Creating seats at the table is routine for Jaclyn Albin, M.D., CCMS, DipABLM, founding Director of UT Southwestern’s Culinary Medicine Program.

“What excites me most about culinary medicine is that it naturally brings people together to build bridges and solve problems. No single profession can solve the nutrition-related challenges facing our communities. The most meaningful progress happens when experts from different disciplines learn from one another and work toward shared goals and systems change,” said Dr. Albin, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

For her newest role, Dr. Albin has been selected to serve as President of the American College of Culinary Medicine (ACCM), a national organization focused on culinary medicine education, clinical care, and research. Her focus will center on alignment, collaboration, and sustainable growth.

“Culinary medicine has expanded rapidly across academic institutions, health systems, and communities. We have an opportunity to ensure that growth remains connected and collaborative rather than fragmented,” she said. “I want to create seats at the table for every stakeholder who contributes to this work, including physicians, dietitians, chefs, public health professionals, pharmacists, nurses, community organizations, farmers, researchers, learners, and patients.”

Key priorities include advancing educational integration across training programs, building collaborative multisite research networks, strengthening the evidence base, supporting clinical implementation, and ensuring that community expertise is consistently highlighted and valued, she said.

Dr. Albin also was recently named an Honorary Member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and earlier this year she received the Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Bluebonnet Award. These awards reflect her commitment to the field of nutrition as a collaborative leader alongside registered dietitian nutritionist colleagues.

Late last year, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Dr. Albin to a four-year term on the seven-member Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee (TNAC). She serves in the seat designated for a pediatrician and was elected as Chair, playing a key leadership role in coordinating subject matter experts and drafting the committee’s inaugural report.

“This appointment reflects a growing recognition that nutrition must be central to health and that meaningful progress requires collaboration across education, healthcare, public health, agriculture, and community settings,” Dr. Albin said. “I’m excited to support SB 25’s vision of nutrition education across the lifespan to help make healthy choices easier to understand, access, and realistically sustain for Texans and their families.”

Passed by the 89th Texas Legislature, Senate Bill 25 established new requirements for nutrition education in primary, secondary, collegiate, and medical education across the state. The TNAC will make recommendations for these educational mandates alongside evidence review and dietary guidelines in its first report, which will go to state leaders by Sept. 1.

In the early months of her term, Dr. Albin has guided the committee to establish shared priorities, conduct a rigorous review of the evidence, and provide clear, practical guidance for families, schools, and advanced education programs. Long term, the goal is to strengthen nutrition literacy statewide, advance interprofessional healthcare training to promote collaborative nutrition care, support policies that make healthy choices easier, and improve chronic disease outcomes across Texas, she said.

“I’m encouraged by the momentum around nutrition policy and hopeful that Texas can lead by showing how evidence, culture, and practicality can work together,” she added. “Nourishing dietary patterns shouldn’t rely on individual willpower alone, and change necessitates shared infrastructure built across schools, clinics, and communities.”