Maria Steinbaugh
Researcher,
Administrator, Educator
Maria Steinbaugh RD, PhD, LD,
Chippewa Tribe of the Turtle Mountain Reservation, North
Dakota enjoyed teaching. First, as a clinical dietitian,
she taught patients. Then, as an instructor in the
Department of Medical Dietetics at Emory University, she
taught future dietitians. To better prepare herself for
teaching, Steinbaugh earned a PhD in educational
development at Ohio State University.
In taking a
position as Associate Director of Medical Nutrition
Education at Ross Labs, a division of Abbott Labs, she
began a career that lasted almost 25 years. Initially she
focused on educating physicians and other healthcare
professional about the relatively new field of medical
nutrition therapy and how innovative medical nutritional
products could be helpful, particularly in caring for
hospitalized patients. “This work provided an opportunity
to utilize a variety of educational mediums, including
lectures, print materials and publications, films, and also
computers, which were a new educational form at the time,”
says Steinbaugh.
Later Steinbaugh and her staff became involved in the
design and research of new medical nutritional products. “I
enjoyed being involved in the entire development process,”
says Steinbaugh. “Many of the people in our
department were dietitians. We had lots of
connections with doctors, nurses and dietitians, so we were
in touch with the shortcomings of medical nutritional
therapy options, available products and the need for new
ones.” This information enabled Steinbaugh and
her colleagues to design products with precise amounts of
calories, protein, vitamins and minerals. Once food
scientists formulated a product, Steinbaugh and her
colleagues conducted the clinical research at universities,
hospitals, and long-term care institutions to determine the
value and therapeutic benefit of the product.
Steinbaugh enjoyed the teamwork involved in education and
research. Early in her time at Ross, Steinbaugh was
promoted to director in her department. Part of her success
as an administrator perhaps came from the high value she
placed on the unique perspectives and experienced that the
diverse members in her group brought to their work.
This
article was originally published in the Summer, 2009
issue of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is William Rabbit, Cherokee.)