Clinical Nutrition

Frances Stern Nutrition Center

Services for a range of nutritional and metabolic problems

The Frances Stern Nutrition Center (FSNC) provides outpatient and inpatient nutrition services at Tufts Medical Center. Services offered to ambulatory patients include individual counseling and personalized dietary planning. Services provided to patients during their hospital stay include nutritional assessment, food and nutrition care, counseling and nutritional support when necessary. 

Nutrition is an essential component of wellness, disease risk reduction and treatment. FSNC dietitians are guided by the belief that eating should be enjoyable for all - those with and without special dietary needs.
Outpatient services

Ambulatory patients visit FSNC’s outpatient dietitians for a host of reasons – from help with general healthy eating to more complex medical conditions requiring highly specialized medical nutrition therapy. Our dietitians work one-on-one with patients to tailor a plan to their individual nutrition needs. They provide advice about optimal eating patterns and the maintenance of healthy lifestyle, both at home and away.

 Nutrition topics include: 

  • Healthy eating and wellness
  • Weight management
  • Diabetes self-management (prediabetes, Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes)
  • Heart healthy eating
  • Nutrition considerations in gastrointestinal diseases (celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease, gastroesophogeal reflux, and other issues)
  • Nutrition considerations in kidney disease (chronic kidney disease, kidney stones, and other issues)
  • Eating well with cancer
  • Thriving with food allergies and intolerances 
  • Wholesome eating during pregnancy and lactation
  • Healthy eating for children 
  • Therapeutic diets for children with special needs
  • And much more...

Inpatient services

FSNC’s inpatient dietitians provide nutritional assessment, food and nutrition care, and counseling for patients during their hospital stay. Through FSNC’s affiliation with Tufts Medical Center’s Nutrition Support Service, our dietitians also work with medical and nursing staff to offer special enteral and parenteral nutrition support by oral nutritional supplements, tube feeding, or intravenous feeding in the acute and critical care settings. We provide services to all hospitalized patients in areas including:

  • Kidney, heart, and bone marrow transplants
  • Critically ill patients with complex medical and surgical problems
  • Adult and pediatric trauma
  • Gastrointestinal surgery and malabsorption
  • General surgical conditions
  • Cancers and other blood diseases, including cancer of the head and neck
  • Heart and kidney disease
  • Neurological impairment
  • Pediatrics and term and preterm newborn care
  • Obstetrics and gynecology, including hyperemesis gravidarum and gestational diabetes
  • Long term acute care and rehabilitation

In addition to inpatient and outpatient services, the Frances Stern Nutrition Center is officially accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) as the site of the combined Dietetic Internship/Master’s Degree program.  This program provides a combination of a Master’s degree from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy with a dietetic internship at Tufts Medical Center as the certified site for supervised clinical training. Upon completion, students are eligible to sit for the Registered Dietitian (RD) examination to earn the RD credential. For additional information, please refer to the Tufts University Friedman School website. Graduates are distinguished in many clinical and community nutrition positions, as well as in higher education. A number of the graduates of the program have received doctoral or other higher degrees.

The Frances Stern Nutrition Center was established in 1918, is one of the oldest nutrition clinics in the world, and it continues to serve as a model for many other nutrition clinics in the United States and abroad. The clinic is named for Frances Stern, a community and clinical nutritionist in Boston in the early 20th century who helped to revolutionize nutrition education by developing individualized, culturally sensitive approaches to counseling patients that involved experiential learning using visual aids, food models, and ethnic recipes in her instruction. Later innovations included training dietitians in oral health.

The Center has hosted nutrition scientists and dietitians on sabbaticals and for visits from clinical dietitians from countries such as Israel, Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea. Interactions with these clinical nutrition professionals enrich the exposure of staff and students to the best national and international dietetics programs. In the past several decades, the Center has participated in several large national clinical trials of various dietary treatments, conducted other clinical nutrition research, and members of the Center have published several books and several hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Edward Saltzman, MD

Edward Saltzman, MD

Title(s): Chief, Division of Clinical Nutrition; Director, Adult Nutrition Support Services; Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; Dean for Education, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Department(s): Medicine, Clinical Nutrition
Appt. Phone:
Fax #:

Enteral and parenteral nutrition

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Dara Borto, MS, RD, CNSC, LDN

Dara Borto, MS, RD, CNSC, LDN

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Clinical Dietitian; Clinical Instructor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #:

Oncology, renal, surgery, nutrition support

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Johanna Dwyer, DSc, RD

Johanna Dwyer, DSc, RD

Title(s): Director, Frances Stern Nutrition Center; Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Department(s): Medicine, Clinical Nutrition
Appt. Phone:
Fax #:

Clinical nutrition

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Lydia Fernandes, MS, RD, LDN

Lydia Fernandes, MS, RD, LDN

Title(s): Clinical Dietitian
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #: 671-636-2864

General Medicine and General Surgery

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picture of Andrew S. Greenberg, MD
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Andrew S. Greenberg, MD

Accepting New Patients

Title(s): Endocrinologist; Dr. Robert and Veronica Atkins Professor in Metabolism and Nutrition, Tufts University School of Medicine
Department(s): Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Appt. Phone: 617-556-3144
Fax #: 617-556-3224

Obesity, lipid disorders, diabetes, general endocrinology

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Haewook Han, PhD, RD, CSR, LDN

Haewook Han, PhD, RD, CSR, LDN

Title(s): Renal Nutrition Specialist; Clinical Instructor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Renal Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition Research

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Kelly Kane, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Kelly Kane, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Title(s): Director of Nutrition and Business Operations, Dietetic Internship Director; Assistant Professor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Tufts University School of Medicine
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-8309
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Nutrition Support, Dietetics Education

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Joel B. Mason, MD
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Joel B. Mason, MD

Accepting New Patients

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Gastroenterologist; Professor, Tufts University Schools of Medicine and Friedman School of Nutritional Science and Policy; Senior Scientist and Director, Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
Department(s): Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Gastroenterology
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5883
Fax #: 617-636-1480

Malabsorption and unintentional weight loss, Inflammatory bowel disease, nutritional aspects of gastrointestinal disease, home nutritional therapy, enteral and parenteral nutrition

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Carole A. Palmer, EdD, RD

Carole A. Palmer, EdD, RD

Title(s): Nutritionist; Professor, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine; Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Adjunct Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone:
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Nutrition and Oral Health

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Annie Paquette, MS, RD, LDN, CSP

Annie Paquette, MS, RD, LDN, CSP

Title(s): Pediatric Clinical Dietitian
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5230
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Clinical Instructor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

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Lauren Parsly, RD, LDN

Lauren Parsly, RD, LDN

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Transplant Dietitian
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Surgery, renal, cardiothoracic surgery, transplant, GI, nutrition support

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Yvette Penner, RD, LDN, CNSC

Yvette Penner, RD, LDN, CNSC

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Neonatal Nutritionist
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #: 617-636-2864

Prenatal, neonatal and pediatric nutrition care

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Grace Phelan, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Grace Phelan, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Title(s): Nutrition Support Coordinator; Clinical Instructor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-6428
Fax #: 617-636-2864

Nutrition Support, Critical Care

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Alicia Romano, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Alicia Romano, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5273
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Oncology/hematology, gastrointestinal disease, food allergies, liver disease, renal disease, cardiac critical care, weight management

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Richard D. Siegel, MD
Book an Appointment

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Richard D. Siegel, MD

Accepting New Patients

Virtual Appointments Available

Title(s): Co-Director, Diabetes and Lipid Center; Endocrinologist; Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
Department(s): Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5689
Fax #: 617-636-4719

Diabetes, obesity, inpatient and outpatient diabetes, general endocrinology

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Aaron Slader, MS, RD, LDN

Aaron Slader, MS, RD, LDN

Title(s): Clinical Dietitian
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5237
Fax #: 617-636-2864

Inpatient clinical dietetics

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Rachel Wilkinson, MS, RD, LDN

Rachel Wilkinson, MS, RD, LDN

Title(s): Registered Dietitian
Department(s): Frances Stern Nutrition Center
Appt. Phone: 617-636-5275
Fax #: 671-636-2864

Hematology/Oncology, Neurology

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Clinic hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

**Patients are advised to bring a referral from a health care practitioner in order to make an appointment so that all the relevant medical information can be made available, and to ensure that if your insurance covers the visit it can be billed appropriately.**

Frances Stern Nutrition Center Clinic

860 Washington Street
South Building, Mezzanine Level
Boston, MA 02111
Located within the Weight and Wellness Center

Phone: (617) 636-5273 (outpatient services) or (617) 636 5275 (administrative offices)