ASPEN Committees

The Abstract Review Committee oversees the abstract and poster processes for the ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference. The committee is interprofessional.  Members of the Abstract Review Committee have the necessary skills to review and critically evaluate scientific and clinical research submitted in abstract form. The Abstract Review Committee work takes place from September through December annually. Committee members can expect to complete independent reviews of submitted abstracts and participate in remote/virtual meetings for abstract selection and determination of abstract award winners. There is no in person meeting participation requirement. In compliance with accreditation standards, industry representatives and employees cannot be appointed to this committee.

Specific Activities:

• Review and rank scientifically and clinically-based abstracts submitted for presentation at the conference
• Identify award winning abstracts (i.e. Vars Candidates, Abstracts of Distinction, Posters of Distinction, etc.)
• If requested, serve as a moderator in oral paper sessions at the conference
• If requested, serve as a group leader for one of the abstract topic categories

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The Fellows Program Committee oversees the FASPEN program. The committee is interprofessional. The committee meets remotely/virtually throughout the year in addition to conducting business electronically. Members of the committee must have and maintain the FASPEN designation. Committee members are not eligible to provide recommendations for FASPEN candidates.

Specific Activities:

• Annually, in the fall, review candidates for the FASPEN program and selecting those to recommend to the ASPEN Board of Directors for acceptance of the designation
• Annually review the FASPEN application for improvements and clarity
• Review and develop potential benefits for all current FASPENs

The Clinical Practice Committee (CPC) is charged with supporting ASPEN’s clinical practice initiatives across all specialty areas, the age spectrum, and care settings to promote safe and efficacious clinical nutrition to optimize patient outcomes. The CPC supports the review of clinical practice content. ASPEN members actively engaged in clinical practice, research, education, medical affairs, or administration are well-suited for this committee, and those with more than five years of experience are preferred. CPC members are expected to actively support at least one specific task and participate in most committee meetings throughout the volunteer year. This committee meets virtually throughout the year via video conferencing.

Specific Activities:

• Annually vote on the winner of the Peggi Guenter Excellence in Clinical Practice Award for ASPEN Board of Directors’ approval
• Generate 1-2 proposals for clinical practice-related educational sessions at the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Annually review the ASPEN Definition of Terms, Style, and Conventions document and propose necessary updates to the ASPEN Board of Directors.
• Review the scientific literature for important updates in clinical nutrition and, as applicable, submit articles to the ASPEN staff liaison.
• Serve as peer reviewers for ASPEN Board of Directors-approved documents, manuscripts that are applying for endorsement by ASPEN, and other applicable ASPEN-generated clinical practice tools and documents.

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The EPD committee oversees the suite of ASPEN’s educational initiatives.  The committee is interprofessional.  The committee meets remotely/virtually throughout the year in addition to conducting business electronically.  Members of this committee have an interest in educating other healthcare professionals in nutrition therapy through the creation of new and innovative professional development resources.  Ideal individuals for this committee have experience in education programming through volunteer or job-related experiences.

In compliance with accreditation standards, industry representatives and employees cannot be appointed to this committee.

Specific Activities:

• Accrediting Education Programs.  EPD committee members review and make decisions on the accreditation of ASPEN’s education programs including but not limited to the following programs
  • Joint Providership of Chapter Continuing Education (CE) Events
  • Malnutrition Awareness Week Programming
  • Self-Assessment Module Updates
  • Section Forum Education Programs
  • ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference
• Journal CE Program.  Review all articles and supporting information from the authors to determine appropriateness of affiliating CE credit with the article.  Committee members can expect to review approximately five (5) articles over the course of the year, and articles may be from NCP or JPEN.
• Nutrition Support Fundamentals Course. Evaluate and suggest modifications to content and faculty for the Nutrition Support Fundamentals Course.
• Development of future learning opportunities based on assessing needs and identifying gaps of ASPEN’s target audience.

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The Enteral Nutrition Committee (ENC) is charged with supporting ASPEN initiatives on EN across the age spectrum and across all care settings to advocate for and promote the safe and efficacious use of EN to optimize patient outcomes. ASPEN members actively engaged in and with expertise in EN-related clinical practice, research, education, medical affairs, and/or administrative responsibilities are well-suited for this committee. ENC members are expected to actively engage in at least one committee task and participate in most committee meetings throughout the volunteer year. This committee meets virtually throughout the year via video conferencing.

Specific Activities: 

• Annually nominate 1-2 individuals for the Peggi Guenter Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
• Generate 1-2 proposals for EN-related educational sessions at the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Annually update the Enteral Nutrition Video Guide on the ASPEN website.
• Annually update the Enteral Nutrition Formula Guide on the ASPEN website.
• Support clinical practice during EN-related product shortages and/or disruptions.
  • Monitor EN product and device shortages and evaluate their clinical importance/impact
  • Support communication about shortages/disruptions to the ASPEN membership
  • Draft 1-2 new ASPEN Board of Directors-approved Shortage Recommendations per year
  • Annually review and update all published ASPEN EN-related Shortage Recommendations.
• Review ASPEN’s Clinical Resources webpage for Enteral Nutrition annually for functionality, ease of use, and content, and suggest updates to staff as needed.
• Generate proposals as needed for the development of new ASPEN projects, clinical tools, guidelines, and other educational initiatives related to EN

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The Malnutrition Committee is charged with supporting ASPEN initiatives on malnutrition across the age spectrum and across all care settings to advocate for and promote screening, assessment, intervention, documentation, and coding practices. ASPEN members actively engaged and with experience in malnutrition-related clinical practice, research, education, medical affairs, and/or administrative responsibilities are well-suited for this committee. Malnutrition committee members are expected to actively engage in at least one committee task and participate in most committee meetings throughout the volunteer year. This committee meets virtually throughout the year via video conferencing.

Specifics Activities: 

• Annually nominate 1-2 individuals for the Peggi Guenter Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
• Generate 1-2 proposals for malnutrition-related educational sessions at the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Assist with planning ASPEN’s annual Malnutrition Awareness Week.
  • Annually vote on the next Malnutrition Awareness Week theme.
  • Annually develop MAW Continuing Education webinars.
  • Review the pediatric and adult Malnutrition Matters videos and update as needed, at least every 5 years.
• Annually review ASPEN’s webpages titled: Malnutrition Resources for Clinicians and Malnutrition Resources for Consumers for functionality, ease of use, and content, and suggest updates to staff as needed.
• Review disease-related malnutrition scientific literature in an ongoing way and collect updated data on malnutrition prevalence, outcomes, cost, and treatment in various clinical populations.
• As needed, generate proposals for the development of new ASPEN projects, clinical tools, guidelines, and other educational initiatives related to malnutrition.

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The Membership & Engagement Committee is responsible for enhancing the member experience through annual review of member categories and benefits, assisting with annual member promotion and retention efforts, overseeing the membership awards process, and reviewing engagement activities for members. This committee is interprofessional. Membership awards are managed by the committee. The committee meets remotely/virtually throughout the year in addition to conducting business electronically. Members of the committee may not apply for ASPEN membership awards or provide recommendations for candidates.

Specific Activities:

• Select the most appropriate recipients for the membership awards.
• Periodically review the scope of the membership awards and potentially identify new areas needing recognition and recommending changes or sunsetting of existing awards.
• Serve as ambassadors of ASPEN, promoting the benefits to colleagues.
• Review proposed membership campaigns and member benefits.

The Parenteral Nutrition Committee (PNC) is charged with supporting ASPEN initiatives on PN across the age spectrum and across all care settings to advocate for and promote the safe and efficacious use of PN to optimize patient outcomes.  ASPEN members actively engaged and with expertise in PN-related clinical practice, research, education, medical affairs, and/or administrative responsibilities are well-suited for this committee.  PNC members are expected to actively engage in at least one committee task and participate in most committee meetings throughout the volunteer year. This committee meets virtually throughout the year via video conferencing.

Specific Activities:

• Annually nominate 1-2 individuals for the Peggi Guenter Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
• Generate 1-2 proposals for PN-related educational sessions at the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Develop PN Component Guide on the ASPEN website; annually update.
• Annually update the “Parenteral Nutrition Therapy: Assessment Tools and Guidelines” article, published in Pharmacy Practice News.
• Support clinical practice during PN-related product shortages and/or disruptions.
  • Monitor PN product and device shortages and evaluate their clinical importance/impact
  • Support communication about shortages/disruptions to the ASPEN membership
  • Annually review and update all published ASPEN PN-related Shortage Recommendations
  • Draft new ASPEN Board of Directors-approved Shortage Recommendations, as indicated
• Review ASPEN’s Clinical Resources webpage for Parenteral Nutrition annually for functionality, ease of use, and content, and suggest updates to staff as needed.
• Generate proposals as needed for the development of new ASPEN projects, clinical tools, guidelines, and other educational initiatives related to PN.

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The Physician Engagement Committee supports the ASPEN strategic goal of growing the ASPEN physician community both nationally and internationally. The goals are to increase physician awareness of ASPEN activities/resources of value to physicians, and to develop programming and other activities to engage physicians in nutrition and ASPEN, including raising the awareness of the importance of nutrition across medical practice and other professional societies. The committee meets via a monthly conference call in the evening. Committee members must be ASPEN physician members interested in driving physician engagement within ASPEN.

Specific Activities:

• Planning the annual Physician Course held at the ASPEN conference and coordinating a corresponding JPEN supplement.
• Filming of monthly physician spotlights.
• Authoring key publications which include article reviews and publishing thought-provoking and educational articles every two months in NCP.
• Coordinating physician nominations for awards.
• One Capstone project per year.
• Planning of session submissions for the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Collaborating with other medical societies to bring nutrition to the forefront of the organizations.
• Management of the Medical Practice Section.

Subcommittees:

• Key Publications Subcommittee
• Medical Practice Section Management Subcommittee
• Nominations Subcommittee
• Physician Course Subcommittee
• Physician Spotlights Subcommittee

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The Public Policy and Advocacy (PPA) Committee is charged with supporting ASPEN initiatives related to public policy and advocacy across the age spectrum and across all care settings.  ASPEN members actively engaged in clinical practice, research, education, medical affairs, or administrative responsibilities are well suited for this committee.  Members with knowledge of public policy preferred, but all are welcome.  Individuals involved with sales or marketing for the nutrition industry cannot be appointed to this committee. This committee meets virtually throughout the year via video conferencing.

Specific Activities:

• Maintains and promotes ASPEN Advocacy and Public Policy Agenda and priorities to members and the healthcare community.
• Annually evaluates advocacy activities to determine effectiveness, identify opportunities, strengthen coalition engagement, identify gaps, prioritize activities, and develop messaging.
• Supports legislation addressing access and reimbursement of medical nutrition therapies, nutrition services, and reimbursement of professionals.
• Develops tools to help ASPEN members with advocacy calls to action.
• Maintains communication channels with all stakeholders to assure adequate supply of PN and EN therapies, devices, nutrition therapies, and infrastructure.
• Assists with relevant opportunities for open comment on nutrition related issues.
• Generates proposals for the development of new ASPEN projects, clinical tools, guidelines, and other educational initiatives related to public policy and advocacy.
• Generates proposals for public policy and advocacy related educational session at the ASPEN Nutrition Science and Practice Conference.
• Supports the Public Policy/Advocacy booth at the ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference.
• Provides updates for inclusion in Clinical Practice Highlights.
• Supports advocacy related efforts for ASPEN’s annual Malnutrition Awareness Week.
• Hosts non-CE educational events related to public policy/ advocacy (one to three events/year).
• Provides ASPEN with key communication and social media messaging related to public policy and advocacy.

Subcommittees:

• Member Engagement Subcommittee
• Public Policy and Advocacy Education Subcommittee
• Public Policy and Advocacy Communications/Social Media Subcommittee

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This committee anticipates and responds to the changing professional needs of members by providing ideas and making recommendations for innovative publications and The Publications Committee anticipates and responds to the changing professional needs of members by providing ideas and making recommendations for innovative publications and products. The committee is interprofessional. Committee members ideally should have a broad knowledge of the nutrition support field and an interest in staying abreast of the latest research and practice developments impacting ASPEN members. They should also be committed to professional development and in exploring ways to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice through the products and tools being developed for our members. This committee meets virtually on a bimonthly schedule via video conferencing. Committee members are expected to actively participate in a majority of committee meetings throughout the volunteer year.

Specific Activities:

• Assessing publications currently offered by ASPEN and those under development
• Support the effective transition of content into the digital learning environment
• Suggest new non-ASPEN titles related to the field of clinical nutrition and volunteer to review them for considered inclusion in the ASPEN bookstore

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ASPEN’s Research Committee oversees the research program for ASPEN.  This committee is interprofessional. The committee meets remotely/virtually throughout the year in addition to conducting business electronically. The committee also meets in person during the ASPEN annual conference to determine the winners of the Promising Investigator and Vars Awards. Committee members should have experience in either clinical or basic science research.

Specific Activities:

• Research Promotion: Develop tools and resources to encourage others to engage in nutrition research.
• Research Awards: Determine the recipients of ASPEN’s Promising Investigator and Vars Award through the evaluation of written manuscripts and oral presentations at the ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference.
• Vars Manuscripts:  Serve as a formal JPEN reviewer for the submitted Vars Candidate Manuscripts, if requested.
• Work with other ASPEN committees to identify research gaps in the field and strategize on how to move the field forward.
• Research Agenda:  As requested, participate in the development and/or review of ASPEN’s research agenda.

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The Self-Assessment Committee is responsible for the overall review, update, and maintenance of the content included in ASPEN’s Self-Assessment Program.  This committee is interprofessional. The committee meets remotely/virtually throughout the year in addition to conducting business electronically. Committee members can expect to do one to two hours of independent work every few months in addition to the scheduled meetings. This is an ideal committee for professionals in all stages of their career who are interested in providing nutrition education to other professionals.  Members of this committee are comfortable utilizing a wealth of resources, including reference books and journal articles, to ensure accurate content is in the self-assessment program. In compliance with accreditation standards, industry representatives and employees cannot be appointed to this committee. The self-assessment program is considered a prep course for those preparing for certification exams, therefore members of this committee cannot be involved in any type of certification exam committees.

Specific Activities:

• Learn the fundamentals of item/question writing and apply those to committee work.
• Review and update current items/questions, rationale and references included in the various modules in the Self-Assessment Program.
• Develop new items/questions with accompanying rationale and references for inclusion in Self-Assessment Program modules.

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