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Our 2018 Summit Speakers

Dr. Peter H. R. Green, MB, BS, MD, FRACP, FACG

Dr. Peter H. R. Green is the Director of The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. He is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University and Attending Physician at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Keynote Speaker

Gary E. Jones

Gary Jones is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University. For the past 30 years he has had a wide range of opportunities working in catering, fine dining, quick service, family style, buffets and on the opening training team of Disneyland Paris all with the Walt Disney World Company. Gary has worked as a professional recruiter hiring hospitality staff and culinarians internationally, Managing Chef Instructor for The Disney Institute, Chef de Cuisine for Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort and Chef de Cuisine for Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resorts. Currently Gary is the Culinary Dietary Specialist for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts involved in creating and implementing meals for healthy lifestyles and special needs.

Culinary Dietary Specialist for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

Dr. Deena Abbe, Ph.D.

Dr. Deena Abbe is a licensed psychologist with Long Island Family Therapy in Commack, NY.  Dr. Abbe is trained as a cognitive-behavioral therapist.  She specializes in working with children, adolescents, adults and their families.

Child Psychologist

Michele Lefebvre, RD, CDN

Michele is the Director of Nutrition for Cornell Dining.  Rated in 2017 as one of the Best Gluten Free, Allergen Free Colleges in the US,  Michele has worked to put Cornell Dining on the map as a leader in campus dining for gluten intolerance and food allergies.  She has worked to create protocols and policies to ensure safety and meets individually with students with special dietary needs to develop plans that best fit their needs on campus. Michele is an expert in supporting students and their families in making the significant transition of moving to campus go smoothly.  Michele has led the shift for Cornell Dining to use cleaner ingredients across their 28 different locations and has helped to create the culture of allergen awareness throughout campus and with major campus stakeholders.  Additionally, she spearheaded the repositioning of a dining hall to be 100% certified gluten, peanut, and tree nut free; one of the only in the country.  Michele is a Registered Dietitian and is completing a Masters of Management in Hospitality from the renowned Hotel School at Cornell University. 

 

Director of Nutrition Management for Cornell Dining

Jer Dunlap

A sought after communicator, Jeremy Dunlap (Jer) brings nearly two decades of speaking experience to the stage. A youth event speaker, Dunlap has engaged audiences ranging in size from three to thousands, from Connecticut to Hawaii. Holding numerous endorsements, Jer has communicated to THOUSANDS of students in numerous settings as a featured keynote, retreat, and assembly speaker. As well, his humor, storytelling, and driven points have made him a popular business world speaker with a client list that includes National Football League Players Association, BlackBoard, Gulfstream, Texas Instruments, BP/Castrol, Under Armour, NASA, Dell, AT&T, Honeywell, Century Link, and Panasonic. In addition he has proudly served as a speaker/trainer for four branches of the military including both regular and irregular warfare.

Becoming the Kind of Person That People Want to Follow

Cecilia Bonaduce Leggett BA, MD Candidate 2019

Cecilia Bonaduce Leggett, known to the gluten-free community as CC Gluten Freed, is a fourth year medical student at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Prior to attending medical school, she worked in consulting at a start-up firm in Washington DC and, before that, as a public school teacher through Teach For America. She has been gluten-free since 2008 and has integrated living gluten-free into her professional life. From creating her online blog, CC Gluten Freed, to teaching a course at UC Berkeley on the gluten-free diet to interning for the Celiac Disease Foundation and Beyond Celiac, Bonaduce Leggett has been active in the gluten-free community for the last ten years.

Preparing for Young Adulthood: Career planning, visiting home, and coming into your own.

Anne Lee, EdD, RDN, LD

Anne Lee is a nutritionist at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University where she is involved in patient care, and research.  Her research has resulted in published articles on the effect of a gluten-free diet on the quality of life, the nutritional adequacy of the gluten-free diet, the economic impact of a gluten free diet, and on the cross contamination of inherently gluten-free grains.

Clinical Nutritionist

Erica Dermer

Erica Dermer is founder and head celiac in charge of Celiac and the Beast. She started her website because she felt like she had a new and humorous voice to bring to the gluten-free table, and desperately needed some celiac catharsis through writing and blogging.  As a celiac and gluten-free advocate, her aim is to educate the world about celiac disease and the importance of this wonderful "less than 20ppm" universe we live in. Her first book, "Celiac and the Beast: A Love Story Between a Gluten-Free Girl, Her Genes, and a Broken Digestive Tract" was released in October 2013 and highlights her life with a celiac disease diagnosis and what she's learned along the way. 

Founder of Celiac and the Beast

Forrest Smith

I was born in 1988 and diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 1990. From then on, I have had around 15 family members that were also diagnosed, including both my parents. I started Gluten Free Oats in 2003 as a freshman in high school and we have been running ever since. I like to live life too the fullest, was recently married in January, and became a father of two daughters at the same time. 

How I Used My Gluten-Free Experience to Make a Difference

Zach Livingston

Zach Livingston is the Business Development Manager for Food Service and Specialty Markets with Dr. Schär. For the past 7 years, he has been innovatively changing the foodservice landscape within colleges and universities and other specialty segments, providing a variety of gluten free options that create inclusive, enjoyable experiences for gluten free eaters. Zach has worked with large restaurant chains across the US and Canada, to ensure delicious gluten free options are available and to educate the restaurants on safety protocols to avoid cross-contamination. Diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2010, Zach is a firm believer that every restaurant should have reliable (and tasty!) gluten free options.

How I Used My Gluten-Free Experience to Make a Difference

Casey Cromwell

Casey Cromwell is the creator of Casey the College Celiac, a blog that explores life in college (and now grad school) with celiac disease. She began her blog at age 16 after she was diagnosed with celiac disease and couldn't find a lot of information about eating gluten free in college. Since then, her blog has expanded from practical tips about going to college on a gluten free diet to also including gluten free, vegan and paleo recipes, restaurant and product reviews, and topics related to general health and wellness. Her goal is to put a positive spin on living with chronic illness, whether it's by writing a humorous blog post about "eight hilariously accurate reasons to date someone with celiac disease" to sharing how going gluten free has changed her life for the better. Besides her website, you can find Casey on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

My college doesn’t offer GF. What do I do?

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