Dana Elia

Dr. Elia is a registered dietitian nutritionist with over 27 years of experience in integrative and functional medical nutrition therapy, health and wellness coaching, curriculum development, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and serving on the executive committee of Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine (DIFM).

Born and raised in Northern New Jersey, Dr. Elia relocated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 2001. She is the owner of a private practice, Fusion Integrative Health and Wellness, LLC, which in 2019 was voted the Best of Lancaster award in the nutritionist category. With a desire to ensure her patients receive the best level of care, she completed her doctorate in clinical functional nutrition (DCN) through Maryland University of Integrative Health, where in 2019 she was awarded the Student Research Poster Award.

As a survivor of 3 forms of cancer, autoimmune disease, and someone with the rare genetic disease, Li Fraumeni Syndrome, Dr. Elia is passionate about the power of food as medicine and the need to personalize one’s nutritional journey based on their bio-individuality.

Dr. Elia enjoys empowering the next generation of nutrition professionals and routinely precepts dietetic interns and provides supervision for nutritionists working towards earning their CNS credentials. Additionally, Dr. Dana has extensive experience teaching group classes, and lecturing on a variety of health-related topics to audiences of all age ranges for the general public, as well as conducting continuing medical education programs for healthcare providers and professional organizations.

Dr. Dana enjoys synthesizing clinical research and translating that into easily understandable information for laypersons and thus she has authored two diet books, The Sugar Detox Diet for 50+ and The Stem Cell Activation Diet.

Dr. Dana takes pride in being an active member of the functional nutrition community. She has served on the executive committee of Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine for several years, most recently as the Research Chair, but has also served as the Past Chair, Chair, Chair-elect, Treasurer, and Member Services chair. In May 2017, Dr. Dana was granted the Fellow status (FAND) within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which recognizes her commitment to the field of dietetics and celebrates her professional accomplishments and pursuit of life-long learning.