Virginia Chaidez, Ph.D., RD, directs the Translational Nutrition Sciences Research Center within the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals. Dr. Chaidez is a registered dietitian with experience in clinical, research, teaching and community settings. She earned her PhD in Nutrition from the University of California, Davis (UCD) and completed her postdoctoral training with UCD’s Public Health Sciences Department and the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute. Dr. Chaidez’s extensive experiences provide her with a broad lens for advancing ecological approaches to address complex public health problems, with a specific focus on underlying social and community determinants of health. As a health disparities researcher, Dr. Chaidez blends her expertise in nutrition and public health to help promote the nutrition, health and wellbeing of individuals recovering from COVID-19 and other chronic conditions.