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About VidaEats
Our Story
Alana, VidaEats founder, worked in a dialysis center for several years and saw first hand the hardships patients on dialysis experienced. The current role of medical nutrition therapy in kidney disease management is an afterthought and nutrition resources are difficult for patients to obtain. Partnering with co-founder, Luke, they used their common passion for wellness and prevention to create a service that delivers nutrition education directly to the client, eliminating the need for diet guess work. VidaEats was born.
Meet Our Team
The Founders
Alana Benito, MBA, RD, LDN
CEO, Founder
Alana is a Registered Dietitian specializing in renal nutrition and VidaEats' founder and CEO. Previously, she led a team of dietitians at DaVita and managed nutrition care for dialysis patients. She also has experience with payers and providers in the medical sales space. Besides being a practitioner herself, Alana has personal experience with kidney disease which allows her to connect and empathize with clients. Alana lives in St. Petersburg, FL with her husband and dog.
Luke Sagaser, MBA
COO, Co-Founder
Luke is a healthcare startup enthusiast with extensive digital product development, health tech innovation, and go-to-market execution experience. He is a vintage guitar and drum collector, and resides outside of Philadelphia with his wife, Ellie.
Our renal Dietitians
Claudia Morffi
RD, CSR, LDN
Claudia has been a highly dedicated and self-driven dietitian for the past five years. She specializes in working one-on-one with clients to drive positive behaviors for better clinical outcomes and, together, craft an overall culture of health for the long run. In her free time she likes cooking, hiking and exploring nature, as well as lifting heavy weights!
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Dialysis, Acute Kidney Injury, Congestive Heart Failure, COPD, GI disorders, Heart Disease, Cholesterol Management
Gabrielle Belcastro
RDN, CSR, LDN, CDCES
Gabrielle has several years experience working with CKD patients and those with ESRD on dialysis. Knowing the toll dialysis takes on the body, she prioritizes being a nutrition resource to people before the transition to ESRD. In addition to being a Registered Dietitian, she holds a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu Pittsburgh. She enjoys helping people apply what they learn in nutrition counseling to the kitchen to create healthy, flavorful meals that fit their lifestyles.
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Dialysis
Kathryn Murray
RD
Katie has spent the past 3 years working with chronic kidney disease patients through a dialysis center. She is passionate about providing the tools and support needed to help patients manage and prevent chronic illnesses while living a full life. Despite a diagnosis, Katie believes food should be enjoyed and strives to help patients achieve this balance. In her free time, Katie enjoys being active, reading and spending time with her husband, son and golden retriever.
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Oncology, Weight Gain, Dysgeusia
Diane Hodge
MBA, RDN, CSR, CDCES, CLC, LD
Diane is a whole health educator with over 30 years experience. She loves helping people learn how their lifestyle can impact their health and quality of life. She empowers people to make healthful eating a natural and fun part of their lifestyle to improve their physical and mental health. She is Board Certified as a Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist and is a Certified Lactation Consultant. She believes that healthy living should be doable, accessible and affordable for everyone!
Other Specialities: Certified in Adult Weight Management, Certified Lifestyle Counselor, Certified Tobacco Cessation Coach, Gut Health (Crohn's disease, IBS), Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (Lupus, Hashimoto's, etc)
Chrissy Zbojniewicz
RD
Chrissy has over 19 years experience as a dietitian. After beginning her career serving as a dietitian in the U.S. Army, she moved to Texas where she has been working with patients with kidney disease for the past 17 years. She enjoys teaching patients how to have confidence planning meals which fit their nutritional needs. Chrissy and her husband enjoy boating, tubing, and swimming in the lake with their two daughters.
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiac Health, Dialysis
Taylor Raflowitz
RDN, CSR, LDN
Taylor has worked as a dietitian in long term care, acute and intensive care, and renal dialysis patients. He comes from a background of personal training and enjoys helping clients meet nutritional goals for improved health. He believes that moderation is key to reaching goals and implementing small daily changes in habits creates a lifetime of success. Taylor enjoys spending time with his dogs (Arya and Karma) and his wife Jennifer. Taylor also enjoys playing sports such as paintball and basketball with friends.
Other Specialities: Sports Nutrition, Hypertension, Weight Management, Dialysis
Farrah Kaviratna
RD, LDN
Farrah has been a dietitian for the past decade with the past 8 years specifically as a Renal Dietitian. During this time she's seen how difficult it can be for some patients to make changes needed for kidney care. Her ultimate goal is to make the "diet" work for you, your lifestyle, and food preferences!
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cholesterol Management, Hypertension, Cancer
Melody Bojang
RD, CSR, LDN
Melody is board certified in renal nutrition. Clients and their families who work with Melody, will feel empowered as they are guided through evidence-based strategies to manage various stages of kidney disease. In her spare time, Melody enjoys planning staycations and running behind beagle mix puppies.
Other Specialities: Diabetes, Hypertension, Weight Management, Bariatric Surgery (pre/post)
Amity Sanders
RD, LDN
Amity has spent the last 25 years working with chronic kidney disease and dialysis patients at a dialysis center. She has also been the caretaker for her mother and sister during and after they received the gift of life of a kidney transplant. Amity is passionate about educating clients on things they can do to preserve kidney function and how to be actively involved in their care. In her free time she loves gardening, traveling and spending time with her husband and 2 sons.
Other Specialities: Post kidney transplant, weight management, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia
Maja (Maya) Halepovic
RD
Maya has been a Registered Dietitian for almost 20 years, specializing in chronic disease management. She has been working in the U.S. as a Renal Dietitian, managing patients on dialysis for several years and as a Diabetes Educator while practicing in Canada. Maya prides herself on building strong relationships with her clients and their success in managing chronic kidney disease without dialysis as long as possible. She is passionate in applying a holistic approach to disease management and empowering her clients to make positive changes to their health and well-being.
Other Specialties: Health Coach, Dialysis, Diabetes, Heart Health, High Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Management, Weight Management
James Horton
MPH, RDN
James is a dietitian and public health professional that enjoys empowering others to live healthier lives. In
the past he has worked in community nutrition assisting expecting mothers and their families establish
healthy habits. He has spent the last couple of years working with renal patients to better manage their
kidney disease and comorbidities. He also teaches nutrition fundamentals to students at a local university. He uses a client-centered approach designed to identify and adopt small and acceptable changes that add up
to healthy outcomes. In his free time he enjoys being active outdoors with his wife and daughter no matter
what the season, but he especially loves a good patio in the summer.
Other specialties: Kidney disease, maternal, infant and childhood nutrition, hypertension, diabetes and
weight management.
Interested in Joining our RD Roster?
RD
Email Info@VidaEats.co to inquire.
We look for compassionate, emphathetic dietitians who use behavioral change therapy counseling techniques.
We focus on being culturally competent and meeting clients where they are. We are NOT the food police.
Must have experience in a speciality and 1-on-1 counseling.