Search
Featured
Events
Meet Rosalyne Tu
Rosalyne Tu, MS, RD has traveled an educational and vocational path defining her skills and experience as a Biometrics Manager, Dietitian, and Wellness Advisor for the BeWell Program.
After earning her BS in Nutritional Science (UC Berkeley) and completing her dietetic internship (Penn State), Rosalyne began her career as a clinical dietitian working in hospitals and outpatient services. Having worked with a majority of patients with diabetes, heart, liver and kidney disease, she knew that the next step in her career should be in prevention because she believed in the value of keeping people healthy. During her experience in the clinical setting, Rosalyne quickly realized that telling people what they should do just wasn’t enough to help them change their behaviors. Knowing that she was destined to work in wellness and prevention, and recognizing the need to develop her skills in counseling and behavior change, Rosalyne went back to school and earned her MS in Nutrition and Applied Physiology from Columbia University.
Subsequently, Rosalyne worked for the Department of Health (DOH) and the Obesity Research Center in New York City. At the DOH, she focused on collecting and analyzing data monitoring the effectiveness of the Calorie Initiative (the law requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menu boards). At the Obesity Research Center, Rosalyne researched the effects of discounted fruits and vegetables on purchasing and consumption of supermarket shoppers. Data from this study was intended to influence nutrition policy relating to food subsidies provided by the government.
After experiencing a few years of humid, sticky summers and arctic cold winters, Rosalyne came back west to continue her passions in wellness, public health and policy. She began working for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPHD), specifically for The Childhood Feeding Collaborative, an obesity prevention program focused on educating families and pediatricians on best practices in feeding guidance for kids 0-6 years of age. During her time at the SCCPHD, Rosalyne was also on the reviewing committee for the recent Nutritional Standards, which passed in Santa Clara County. This policy, which went into effect in 2012, has been called “the most comprehensive healthy food and beverage policy in the state — and possibly the nation.”
Since starting at Stanford in 2011, Rosalyne has been able to combine her interests of health on a public health scale and her enjoyment of connecting with people on a one-on-one basis. In addition to advising BeWell participants, she teaches HIP cooking classes, and has recently become the Manager of Biometrics for BeWell’s Wellness Profile. Rosalyne feels blessed and honored to have the opportunity to engage with so many of Stanford’s employees through the BeWell program. “People are doing great things for their health despite the uphill journey; there is much to admire in this population,” she says.
In addition to being thankful for a job she loves, she is especially grateful for the new addiction in her life: her recently born daughter! Although life has changed drastically, Rosalyne is still working on maintaining her hobbies of gardening, cooking and physical activity while establishing her “new normal” as a working mother.