Docs in the kitchen: A gastrodietary learning experience
A Cookin' Docs production brought to you by the University of Arizona Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Watermark Retirement Communities’ Hacienda at the River:
Eat healthy, eat delicious
Saturday, June 10 | 4 - 6 p.m.
Savor the best of both worlds – a physician’s expertise and culinary excellence. Juanita Merchant, MD, the chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Arizona, leads a team of doctors who will introduce you to scrumptious dishes to help manage celiac disease and other gut-related issues. The Hacienda® at the River’s Executive Chef David Sullivan will contribute his talents to an exciting cooking demonstration. Learn about food as therapy and bring questions for the specialists. Discover nutritional strategies that can help you thrive every day. Small bites and wine will be served during the presentation, and a buffet dinner follows. This event is a fundraiser with a portion of the ticket price going to the University of Arizona Foundation. Learn more.
Cost per person: $100 – of that, $70 qualifies as a tax-deductible donation.
Space is limited for this exclusive event. Please call 520-485-1060 to RSVP by June 8. We look forward to meeting you!
Dr. Merchant is a Regents Professor, the chief of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and a professor of medicine at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson. She is also the UArizona Cancer Center’s associate director for basic sciences and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine Council. Dr. Merchant earned a doctorate in cell biology and a medical degree in internal medicine from the Yale School of Medicine in 1984. She completed her residency training in internal medicine and a clinical/research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a clinical fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was recruited to Tucson in July 2018 from the University of Michigan, where she held a faculty position since 1991.
Sullivan has 30 years of experience in the food service industry and is an executive chef at Hacienda at the River. He holds a bachelor’s degree from UArizona and a master’s degree in education from the University of Phoenix. He studied culinary arts at Pima Community College and restaurant management at Northern Arizona University. He apprenticed under Chef Jason Jonilonis at the Westward Look Resort and worked in many other Tucson area restaurants. He taught culinary arts at Ironwood Ridge High School and was a faculty member of the Art Institute of Tucson’s Culinary Arts Department. In addition, he was executive chef at The Forum at Tucson, a senior living community, and at Cornerstone Hospital. He also spent a season at McMurdo Station in Antarctica as sous chef. A former Tucson theater world veteran too, Sullivan sees food and cooking as a form of performance art and a means to bring people together to add joy to their lives. In that respect, he finds food to be healing and transformative.
