The board that developed this toolkit and site was made up of key representatives from national organizations with expertise in allergies and anaphylaxis such as leading allergists, food allergy consumer organizations, registered dietitians, school nurses, and parents of children with food allergies. Board members demonstrated passion about food allergy which was evident by their generously donated time, expertise, and focus on the task at hand. They we extremely collaborative and played a vital role in creating evidence-based resources that will improve the lives of children and families impacted with allergy/anaphylaxis.
Special thanks to Kathleen McDarby RN, MPH for her dedication to facilitating the project.
Sharon Adams-Taylor, MA, MPH, Associate Executive Director – American Association of School Administrators, Sharon is a lifelong child advocate and public health expert who has worked with school system leaders for 20 years on children’s issues like asthma, obesity, hunger, mental health, coordinated school health, allergies, early and unprotected sexual activity, youth development and more. Before that I worked in public education for Baltimore City Public Schools, was a researcher for the University of North Carolina’s Child Health Outcomes Project, directed the Resource Access Project for Region III of the National Head Start Program, and coordinated the Children’s Defense Fund’s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Clearinghouse.
Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Clinical Director, Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, & Pulmonary Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's Hospital. Dr. Bacharier is board certified in Pediatrics and Allergy and Clinical Immunology and is a member of several organizations including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Thoracic Society. Dr. Bacharier’s research focuses on childhood asthma.
Carrie Clarke, BSN, RN, has been a school nurse for the past sixteen years in South Dakota's largest school district. Currently, she works at one of the high schools serving over 1800 students. Carrie has worked with Early Childhood, elementary, middle school, special education and Immersion students prior to working at the high school level. Carrie is currently serving on the Board of the South Dakota School Nurses Association as Past President. Carrie served as a representative of the NASN Workgroup to Develop Epinephrine Policies and Procedures in Schools and is an Epinephrine Resource School Nurse for South Dakota. Carrie is also a member of the Sioux Falls Career & Technical Education Academy and High School Family & Consumer Sciences Advisory Board.
Richelle Clark, Co-Director of the Center for Community Health and Partnerships, Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Richelle joined the Institute after more than 40 years working in public/community health positions at the St. Louis Department of Public Health and in the St. Louis Public School District. The Institute for Public health is a university-wide initiative designed to transform their approach to public-health and partnerships with the community. It brings together many disciplines and diverse partners to address the complex health issues facing the St. Louis region and worldwide.
Marjorie Cole, is the State School Nurse Consultant at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. In this role she is responsible for providing consultation to Missouri’s 1,500 school nurses, developing guidelines for school health, facilitating continuing education programs, and establishing performance improvement programs for school nursing services. Ms. Cole practiced school nursing in St. Louis County Special School District for eleven years and has been the state school nurse consultant since 1999.
Dr. Robert Dillon, Director of the BrightBytes Institute, an education think tank supporting innovation and best practices in education. His role includes building systems, structures, and routines that help the school district be more sustainable, effective, and efficient in its practices. Dr. Dillon has worked in public schools serving students, families, and the community for over 20 years. He speaks around the country on a variety of education topics, and his ideas on education reform have been published in a number of educational learning spaces.
Eleanor Garrow-Holding, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT). Eleanor has worked, educated, and advocated in the food allergy community for almost 10 years after her son, Thomas, was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies, asthma, and eosinophilic esophagitis. As CEO, Eleanor provides leadership, development, and implementation for all of FAACT’s initiatives and programs, including Camp TAG (The Allergy Gang) – a summer camp for children with food allergies and their siblings that Eleanor founded in 2009. Eleanor has a Bachelor of Healthcare Administration degree from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, and worked in hospital management for 15 years in Chicago and suburban Chicago prior to working in the nonprofit sector.
Stacie M. Jones, M.D., Professor and Chief of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and the Dr. and Mrs. Leeman H. King Endowed Chair in Pediatric Allergy. She is a board-certified Specialist in Pediatrics and Allergy and Immunology, and currently serves as Co-Director of the Arkansas Children’s Asthma Center and the Lung Cell Biology Laboratory at the ACH Research Institute. Her research focuses on both clinical and translational investigation of food allergy and asthma.
Amy Kalishman, works as the in-house attorney for Femwell MSO, a management services organization which contracts with physicians to provide support services. Amy manages the litigation department of Femwell. Amy has a daughter, Ally, who has life threatening food allergies. Amy is an advocate for food allergy awareness and education and serves on the St. Louis Children's Hospital Food Allergy Advisory Board.
Tom Kennedy is a plaintiff’s civil rights lawyer. He concentrates his practice on persons with disabilities, their families, and agencies which serve these persons.
Dr. Ray Lechner, is the Superintendent of Wilmette Public Schools, District 39, located just north of the city of Chicago. With the help of a committee of parents, teachers, nurses and administrators, District 39 developed one of the first comprehensive school-based programs to support the needs of children with life threatening allergies. Much to his surprise, their program gained national attention and served as a basis for many other school programs.
Lisa Meadows, APRN, BC, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, is the Manager of Healthy Kids Express and the Food Allergy Management and Education (FAME) Program in the Child Health Advocacy & Outreach Department at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Lisa overseas the Healthy Kids Express staff who provide asthma, dental, vision and hearing screening services to medically underserved children in the community. Lisa also currently serves on the board of directors of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, St Louis Chapter as well as serving on a number of committees for St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Kathleen McDarby, RN, MPH, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Food Allergy Management & Education Program. Kathleen oversees the FAME Program which provides food allergy education and resources to schools as well as families. Her health care experience includes acute care, ambulatory care, health education, health insurance, quality improvement and clinical research. Kathleen currently serves on the board of directors as an officer as well as chairs the Food Allergy Committee of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, St Louis Chapter. She also serves on several committees at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Sharon Miller, RN, MS, CHES, FASHA is the Manger of Advocacy & Outreach at Blank Children's Hospital. Sharon is currently the secretary of the American School Health Association. She is a fellow of the organization and has held many leadership positions. Prior to her position at Blank Children's Hospital, Sharon worked as a training consultant for the Iowa Department of Education.
Lynda Mitchell, MA, RHIA, CPHQ, Vice President, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Kids with Food Allergies Division, Doylestown, PA. KFA’s programs improve the day-to-day lives of children with food allergies by providing practical and evidence-based educational resources and support to families via its web-based programs. She holds a master’s degree in health information management and informatics and is a parent of a son with food allergies.
Karie Mulkowsky, is the National Programs Manager for Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). Karie has been working extensively over the last three years as project manager for FARE’s cooperative agreement with the CDC, and is playing a key role in FARE’s education and training efforts in K-12 school settings. She recently lead a school nurse training event as part their efforts with the CDC.
Sally Noone, RN, MSN, CCRC, Clinical Research Manager, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, NYC, New York. Sally has worked with Hugh Sampson, MD Director, Jaffe Food Allergy Institute for about 15 years and knows as much about working with families and teaching patients, families and health care professionals about food allergies. She is active in research programs and can provide information on the latest research.
Michael Pistiner, MD, MMSc, is a pediatric allergist and medical director of shared medical appointments for Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and an instructor of pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital. He is a voluntary consultant for the MA DPH, School Health Services and a member of the AAP Council on School Health. He volunteers for various food allergy organizations, authored Everyday Cool with Food Allergies, and is co-creator of AllergyHome.org.
Molly Platts, MS, RD, is a Regional Registered Dietitian in the central region for Chartwells K-12 School Dining Services. Molly works with school districts in menu development and nutrition and recipe support. She has a master’s of science in medical dietetics from St. Louis University, and her thesis focused on internal and external competitive foods in school lunch programs.
Sally Schoessler, MSEd, BSN, RN is Director of Education for the Allergy & Asthma Network. Sally oversees the Network’s programs and resources, including publications, and works to create organizational linkages. Key initiatives Advances in Allergy & Asthma Monthly Webinar Series and the annual USAnaphylaxis Summits. As the Executive Director of the New York Statewide School Health Services Center she was a part of the team that developed statewide guidelines for caring for students with life-threatening allergies.
Dr. Hemant Sharma is the Associate Chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is also the Director of the Food Allergy Program and site director for the National Institutes of Health Allergy and Immunology fellowship program. He is a regular contributor to a food allergy column in Allergic Living magazine and recently co-edited the “Food Allergy in Children” series for Pediatric Clinics of North America. His areas of research interest include adherence, quality of life, and school-based management of food allergy.
Anne H. Sheetz, RN, MPH, NEA-BC, was the Director of School Health Services at the Massachusetts Department of Health from 1990-2013, when she retired from government service. In this role she was responsible for providing consultation to 2100 school nurses, developing regulations for school health, implementing continuing education programs through Northeastern University School Health Institute, and implementing school health data systems.
Grennan Sims, RD, LD, Director of Nutrition Services, for the Hickman Mills C-1 School District, Kansas City, MO. Grennan is registered through the Commission on Dietetics Registration and licensed in the state of Missouri. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and the School Nutrition Association. Grennan provides primary oversight of the district’s food allergy policy and procedures and manages daily food production for students with food allergies. She also plans and nutritionally analyzes school menus, provides classroom nutrition education and conducts staff professional development.
Debbie Tuitasi, RN, MSN, PCNS-BC, has been a school nurse for 19 years. She is a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, specializing in children with complex, chronic health conditions. Currently is working for Special School District of St. Louis County and is a Johnson & Johnson School Nurse Fellow. She also serves on the Special School District Wellness Committee and School Health Advisory Board.
Robin Wallin, DNP, RN, CPNP, Director of Health Services, Parkway Schools, Chesterfield, MO. Robin has worked in school health for the past 19 years both as a school nurse and nurse leader. She currently directs the school health program in a large suburban school district. In 2014, she spent a year as a fellow in the School Health Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she led the creation of a food allergy tool kit for schools.
Chris Weiss, Ph.D., is Director of Research and Dissemination for the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) in Battle Creek, MI. IFPTI is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the world’s food supply. With IFPTI, Chris is working closely with the US Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and a variety of other stakeholders to develop competency-based curriculum frameworks for regulatory food protection professionals. Prior to IFPTI, Chris worked with the former Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), where he was influential in legislative/regulatory efforts at the local, state, and national level.
Tonya Winders, MBA, President and CEO of Allergy & Asthma Network. Tonya obtained her MBA from Louisiana State University and has spent the past seventeen years of her career in leadership roles in the allergy & asthma industry. As the mother of children who suffer from life-threatening allergies and asthma she is dedicated to the Network’s mission, "to eliminate death and suffering due to asthma, allergies and related conditions." The Network publishes Allergy & Asthma Today magazine and a monthly e-newsletter.