It is said that opportunities don’t just happen, they are created. So, when Dr. Reshma Adwar’s career as an acute rehabilitation Physical Therapist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, treating patients with cardiac and neurological pathologies wasn’t yielding the desired returns, she knew it was time to get creative and inspire change. While she was able to help rehabilitate patients after a stroke or heart attack, she knew there would be greater fulfillment to unearth ways to assist patients to prevent and manage these conditions. On a more personal level, as fate would as fate would have it, she was forced to navigate the field of nutrition following the diagnosis of some family members with diabetes and heart disease. “So, I started reading nutrition books, articles, and journals to see if I could assist them in some way and found it all so captivating and engaging,” she said. And so, always a foodie as well as an avid baker, the obvious next step was a transition into the field of nutrition.
Armed with an undergraduate degree in biology from New York University plus a clinical Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Columbia University, she set off to add one more credential to her portfolio. Years later, with a BSc in Nutrition & Food Science from Montclair State University, here we are directing the spotlight on our own State Regulatory Specialist who represents the NJAND on the state’s public policy team advocating for health and nutrition policies. She was also on the grassroots advocacy team when RD licensure was successfully passed in New Jersey.
With an innate inclination to share, Dr. Adwar’s volunteerism also extends beyond the NJAND. The mother of two young boys also lends a hand at her children’s school “assisting with anything cultural or food related. I recently worked with the students in the habitat garden, and I’ve volunteered at pop-up farmers’ markets we’ve hosted at school with the goal of educating students on seasonal fruits and vegetables.”
As an Executive Hospital Nutrition Business Manager representing the Enfamil brand, a product of Reckitt-Mead Johnson Nutrition, there is never a typical week. “I work with hospitals to educate them about our products, assist with adopting our products onto formulary, and provide ongoing support. My weeks are busy in a really good way! I meet with clients (RDs, Neonatologists, Pediatric Hospitalists) to educate them about the science behind our products, I represent the company at conferences, I host educational events like lunch-and-learns or dinner-and-learns, I familiarize myself with new studies that come out, and I collaborate with my team,” she shared.
Along the way Dr. Adwar also became involved in women’s health research to advocate for better lactation support at universities and co-authored the research paper, Can I Pump Here? Availability and Online Promotion of Lactation Rooms Among New Jersey Colleges and Universities, published in the Journal of American College Health. She credits several people who contributed to her success on this leg of the journey. Dr. Lauren Dinour, Dr. Meena Mahadevan, Maria Stanish, and Dr. Doug Murray are among those that helped to guide her as a student at Montclair State. “Karen Basedow, Rosemary O’Dea, and Lizz Hanna who were involved in public policy through NJAND showed me the ropes. All these wonderful people helped me work through questions and doubts I had when I was going through my career change. My current manager, Katie Moore, is incredibly supportive, challenges me, and has helped me grow beyond what I could have imagined.”
Dr. Adwar is also a certified yoga instructor and a trained classical Indian dancer in the Kathak tradition as well as contemporary dance. When she is not educating her peers or advocating policy changes on their behalf, she is dancing, enjoying nature, or cooking and baking with her family.
