Today, Gail Cresci, PhD, RD, LD, takes on the duties of president
of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) for the 2021–2022 term. Dr. Cresci accepted the leadership role from Todd
W. Rice, MD, MSc, who served as ASPEN’s 44th president.
Dr. Cresci is on staff in the Pediatric Gastroenterology,
Hepatology, and Nutrition department at the Cleveland Clinic. She conducts
research on gut microbiota for the Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, where
she holds joint appointments in the Department of Inflammation & Immunity
and the Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute/Gastroenterology.
As an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic
Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Cresci mentors
students in their research and leads the integration of nutrition content
throughout the medical school curriculum.
“ASPEN will benefit not only from Dr. Cresci’s leadership in
research, clinical care, and education, but also from her experience educating the
media and the general public on the importance of nutrition,” said ASPEN Chief
Executive Officer Wanda Johnson, CMP, CAE, FACEHP. “She brings a soft-spoken
clarity to complex topics that will help advance ASPEN’s goals.”
“The critical importance of bringing the latest research
findings to patient care has never been more evident. I look forward to continuing
the pivotal role ASPEN has always taken in advancing both the science and
practice of clinical nutrition,” said Dr. Cresci.
A graduate of University of Akron, Dr. Cresci completed her dietetic
internship while on active duty in the Army at the Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Washington, DC. She received an MS in clinical nutrition from the Chicago
Medical School/Finch University of Health Sciences, and a PhD in biomedical sciences
from the Medical College of Georgia -Augusta University.
It was during her military service that Dr. Cresci began her
focus on nutrition research, which she continued for the next 17 years at the
Medical College of Georgia as an associate professor and head of surgical
nutrition services in the department of surgery. In 2010, she was recruited by
the Cleveland Clinic to continue building her own research program and to
direct research within the Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition.
Dr. Cresci’s work has been widely recognized, and in 2018,
she received ASPEN’s Stanley J. Dudrick Research Scholar Award for her
investigation, “Targeted Approaches for In Situ Gut Microbiome Manipulation
Care.”
An active member of ASPEN since 1993, Dr. Cresci has served
on the Dietetics Practice Section Committee, the Clinical Congress Planning
Committee, the Rhoads Research Foundation committee, and the editorial board of
the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and Nutrition in Clinical Practice. She has been a member
of the ASPEN Board of Directors since 2019.
“ASPEN is incredibly grateful to all members of the Board of
Directors who have provided exceptional leadership and dedication throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ms. Johnson. “And we know that Dr. Cresci will
continue that steadfastness in the coming years.”