Gail Frank is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Health Education Specialist. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Tx and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health Nutrition and a Doctorate in Epidemiology both from Tulane University, New Orleans. Gail served as an Academy media spokesperson for 19 years.
Dr. Frank designed and directed the dietary studies of the Bogalusa Heart Study for 16 years at Louisiana State University Medical Center. She is a past President of the New Orleans Dietetic Association and a Past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association in Long Beach, CA where she moved with her two sons in 1989 and has been a Professor of Nutrition at California State University and Director of the Dietetic Internship, graduating 379 RDNs into the nutrition field as of July, 2023.
Gail was Co-PI for the ‘Women’s Health Initiative’ Clinical Center at the University of California Irvine Med. Center for 10 years and Co-Principal Director for a $3.5 million USDA community obesity research grant with Latino families to prevent childhood overweight for 7 years. During this community-based participatory research program Gail developed with colleagues, ‘Sanos y Fuertes,’ for which she received the ‘2023 Nutrition Education for the Public Award of Excellence’.
Gail served on the Academy’s Weight Management Certificate Program faculty for 15 years training RDNs on Motivational Interviewing & Cultural Competence. She received the Academy’s Award for ‘Excellence in Education & Research’, later “Excellence in Education”, a Medallion Award from the Academy, and the “Trinko Award” from LAHIDAN-MIG for service to Latinos. Gail has published 122 manuscripts and is the single author of the 2nd Edition of a community nutrition book, ‘Applying Epidemiology to Contemporary Practice.’