March 4, 2019
We are proud to share about Olivia Dong, MPH, RD, LDN, our DIFM Featured Member for the month! Olivia is a doctoral student in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Olivia is a board member for the Durham-Chapel Hill Dietetic Association in North Carolina, and she has helped develop and co-teach a training workshop on nutrigenetics for healthcare professionals for the International Society of Nutrigenetics/Nutrigenomics (ISNN).
What is your area of practice and how do you incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into your work?
The areas that I specialize in are nutrigenetics, pharmacogenetics, and pharmaconutrigenetics. These precision medicine subfields aim to use genetic information to help optimize nutritional and pharmacological interventions that are recommended to patients in order to achieve better health outcomes. I’m uniquely positioned at the interface between the nutrition and pharmaceutical sciences fields to also develop the pharmaconutrigenetics field, a new area of research which integrates the nutrigenetic and pharmacogenetic fields together to help clinicians make more informed decisions when managing their patients. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences from UC Berkeley, a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in nutrition from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, I am a registered dietitian, and I am currently a 5th year PhD candidate in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The interface of nutrient-drug interactions has not been well studied, and even less is known about how genetics can impact this interaction. I’m currently developing this new area because it can help make medical interventions more individualized and effective, which will result in better reception of medical interventions and fewer side effects.
The current PhD program I am in is clinically focused and trains us to take scientific discoveries in the basic sciences and translate them into patient care. Through my PhD training so far, I have gained a deeper understanding of precision medicine and the necessary evidence needed to shift traditional approaches within medicine to a different paradigm that accounts for genetics. Although incorporating genetic information in the drug prescribing process can help optimize drug dosing for patients and lead to better health outcomes for patients, it is rarely done. The focus of my dissertation research is addressing key implementation barriers to increase this type of technology in patient care and ensure medications are matched appropriately to their genetics. My dissertation investigates the benefits of providing cardiovascular patients with pharmacogenetic testing by conducting health economic evaluations, which helps to inform insurance reimbursement policies. Helping people access the best care they can receive through our health system is the main driver of my involvement within the healthcare field.
In addition to my dissertation research, I have continued to stay involved in the nutrition field to help develop the nutrigenetics and pharmaconutrigenetics field. I help develop and teach a pre-conference workshop on how nutrigenetics can be incorporated into patient care for the International Society of Nutrigenomics/Nutrigenetics (ISNN) with Dr. Martin Kohlmeier, a research professor at UNC Nutrition Research Institute who is an expert in nutrigenetics.
What are some of the results you have seen since integrating functional nutrition into your practice area?
I have been invited to speak on nutrigenetics and pharmaconutrigenetics for various professional associations, including the Gillings School of Public Health, UNC Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, North Carolina Dietetic Association, Durham-Chapel Hill Dietetic Association (DCHDA), ISNN, and the North Carolina Council of Renal Nutrition. Through these speaking opportunities, I’ve been able to start conversations with other healthcare professionals on this topic and in some cases, provide an explanation for the variation in response to medical treatments they see in their patients. This topic has been received well by the healthcare professionals I have encountered at these talks.
In addition, I have published a review paper that outlines the concept of pharmaconutrigenetics and what this would look like for cardiovascular patients. This article has been discussed in a journal club DCHDA held recently. I have also been able to foster new research collaborations within the nutrition and pharmacy fields for grant submissions with the goal of further developing this area of research to advance patient care. I enjoy being in the research space because I have the creativity and space to create new collaborations that investigate areas of nutrition that can help improve patient care.
Where have you completed most of your training in integrative and functional nutrition?
I have completed most of my training through workshops and seminars offered at UNC, scientific conferences, and professional organizations. The professional organizations I am part of include: American Heart Association, DIFM, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Durham-Chapel Hill Dietetic Association District, North Carolina Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, International Society of Nutrigenetics & Nutrigenomics, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes. Some of the workshops and seminars that I attend may not be directly related to integrative and functional nutrition, but these events can provide a novel angle or methodology that can be applied to the integrative and functional nutrition field.
What advice would you give anyone interested in learning more about integrative and functional nutrition?
Integrative and functional nutrition can help improve the care dietitians provide patients. I encourage anyone who is interested in this area to learn more about it and start by joining DIFM because there are countless dietitians within this group who are shaping this field in important ways!
Thank you for sharing about your research and experience in this fascinating area of the nutrition field, Olivia!