Symposium
The 2025 annual Food As Health Symposium is coming up! Join us for this free event Tuesday, March 11 from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm in Longship Club at Kroger Field! Learn more and sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/food-as-health-symposium-2025-tickets-1053667420619
Agenda
- 9:00 am-9:30 am Registration with coffee and light bites
- 9:30 am-10:00 am Presentation by Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell
- 10:00 am-10:45 am Keynote Speaker: Seth Berkowitz, MD, PhD
- 10:45 am–11:00 am Break
- 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Panel Discussion Set 1
- 11:00 am-12:00 pm The role of healthcare in Food is Medicine
- 12:00 pm–1:00 pm Industry as a vital partner to address Social Determinants of Health
- 1:00 pm-2:00 pm Lunch
- 2:00 pm-4:00 pm Panel Discussion Set 2
- 2:00 pm-3:00 pm Research gaps and promising approaches
- 3:00 pm-4:00 pm Community Based Organizations as a driving force to meet patient needs
- 4:00 pm Closing Remarks
Introducing the Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Seth Berkowitz
Dr. Berkowitz is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Section Chief for Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine & Clinical Epidemiology. He is a general internist and primary care doctor. He studies the relationship between health-related social needs, such as food insecurity, and health outcomes. He is the author of the recent book Equal Care: Health Equity, Social Democracy, and the Egalitarian State, which examines how public policy can improve population health.
Beatrice Abiero
Dr. Abiero is Senior Manager of Policy Research at Instacart, where she oversees external research partnerships, directs studies, and engages in coalition building. Before Instacart, she led large-scale analytics for a $31.8 million patient experience survey program, providing insights to improve care for 4.5 million Military Health System beneficiaries. Her work has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and key reports. Dr. Abiero earned a Dual-Title PhD in Health Policy Administration and Demography from Penn State and a BS in Public Health from the University of Arizona.
Cole Bradham
Cole Bradham is the Vice President of Medicaid Innovation at Mom’s Meals, where he leads strategic initiatives to expand partnerships in the Medicaid market. Since joining the company in 2020, he has advanced from director of Medicaid managed care partnerships to vice president in 2024. Previously, Cole held roles as a senior account manager at OhioHealth and general manager at Optum, overseeing corporate health centers across three states. He holds a Master of Health Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Dayton. Cole actively coaches youth sports and volunteers at his church.
Laura Brown
Laura Brown is Director of Nutrition at Kroger, where she leads the Food as Medicine strategy, overseeing initiatives like the OptUP® Nutrition Program, Smart Benefits with Soda Health, and nutrition counseling services. She also drives research on the value of Food as Medicine and contributes to policy efforts in the field. A registered dietitian and certified personal trainer, Laura joined Kroger in 2021, bringing experience from roles in clinical nutrition, fitness, and health communication. She holds a master’s in exercise physiology from Michigan State University and a BS in Dietetics and Exercise Science from Miami University.
Jared Childs
Jared has spent his career building B2B2C businesses that drive outsized growth - from pioneering retail-as-a-service as a first-time founder in college to launching the industry’s first health plan-funded grocery delivery benefit at Shipt, to today, at Soda Health, building the fastest growing directed spend network alongside the nation’s most beloved retailers. As VP of Business Development, Jared spearheads the integration of retail and healthcare by enabling health-centric grocers and pharmacies to unlock billions of dollars in supplemental benefit spend and maximize the impact of their pharmacies, dietitians and healthy assortments. He is on a mission to drive costs out of the $4T healthcare industry by making it easier for Americans to access healthy foods, personalized care and incentives to wellness.
Myrisa Christy
Myrisa Christy is the Executive Director of Community Farm Alliance. Raised in Clark County, KY, she comes from a farming heritage in Appalachian Kentucky. She holds a Bachelor of Art in Anthropology from the University of Kentucky and has over a decade of experience working with agricultural producers. Before joining Community Farm Alliance, Myrisa spent nearly ten years at the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD), providing technical assistance to farm and food businesses in business planning, market access, and USDA programs. She also led strategic planning to increase local food access and developed feasibility studies for shared-use commercial kitchens in rural Kentucky.
Leslie Clements
Leslie Clements serves as Director of Equitable Population Health for Humana’s Medicaid plan in Kentucky. In this role, she leads strategies to identify health disparities among members and develops targeted interventions, collaborating with community organizations and healthcare providers to address needs such as access to quality healthcare, healthy food, housing, and transportation. Leslie's career has focused on strategic engagement and development with a strong emphasis on inclusion, equity, and accessibility. She holds a Master of Science in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of Louisville. Leslie volunteers with several Louisville-based organizations and lives with her husband Chris and their cats, Joe and Fishstick.
Paige Franklin
Paige Franklin is the Chief Executive Officer of Aetna Better Health of Kentucky. At only 34 years old, Paige was promoted to her current position and vice president within CVS Health, Aetna’s parent company. At the time of her promotion, and still today, 2 years later, Paige is among the youngest vice presidents in a Fortune Six Company. In her role as CEO, Paige has profit and loss responsibility for more than $2 billion in annual revenue. During her time with Aetna, Paige has been the architect of two successful procurements, including securing the sole contract to administer the Commonwealth’s first of its kind Supporting Kentucky Youth (SKY) contract, serving Kentucky’s children who are impacted by the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Paige has a passion for mentorship and development of young talent.
Daniel Frockt
Daniel Frockt has been the Chief Financial Officer at Dare to Care for two years, where he serves on the Food is Medicine Coalition implementation team. His role involves integrating financial leadership with community health initiatives. Previously, he was the Vice President for Finance at Bellarmine University and spent over 16 years as the Chief Financial Officer and Budget Director for the City of Louisville across two mayoral administrations. A Louisville native, Daniel brings extensive experience in public finance and nonprofit management to his work in addressing food insecurity.
Kurt Hager
Dr. Kurt Hager is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the UMass Chan Medical School. His research focuses on food insecurity and the impact of nutrition programs on chronic disease. Dr. Hager currently evaluates the effectiveness of the Flexible Services Program, which addresses food and housing insecurity through Massachusetts’s Medicaid Section 1115 Waiver. His work also includes policy modeling and economic evaluations of health insurance. He has contributed to the Aspen Institute’s Food is Medicine Research Action Plan and serves on the steering committee of the National Produce Prescription Collaborative.
Michael Halligan
Michael Halligan is the CEO of God’s Pantry Food Bank, supporting over 500 food pantries and meal programs across 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky, where nearly 265,000 people face food insecurity. Mike’s leadership background includes roles at ConAgra Foods, Feeding America, PepsiCo, and The Quaker Oats Company. A native of Muscatine County, Iowa, he holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University. Mike is a dedicated community advocate, a former high school football coach, member of the Mayor's Commission for Racial Justice & Equality, a Kentucky Colonel, and an active Rotarian. He and his wife, Lori, live in Lexington and are proud parents to two sons and two granddaughters.
Melissa McDonald
Melissa McDonald is the Executive Director of Feeding Kentucky, a nonprofit working with Feeding America Food Banks to end hunger statewide. With over 20 years in public health, she’s dedicated to health equity and improving nutrition in Kentucky. A University of Kentucky graduate, Melissa also serves on statewide health coalitions. Before joining Feeding Kentucky, Melissa held leadership roles with national nonprofits focused on fundraising and public health initiatives, equipping her with a strong understanding of health disparities and behavior change. Melissa resides in Lexington, Kentucky, and holds a degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion from the University of Kentucky.
Jessica Sass
Jessica Sass is the Executive Director of Population Health at UKHC and a Nurse Practitioner for Family & Community Medicine. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Kentucky and has been an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse since 2004. Jessica's diverse experience includes working in rural hospitals, county health departments, urgent care, and Level 1 trauma emergency settings. She has completed the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Fellowship, IHI's Chief Quality Officer Program, and the Agile Implementation Bootcamp through IU's Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science.
Shreela Sharma
Dr. Shreela Sharma is Professor of Epidemiology, and founding Director of the Center for Health Equity at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, Texas. Dr. Sharma is a behavioral epidemiologist and a registered dietitian with specific research interest in food and nutrition security and co-occurring social determinants of health, systems science, and health equity and has a robust, federally-funded research program in this area. She is co-founder of Brighter Bites, a nationwide non-profit dedicated to providing fresh produce and nutrition education to low-income children and their families. She is also co-lead of the Health Equity Collective, a systems coalition to improve care coordination for social determinants of health needs in the Greater Houston region.
Jonathan Shell
Jonathan Shell, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner, was elected on Nov. 7, 2023. A fifth-generation farmer, he co-owns Shell Farms and Greenhouses in Garrard County, where his family raises cattle and grows flowers, corn, and pumpkins. Dedicated to supporting Kentucky's farm families, Shell’s administration focuses on advancing agriculture as a cornerstone of food, faith, and family. Before becoming Agriculture Commissioner, he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he was the youngest member elected in 2012 and later became the state’s first Republican House Majority Floor Leader. Shell holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from Eastern Kentucky University and lives in Lancaster with his wife, Brooke, and their four children.
Sarah Stotz
Dr. Sarah Stotz Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University and affiliate faculty at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus at the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health. Her research focuses on addressing food and nutrition insecurity as it impacts adults with nutrition-related chronic disease, such as diabetes, with an emphasis on health disparities, nutrition education, social determinants of health, and multilevel/community-based participatory research approaches to chronic disease management and prevention. Her work largely focuses on serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities and she has methodological expertise in qualitative and mixed methods research.
Our Valued Partners
Mom's Meals
Mom’s Meals specializes in medically tailored refrigerated meals designed to meet the nutritional needs of individuals with diet-sensitive chronic diseases. For more than a year, they have collaborated with the Alliance to provide Food is Medicine packages to individuals experiencing food insecurity across Kentucky.
Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America. outcomes. Through Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health.
