Letter from the Chair

A big thanks to those of you who attended the 2009 DNS Symposium: Navigation Tools for Achieving Evidence-based Nutrition Support Practice, held in Seattle, Washington on June 5 and 6. It was a complete success!

For those of you who were unable to attend, we are in the process of developing a product that will be available for purchase at ADA's Food and Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) 2009 in Denver, Colorado, that will provide many of the speaker's PowerPoint® presentations and references. Thank you to our generous sponsors, who provided exhibits, financial support for speakers, and a flash drive for each attendee containing speaker syllabi and other educational resources. A special thanks to all the exemplar faculty, DNS Executive Committee and Coordinating Cabinet, Industry Support Liaison, and Web Team for their tireless input and support in bringing this conference to fruition.

Our main goal now is to find new ways to meet DNS member needs. We are starting by conducting a membership needs assessment. This will be sent to you electronically later this summer and, through your feedback from the survey, we hope to re-evaluate our mission and vision, generate ideas and interest in various products and services you'd like to see offered by DNS, and obtain your input about future educational offerings.

In the fall, we're excited to have a strong DNS showing at FNCE. Two DNS educational sessions are planned for Sunday, October 18, 2009. Practical Issues in Enteral Nutrition will be presented by Susan Brantley, MS, RD, CNSD, LDN, and Joseph Boullata, PharmD, RPh, BCNSP, from 8-9:30 am and Prebiotics and Probiotics: Moving Evidence into Practice will be presented by Gail Cresci, MS, RD, CNSD, and Krystyna Kras, PhD, from 10-11:30 am. Also on Sunday, October 18 at 10 am, Marion Winkler, PhD, RD, a past chair of DNS, will deliver the 2009 Lenna Frances Cooper Lecture: Living with Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition: How Food and Eating Contribute to Quality of Life. Our DNS Reception will be held on Sunday, October 18 from 6:30-8:15 pm. We hope you'll come celebrate with us, network with one another, and honor distinguished service and practice award recipients as well as our student stipend award recipients.

Best wishes to each and everyone of you as you enjoy the beautiful summer!

Jennifer A. Wooley, MS, RD, CNSD