Announcing the 2026 CV-Well Award Recipients!
CV-Well is excited to acknowledge the outstanding practice and significant contributions these members have made, and continue to make, toward the promotion of CV-Well's work as a DPG, and in the areas of cardiovascular health and wellness.
We look forward to recognizing and celebrating these deserving award winners with our CV-Well community at FNCE® 2026. If you'll be attending, we hope you'll join us in honoring their accomplishments and congratulating them in person.
Congratulations to each of our 2026 award recipients! Your passion, service, and impact make our profession stronger.
2026 Excellence in Practice Award
This award recognizes outstanding practice of a member in one of CV-Well's practice areas (cardiovascular health/nutrition and/or wellness and well-being). Excellence encompasses visibility of practice in a CV-Well practice area, professional accomplishments demonstrated to advance and impact the profession, and outstanding leadership and service to the profession.
Dr. Carrie Hamady, EdD, MS, RD, LD, FAND
Dr. Carrie Hamady is an exceptional educator, mentor, and leader whose work has left a profound mark on the infrastructure of dietetics practice. With over 25 years of experience in nutrition higher education and clinical practice, Dr. Hamady currently serves as a vital force at Bowling Green State University, where she championed and developed a fully online didactic program to increase career access for post-traditional students and NDTRs. Her visionary leadership within the CV-Well DPG was foundational; as the inaugural Member Engagement Chair following the SCAN DPG division, she successfully benchmarked and co-created the highly impactful CV-Well Mentoring Circles, building a sustainable roadmap for future DPG leaders. A recognized champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, she also recently completed a landmark term as President of the Ohio Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
2026 Achievement Award
This award recognizes a practitioner who has left a legacy to CV-Well and the dietetics profession through a history of leadership within CV-Well and outstanding service to the profession.
Manju Karkare, MS, RDN, LDN, FAND
Manju Karkare embodies the true definition of a “legacy leader”, having spent over 20 years in service to the Academy, CV-Well, and the communities she cares deeply about. During the SCAN/CV-Well DPG transition, she served as a founding visionary, helping shape the organization's direction during a pivotal moment. She stepped into the role of Leadership Cultivation Director for CV-Well, and had the privilege of nurturing the professional development of 74 mentees over two years to ensure thriving leadership pipeline. As founder and President of Nutritionally Yours LLC since 2012, she continues to bring integrative nutrition into everyday practice. Manju’s professional accomplishments include serving as Academy Treasurer, and advocacy efforts supporting the federal MNT Act to broaden Medicare coverage for MNT. Her work with Cooking Matters focused on making heart-healthy habits accessible to culturally diverse and underserved communities led to her induction into the “Cooking Matters Hall of Fame”, an honor she considers a reflection of the communities that inspired the work in the first place.
2026 Distinguished Scholar Award
This award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to research or the practice of dietetics as a result of continued commitment to scholarship.
Dr. Satya S. Jonnalagadda, PhD, MBA, RD
Dr. Satya S. Jonnalagadda is a powerhouse in the nutrition field, recognized globally for her exceptional intersection of pioneering research, academic rigor, and global industry leadership. Currently serving as the Vice President of Scientific and Clinical Affairs at Medifast, and holding previous Director and Principal Scientist roles at Abbott Nutrition and General Mills, Dr. Jonnalagadda has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact scientific journals. Her clinical research has directly shaped the profession, from spearheading early defining work on whole-grain health benefits that influenced national dietary policies, to publishing current "gold-standard" evidence protocols for managing skeletal muscle preservation during GLP-1 medical weight loss therapies. Her commitment to advancing scholarship is further highlighted by her transformative tenure as Editor-in-Chief of CV-Well's Pathways publication (2021–2025), where she established an active writing mentorship pipeline for rising practitioners.