About Pro-style Nutrition Consulting, LLC
MEET DR. MELISSA BROWN
Dr. Melissa Brown (Dr. B) is a doctorally trained registered and licensed dietitian and a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) with over 25 years of experience in the field of sports nutrition. Dr. B has always been an athlete but did not become interested in sports nutrition until 1994 when she began her combined MS in Nutrition/Dietetic Internship at Rush University in Chicago. Some consider the mid-90s to be the “start” of sports nutrition and Dr. B was incredibly fortunate to have been taught and trained by some of the best in the field. These include true pioneers such as Julie Burns who founded SportFuel and was the first dietitian to work with an NHL team, the Chicago Blackhawks; Dr. Kristine Clark, the first full-time collegiate sports dietitian (Penn State), and Dr. Dan Benardot during his time at Gatorade Sports Science Institute. This was an exciting new time when most did not even know what sports nutrition was; now, it is hard to find someone who has not heard of it. Dr. B has been working with athletes ever since and has experience with high school, collegiate, amateur adult, elite and professional athletes, as well as working with teams, groups and helping with program development. Dr. B also has almost as many years of experience in the field of islet transplantation and diabetes research. Dr. B’s doctoral work and post-doctoral work was in this field and as far as we know, she is the only dietitian that has been trained to perform islet transplantations. Dr. B still maintains her islet and diabetes research laboratory to this day. Some may wonder what the connection is between these two specialty areas and Dr. B’s response to that is: metabolism! The connection is fascinating and involves optimal fueling of athletes and individuals with diabetes and what happens when things go wrong! Specific sports that Dr. B participates in are soccer and taekwondo earning her 3rd degree Black Belt in 2010 and serving as an Instructor. One could also count golf in that mix but there’s probably only 1 or 2 days out of the year that she says she plays “well” and the rest are just a frustrating but enjoyable way to spend an afternoon out in nature.
University of Massachusetts Amherst: BS in Nutrition Science
Rush University, Chicago, IL: MS in Clinical Nutrition
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center: Dietetic Internship
University of Illinois at Chicago: Doctorate in Nutrition Science
University of Massachusetts Medical Center: Post-doctoral Fellowship in Islet Transplantation
MEET KANEEN GOMEZ-HIXSON
Kaneen Gomez-Hixson has experience in both sports nutrition and clinical nutrition. Kaneen specializes in sports and performance nutrition and works as the Lead Sports Dietitian at the USJ Athlete Nutrition Advising Program (ANAP). The ANAP allows her to work with collegiate athletes across all NCAA divisions, high school and youth athletes, as well as professional and elite athletes from a variety of sports. In addition to teaching five undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) in West Hartford, CT, Kaneen works as a clinical adjunct preceptor within the USJ Dietetic Internship Program. Outside of USJ, Kaneen works as an inpatient clinical dietitian at an acute-care hospital in Connecticut. Prior to moving back to the United States for college, Kaneen spent six years living in Singapore. This is where her competitive running career began and her interest in sports nutrition grew—primarily out of making every nutrition and hydration mistake possible while competing in cross-country and track and field throughout Southeast Asia. She has maintained her original goal of specializing in sports nutrition and is extremely passionate about sharing what makes this specialty so fascinating and fulfilling. As the co-owner of Pro-Style Nutrition Consulting, LLC, Kaneen hopes to continue to help athletes at all levels understand the importance of nutrition for their sport and help them accomplish their health and performance goals! Her primary research goals focus on the impact relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) has on the health and well-being of athletes.
University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT: BS in Nutrition
University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT: Dietetic Internship
University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT: MS in Nutrition
Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL: PhD student, Health Science with sports nutrition concentration.
Specialties
Sports and Performance Nutrition
Experience with athletes and teams of all levels: Including youth, high school, collegiate, amateur competitive adults, elite and professional athletes.