Zaira Suarez Ahumada,

Zaira Suarez Ahumada, MS, RD, LD is a registered and licensed dietitian. She earned both her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Foods and her Master of Science in Human Nutrition from Texas State University. Throughout her academic career, Zaira focused her professional nutrition interests on food insecurity, picky eating, and pediatric nutrition access. She participated in university research projects in collaboration with the Head Start Program and the Best Food FITS program, which were both based in San Marcos, Texas and shared similar missions of increasing food and nutrition education access in early childhood.
While completing her graduate studies, Zaira worked as a nutritionist for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) serving the San Antonio community. This experience enhanced her pediatric nutrition knowledge in tandem with her Master’s coursework, while further developing her counseling skills in providing nutrition education to mothers, alongside breastfeeding, gestational, and postpartum nutrition support. Her patient population primarily consisted of individuals experiencing food insecurity from Hispanic/Latin communities, as well as refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa residing in San Antonio, Texas. Through this role, Zaira built a strong foundation in community nutrition and culturally responsive counseling.
At the start of 2022, Zaira enrolled in the Gulf Coast Dietetic Internship to complete her supervised hours as a dietetic intern. Her experience opportunities included food service and management at Baptist Medical Center, community nutrition at Esperanza Eating Disorders Center and Life Balance Nutrition LLC, and clinical dietetics at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan, all located in San Antonio, Texas. In the clinical setting, Zaira explored a multitude of hospital environments, including but not limited to malnutrition, intensive care unit, oncology, and neonatal critical care (NICU). During this time, she focused her professional projects which included a case study on esophageal cancer and a comprehensive report on older adult malnutrition screening in hospital settings. Zaira's history with the Esperanza Eating Disorders Center
began in 2019, when she joined the team as a dietetic technician while finishing graduate school and preparing for her
dietetic internship. After obtaining her registration and licensure, she returned to Esperanza EDC as the primary adult dietitian. In this role, Zaira performed nutritional assessments and provided nutrition education, support, and interventions to adolescents and adults enrolled in partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs. She treated a wide spectrum of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), and avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Having worked in the eating disorders field for seven years, she is currently a candidate for the Certified Eating Disorders Specialist credential through the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp). During her final year at Esperanza EDC, Zaira served as the Director of Dietary Services, expanding her responsibilities into a leadership role that included supervising the dietary team. She is especially passionate about treating adult patients with long standing eating disorders or those who meet the criteria for a severe and enduring eating disorder (SEED), which are complex cases in which she developed proficiency during her tenure at Esperanza EDC. Today, Zaira has recently transitioned to a new role at UT Health MD Anderson Cancer Center at Mays Cancer Center, serving as a Senior Clinical Dietitian in oncology. Zaira’s background in oncology includes clinical practice at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan as well as specialized graduate coursework in cancer nutrition and cancer biology. Through the Patient Family Services offered at the Mays Cancer Center, she will provide nutritional support to patients and their families undergoing active cancer care.

Outside of work, I like to spend a lot of time with my German Shorthair Pointer dog named Conchita. We play outside daily
and go to the park often. I also play padel which is a racquet ball game similar to tennis. I join a community league that competes weekly. I not only get to experience friendly competition, it is also a great way to build community. At home, you will see me doing fun cooking, baking, listening to a nerdy podcast (I recommend This Podcast Wil Kill You), and watching some good reality TV.