Renowned Nutrition Expert Puts Rare Disease Day on the Radar

MALVERN, Pa., Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To raise awareness of Rare Disease Day on February 28, Envara Health founder and nutrition expert Virginia A. Stallings, M.D., highlights the nutritional challenges and therapies for people living with one of those rare diseases, cystic fibrosis (CF). An in-depth discussion/presentation by Dr. Stallings, entitled, "Individualized Nutrition Therapy For People With Cystic Fibrosis: Gaining Or Losing Weight," will be featured on the Cystic Fibrosis Research Inc. (CFRI) podcast, CF Community Voices at 1:00 pm EST.

Rare Disease Day, held annually on the final day of February, recognizes the 6,000+ rare diseases worldwide, 72 percent of which are genetic. More than 300 million people live with a rare disease across the globe. There are 30,000 people in the U.S. and 70,000 worldwide diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, managing its many debilitating effects on the respiratory and digestive systems.

Hosted by CFRI Executive Director Siri Vaeth, MSW, Dr. Stallings' presentation will review the demographic trends for patients living with CF, the continuing need for non-pulmonary data, and efforts to treat fat malabsorption due to pancreatic insufficiency. She also will detail the promising results of Encala™, a medical nutrition product to improve fat absorption in patients with CF and other pancreatic diseases such as chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and celiac disease. Shwachman-Diamond and Johanson-Blizzard Syndromes, additional rare diseases that cause fat malabsorption, may also benefit.

"The treatment of fat malabsorption is incomplete in most patients with cystic fibrosis," noted Dr. Stallings. "Yet we know that optimizing nutritional status, growth and body composition improves important clinical outcomes. That's why it's increasingly important to individualize nutrition recommendations in cystic fibrosis care for food intake, enzyme dose and nutrition support."

A board-certified nutrition pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Stallings has worked in nutrition clinical care, training, and research for more than 30 years. She has made numerous research contributions to nutrition-related outcomes in children and adults with chronic illnesses including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Stallings designed and led the NIH-funded study that established the nutritional and medical benefits of Encala™ for people with cystic fibrosis.

Links to the podcast will be available on the CFRI podbean channel, as well as Facebook and YouTube.

About Envara Health:

Envara Health is bringing breakthrough science, clinical evidence and meaningful health improvements to the field of nutrition. The company is led by a team of life science and clinical nutrition veterans committed to addressing the widespread problem of malabsorption, and the resulting weight, growth and nutritional deficiencies it causes. Its first product, Encala™, is a medical food that provides a source of needed, healthy calories, including the essential fatty acids, in an easily absorbable structure. Encala

has been tested in multiple clinical studies and has also been shown to improve the absorption of other fat and nutrients from corresponding meals. Envara Health's validated structured lipid platform is enabling the development of a suite of precision nutrient products that will address a broad spectrum of disease states, in both humans and animals. To learn more about Envara Health, visit https://envarahealth.com. For more information about Encala, visit www.Encala.com.

About Cystic Fibrosis Research Inc.:

Cystic Fibrosis Research Inc. is a global resource for the cystic fibrosis community as it pursues a cure through research, education, advocacy, and support. CFRI was incorporated in 1975 by a small group of CF family members whose children were not expected to survive their teen years. These founding members were committed to keeping overhead low so as to raise funds for research. Originally, the founding members were all volunteers, until the first executive director was hired in the early 1980s. Initially focused on research, CFRI responded to the CF community's needs and expanded its programs to include educational and support programs. CFRI grew into a million-dollar agency in 2012 and continues in its efforts to fund research and to provide education, advocacy, and psychosocial programs and services to those with CF, as well as their families and caregivers.

Media Contact:
Corrie A. Fisher
KNB Communications
[email protected]

SOURCE Envara Health

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