the University of Delhi, India. With an analytical mind and passion to add value to the healthcare delivery system through technology, she graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Science in biomedical informatics. She strives to apply informatics principles to healthcare research for promoting patient-centered care.

Fun Fact: Shruti is a Kathak dance scholarship holder and has performed at numerous stage presentations and classical dance festivals in solo capacity.

Hometown: Delhi, India

Fritzie joined CFAAR as an adviser to the Community Advisory Board and currently serves as CFAAR's Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) liaison. Prior to joining CFAAR, Fritzie was an active duty Air Force spouse for over 20 years, which allowed her to gain community building experiences and unique perspectives of the strategic vision that ensures unit and family readiness, resiliency and cohesion. Inspired by her children with multiple food allergies, she has worked in bringing food allergy awareness in the military community and building a network of support for families in various volunteer capacities. Fritzie is a doctor of pharmacy with a background in analytical chemistry. She completed her undergraduate education at Concordia University Irvine with a degree in biological sciences and a minor in chemistry. She also completed a master’s degree in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, a graduate certificate in biohazardous threat agents and emerging infectious diseases at Georgetown University and later proceeded in professional and graduate studies in pharmacy at Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Fun Fact: Fritzie used to sing as a cantor for church. While she continues to share her island culture through hula, the passion for music is rekindled by her children who love to sing and play ukulele and piano.

Hometown: Mangila, Guam

Neeha brings over 10 years of project management and institutional review board support experience to her role. Prior to joining CFAAR, she managed research projects that focused on health literacy, health communication and medication safety at the Center for Communications and Health at Northwestern. Neeha graduated from Knox College with a BA in environmental studies and received her MPH degree from DePaul University.  

Fun Fact: Neeha attended an international boarding school in India for high school where she made friends from all over the world.

Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal

Annie previously led operations and marketing efforts for a non-profit and helped organize their annual conference. She holds a BS in integrated marketing communications from the University of Mississippi. Annie lives in Chicago and enjoys running on the lakefront, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.

Fun Fact: Annie loves to dance and takes ballet and bachata classes.

Shaan was first inspired to pursue a career in medicine from having a younger brother with peanut and tree allergies. As a Northwestern undergraduate student, he spent a summer working as a research intern in Dr. Gupta’s lab studying food allergy epidemiology. Shaan joined CFAAR in 2022 and assists with various advocacy and research projects related to food allergy labeling. His current research is on the incorporation of reference doses into precautionary allergen labels. Shaan is currently completing his Internal Medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and intends to pursue a career in allergy & immunology. 

Fun Fact: Shaan is an Eagle Scout. He has camped over 150 nights in his lifetime and has gone on several week-long backpacking trips."

Hometown: San Ramon, CA

Neil researches leveraging real-world evidence and causal inference approaches in order to guide clinical strategy. At CFAAR, Neil works on analyzing disparities in food allergy reactions and treatments across the life-course among children enrolled in the FORWARD Study. Previously, Neil worked as a consultant in the Health, Nutrition, and Population Practice at the World Bank Group. His graduate research focused on developing approaches to estimating the external validity of randomized controlled trials. He holds a BA in biology and human rights from Columbia University, an MS in clinical epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health and is currently a medical student at Northwestern.

Fun Fact: Neil is working on the second phase of his meal-prepping journey: eating the meals he prepares.

Hometown: Queens, New York City, NY

Valerie holds a BS in psychology from Bradley University and a certificate in UX/UI design from Northwestern University. Valerie is passionate about creating functional designs that put people first. She loves traveling, art and music festivals, but she especially loves French Bulldogs. 

Fun Fact: Valerie rescued a French Bulldog from Puerto Rico in August 2022. She is now a proud dog mom of two adorable French Bulldogs named Mason and Mailo. Valerie and her fiancé recently moved from the city to a new home in the Northwest suburbs and are enjoying having a yard for their dogs.

Hometown: Chicago, IL and Cidra, Puerto Rico

Sarah currently serves as the program coordinator of early childhood food allergy education initiatives, creating videos, tip sheets and online trainings. She is passionate about developmentally-appropriate practice in early childhood. Valaika has over 25 years of experience working with young children, their families and providers in early childhood programming, as well as teaching in higher education and professional development settings. Sarah earned a MS in child development from the Erikson Institute in Chicago and has over 15 years of daily experience preventing and managing life threatening food allergies for one of her four children.   

I learn. I do. I teach. I care.  

Fun Fact: Sarah co-founded the annual “Try it Our Way Triathlon," which involves sprint triathlon distances, no time recordings, coffee and scones, and ends with a pedicure!  

Eileen is a registered dietitian who has been involved in nutrition research for over two decades. She launched her career in research by working as a NASA research assistant in Clear Lake, TX, while also completing her joint dietetic internship and master’s degree in clinical nutrition at Texas Women’s University in Houston. At Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Eileen has served as a research interventionist, coordinating randomized clinical trials spanning from early life through older adulthood. She is passionate about early intervention approaches to reducing pediatric obesity, food allergy and other common nutrition issues influencing children in the U.S. Eileen recently earned a certificate in pediatric food allergy nutrition sponsored by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE).

Fun Fact: Eileen is an avid road cyclist who has had the pleasure of pedaling through 20 states in the U.S. including her favorites: Colorado, Wyoming, Wisconsin, New York and New Hampshire.

Hometown: LaGrange, IL

Chris has worked with CFAAR for over 10 years, filling a variety of roles on the team including research project coordinator, biostatistician, consultant and music video producer. He is an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and serves as CFAAR’s Director of Population Health Research. His research focuses on better understanding and ameliorating the public health burden of food allergy and other atopic diseases, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Fun Fact: Chris worked for two years at a non-profit school for Mayan youth in the Western Highlands of Guatemala (El Colegio Miguel Angel Asturias).

Hometown: Belvidere, IL

Mark's background is in computer programming and software engineering. He received his bachelor's degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in software engineering from Depaul University in 2018. Previously, Mark worked in the financial industry in database management and in interpreting information flow for high-frequency trading. He is eager to take those skills and translate them into working with electronic health records and patient data. Mark started with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2020 working primarily on the Food Allergy Data Commons project and is working to design the Data Commons Database as well as working to translate the Food Allergy Data Dictionary into the OMOP Common Data Model. In addition, he is also helping design a database for the FORWARD study. 

Fun Fact: Mark is an avid practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts and a member of the Chicago Swordplay Guild.

Hometown: Chicago, IL 

Sharon focuses on the work of the communications team to bridge the gap between research and decision makers, patients, the community and food allergy and asthma advocates. She is the founder of nutfreewok.com, the author of Chinese Instant Pot Cookbook and is an active food allergy and asthma advocate, which includes impacting policy, legislation and the food industry. She is passionate about advocacy, food allergy research and cooking. Sharon earned her BA in molecular biology at UC Berkeley and her Master of Education and teaching credential at UCLA.

Fun Fact: Sharon’s first TV interview was about "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Hometown: San Francisco, CA