India Post News Service
Geeta Sikand, a renowned registered dietitian nutritionist was elected among top ten dietitians in America by TD10 – Today’s Dietitian Magazine This selection recognizes Geeta’s outstanding contribution to the practice of dietetics as a result of continued commitment to field. It showcased the profession we are proud to recognize during National Nutrition Month® and on Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day.
Highlights of Geeta Sikand’s contributions to the field of nutrition and dietetics
Geeta Sikand, MA, RDN, FAND, FNLA, CLS Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California.
Each dollar spent on MNT saves $3 to $4 in health care costs for patients with dyslipidemia. Those findings in two seminal studies by Geeta Sikand marked the first time a cost-benefit analysis demonstrated the value of dietitians’ contributions to patient care.1,2
Published in 1998 and 2000, the studies were part of Sikand’s role with the University of California, Irvine, when she served as chief lipid research dietitian at its teaching hospital, the VA Medical Center in Long Beach. They were a lifeline for the profession and led to Sikand receiving two Mary Huddleson Awards from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation.
“Dietitians needed to show outcomes data because managed care was taking over the healthcare industry at this time. Fortunately, we had the data,” Sikand says.
While chairing the Academy’s MNT Outcomes Workgroup, Sikand and her colleagues continued to publish studies reconfirming her original findings, even as the medication landscape evolved. Today, she is actively involved in the push to pass the Expanded MNT Act (HR 6199) to extend MNT coverage under Medicare.
Educating health care providers and the public about the impact of MNT on health outcomes is a passion of Sikand’s, who is a fellow of the Academy and serves as a Policy and Advocacy Leader for the cardiovascular health and wellbeing dietetic practice group. She is also a fellow and at-large board member of the National Lipid Association, co-chairs its nutrition task force, and helped create its multiethnic and multilingual Clinician’s Lifestyle Modification Toolkit.3
“I extend my deepest gratitude to my mentors who believed in my work. They are the giants whose shoulders I stand upon today. They came before me, and took a risk and provided me the opportunity to lead, to conduct research and to influence improvements in nutrition and healthcare delivery in various ways.” Said Geeta Sikand. She continued, “When dietitians counsel patients, we do not just tell them what to eat or what not to eat. We partner with them [and use] our communication tools to understand the ‘what, why, and how’ of diet and lifestyle behaviors and barriers to adherence,” Sikand says.
