Victoria Hammer Castellanos, PhD, RD

Dr. Castellanos is founding Director of the Long Term Care Institute at the National Policy and Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging, funded by the federal Administration on Aging. Areas of nutrition expertise include the psychological and physiological regulation of food intake, protein nutrition, and nutrition issues in long term care (LTC).

Her current research focus is improving the nutritional status of the nearly 1.6 million Americans in the nation's nursing homes. Castellanos and her research group are taking a multifaceted and evidence-based practice approach to solving the nutrition-related problems in LTC.

For example, as part of a grant from the US Health Care Financing Administration and the Administration on Aging, her research team is looking at how to achieve adequate feeding assistance for residents, how to systematically increase their fluid intake to prevent dehydration and how to obtain accurate assessments of food intake, fluid intake and anthropometrics in the nursing home environment.

Dr. Castellanos, a member of the American Dietetic Association practice groups, Consultant Dietitians in Health Care Facilities and Gerontological Nutritionists, is active in the Broward County Dietetic Association. Castellanos, a registered dietitian, holds both a Master of Science and Doctorate in Nutrition from the University of California at Davis.

She also completed a National Institute of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Castellanos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, College of Health and Urban Affairs, at Florida International University in Miami, FL.