Meet Registered Dietitian, Anthony Dissen. Anthony is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, but moved to NJ in 2001 from Iowa. He completed his undergraduate students in Dietetics at Rutgers New Brunswick and his dietetic internship through University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), which is now part of Rutgers University. Anthony holds a Master’s in Integrative Health from Georgian Court University and a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
He is currently working toward completing his Doctor of Education at Stockton University. His dissertation research focuses on Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions in Pre-Health Students. In addition to his degrees, Anthony is board Certified in Public Health through the National Board of Public Health Examiners.
Anthony stumbled upon the field of dietetics during his college orientation. Anthony had acquired a personal interest in nutrition during high school but was not aware it was offered as a college major. Originally he thought he wanted to study microbiology but after attending the biology major presentation at orientation he did not feel sparked by this career pathway. He then attended the nutrition presentation and decided to pursue the dietetics concentration because he knew he wanted a career where he could work with people.
Currently, Anthony is a tenured instructor at Stockton University in the School of Health Sciences, where his daily tasks revolve around teaching, research, and service to the university and wider communities. Each semester he teaches about three to four classes, which include Basic and Therapeutic Nutrition, Health Ethics, Introduction to Health Sciences, and Narrative Based Medicine.
In addition to his dissertation research, Anthony has done research around plant-based nutrition and culinary medicine, and motivation to behavior changes in nutrition and eating habits. He has also examined how compassion and self-improvement can promote healthy behaviors and lifestyle habits.
Anthony always engages undergraduate students in the research process just as his college mentors did. His students are involved in generating research ideas, data collection, and analysis.
Most recently he had a group of student research assistants conduct a content analysis on Instagram. Anthony and his student are currently examining Instagram posts that use the hashtag “natural immune support,” to understand how people are using this hashtag and the messages associated with these hashtags. Examining this will help understand how these posts may impact the health of people that are searching and viewing such posts.
Finally, as a tenured instructor, Anthony resides on several university committees, including Stockton’s Interprofessional Education Committee and the Health Science Curriculum Committee. He also advises and precepts students.
Anthony is involved in community based nutrition and health education for several non-profit organizations, such as Move Over Breast Cancer, David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation, and Gilda’s Club of South Jersey. He has also done curriculum development for nutrition and wellness based organizations such as Wellory, and WellStart Health. In addition to his community outreach efforts, Anthony serves as the liaison between the New Jersey Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the New Jersey Public Health Association.
Prior to working in academia, Anthony had two different jobs as an outpatient and community health education dietitian at CentraState Medical Center and the University Medical Center of Princeton. Overtime at these positions he notes,
“I was drawn into the public health side because as I was working with patients, so much of their issues [and] the interventions they needed, fell more in the public health sphere, because behavior change and the ease of that you have is so much guided by their environments. This guided me back to grad school to get my MPH.”
Much of his career trajectory has been guided by two great mentors from his time at Rutgers University, Peggy Policastro and Carol Byrd-Bredbenner.
“The two of them really guided me through my undergraduate career, prepared me for the internship, [and] got me interested in nutrition based research and health research in general.”
When asked the biggest challenge he has overcome in his career, Anthony reflects,
“To carve a path for really good evidenced based nutrition practice because as popular as nutrition has become, which is so exciting, with that has come a lot of camps and dogmas and positions and battles to fight… which has caused me some concern over the years. Because that was something that was really demonstrated to me early on in my education, just how critical it is that we are giving good, quality, evidence based education and guidance to people; but it is really hard to do that and not get caught up in mixed claims yourself.”
As a result, Anthony has worked hard to disseminate evidence based information through his training of future health professionals, his research, and community outreach efforts.
For future dietitians, Anthony offers this piece of sound advice, “Appreciate how vast the field of dietetics is and think about what corner or niche you want to approach… there is so much you can do and you do not have to follow someone else’s prescription… I would encourage them to stay excited and to really think about what it is that they love about not just nutrition and dietetics but they’re life in general and where those things can intermingle.” In proposing this advice, Anthony points out how in the field, one can easily incorporate their love for technology, the arts, or even entertainment.
In his free time Anthony enjoys making sourdough bread and is an avid meditator. His favorite thing about New Jersey is its fascinating geography and diverse environments all contained in one state.
Instagram: @AnthonyDissenRD
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonydissen/
RDN Spotlight written by Dara LoBuono PHD, RD
