Our Team
Carine Lenders, MD, MS
Medical Director
Dr. Lenders has been the medical director of the NFL Program since 2003. She also heads the Pediatric Nutrition Support Services at Boston Medical Center, and she serves as attending physician for the Nutrition Support Team at the Children's Hospital of Boston.
Dr. Lenders is a former family practitioner with a master’s degree in tropical medicine, who graduated with honors from the State University of Liege, Belgium. She spent several months in the Congo with Médecins sans Frontières and three years in Bangladesh at the International Center of Diarrheal Diseases and Research.
She was a fellow in pediatric nutrition at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine), a resident in pediatrics at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a fellow in the Combined Program of Pediatric Gastroenterology (MGH and Children’s Hospital of Boston-CHB) at Harvard Medical School. She also served as the co-director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) program at CHB from 1998 to 2003.
She is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists. Dr. Lenders is also an assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and on faculty at Harvard Medical School. She has received several education grants and is involved in the vertical integration of nutrition at BUSM. She recently edited a clinical guide book on overweight and obesity with Caroline Apovian, MD, that earned an outstanding review in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Her current research interests include the relationship of selective dietary components and medications to weight gain and obesity-related conditions.
Clinicians
 Margaret Marino, PhD
Psychologist/Behavior Therapist
Margaret Marino, PhD is the psychologist and behavior therapist for NFL. She has worked in the field of eating disorders and obesity for over fifteen years, and has directed two outpatient eating disorder and obesity teams. She has published in the area of eating disorders and obesity as well as trauma. Dr. Marino received her PhD from Boston College, and she did her clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to her role at Boston Medical Center, Dr. Marino also counsels in private practice.
 Alan Meyers, MD, MPH
Attending Physician
Dr. Meyers is an attending physician for NFL as well as a primary care pediatrician at Boston Medical Center. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his internship at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City and both his pediatric residency and fellowship in ambulatory pediatrics at Boston City Hospital. Dr. Meyers is also currently an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. He has special interests in the nutritional health of children in disadvantaged populations, and he enjoys reading, riding his bicycle, woodworking and taking pictures.
 Vivien Morris, MS, RD, MPH, LDN
Dietitian/Director of Community Initiatives
Vivien Morris is the Director of Community Initiatives for the NFL Program. She oversees nutrition education and fitness programs and projects to improve access to healthy, affordable foods and physical activity in under-served communities. Vivien is a clinical dietitian with 20 years experience in counseling pediatric patients and their families. She was raised in North Carolina and graduated with honors from Harvard College with majors in African American and Afro-Latin Studies.
She completed her graduate degree in nutrition at Framingham State College and her dietetic internship at Boston Medical Center. She also completed a graduate degree in Maternal and Child Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, where she subsequently received the Alumni Award for outstanding service. Vivien is the former director of the Massachusetts Partnership for Healthy Weight, a statewide coalition focusing on obesity prevention and treatment. Vivien has received numerous awards for community service and for her professional work. She is a wife and mother and enjoys reading, gardening and long walks.
 Lauren Oliver, MS, RD, LDN
Clinical Dietitian
Lauren Oliver is the Clinical Dietitian for the NFL program, providing individualized nutritional counseling for patients and their families. Originally from Texas, Lauren graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with bachelor’s degrees in nutrition and a liberal arts honors program. She completed graduate studies in nutrition at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in coordination with a clinical-focused dietetic internship at Tufts-New England Medical Center, where she was awarded the Rebecca Roubenoff award for excellence in clinical dietetics. She is a member of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association and is certified in pediatric weight management by the American Dietetic Association’s Commission on Dietetic Registration. Lauren enjoys many hobbies, including singing, dancing, learning foreign languages, cooking and swimming.
Non-Clinicians
Maren Anderson, MPP
Reimbursement and Coverage Strategies Consultant
Catherine Logan, MSPT
Physical Therapist Consultant
Eunice Santos
Scheduling/Admin Coordinator
Community Initiatives Staff
Julie Vanier Rollins, MA
Program Coordinator, FANtastic Kids
617.414.6879
Julie serves as the Program Coordinator for the FANtastic Kids Fitness and Nutrition Program. She is originally from Ontario, Canada and has lived in Boston since 2002. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario in 1999 and a Masters degree in Sport Psychology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2002. Prior to joining the NFL team, Julie was an Urban Youth Sports’ Sports Health Coordinator at the Bowdoin Street Health Center while working with Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society.
Julie brings 15 years of youth development experience with an emphasis on coaching, mentoring and academic support. She served as the Co-chair for the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness Youth and Families Committee August 2007-2008.
Julie Thayer, MS, MPH
Youth Development Specialist
617.414.4542
As the NFL Program’s Youth Development Specialist, Julie aims to sharpen the leadership and critical thinking skills of the program’s peer leaders (in the community initiative part of the NFL Program) through food- and fitness-related projects. She also serves as Project Manager for the Real Cost of a Healthy Diet, a BMC initiative that examines the affordability and availability of healthy foods in Boston and Philadelphia neighborhoods and advocates for increased funding for the Food Stamp Program.
Julie was raised in Wisconsin and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin in Nutritional Sciences and Environmental Studies. She graduated from Tufts University with a master’s degree in Nutrition Science and Policy from the Friedman School (agriculture, food and environment program) and a master’s degree in public health. She works toward increasing access to healthy food in Boston by organizing a farmers’ market at BMC and co-chairing the Youth and Families Committee of the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness. Julie enjoys cooking, traveling, reading and exploring Boston’s green spaces with her partner and their dog.
John Cook, PhD
Project Evaluator
617.414.5129
Dr. Cook conducts research on food insecurity and energy insecurity, and their impacts on the health of young low-income children and their mothers. Current research also includes assessment of affordability and accessibility of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods of Boston and Philadelphia, and viable approaches to food systems reform. Dr. Cook is a Senior Research Scientist with Children’s HealthWatch, and is project evaluator for several programs within the Department of Pediatrics’ Nutrition and Fitness for Life (NFL) program, including its FANtastic Kids intervention to reduce obesity among elementary-school-age children. He also consults with America’s Second Harvest, the Nation’s Foodbank Network and chairs the Technical Advisory Group for its national research studies.
Amaru J. Sanchez, BS
Research Assistant
Amaru Sanchez serves as a research assistant for the FANtastic Kids Fitness and Nutrition Program. He is originally from Granada, Nicaragua, but has lived in Miami, Florida for most of his life. He earned a bachelor’s of science in integrative biology from the University of Florida in 2006 and is currently a graduate student at Boston University School of Public Health concentrating in social and behavioral sciences. Prior to working with the NFL team, Amaru served as medical assistant in a low income Latino/Hispanic community in Miami, Florida. Amaru’s public health interests include: social injustices/inequalities, cultural competency, public health advocacy and social epidemiology.
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