Maria Rita Santini, MPH, RD, LDN, CNSC, earned a bachelor of science in nutritional sciences from McGill University and a master of public health from Southern New Hampshire University. She joined Hasbro Children’s in 2008 as a pediatric dietitian and has since spent more than 15 years leading and coordinating inpatient and outpatient pediatric nutrition services. In 2025, Santini joined the division of pediatric hematology and oncology as a clinical research nutritionist. Santini oversees outpatient nutrition services for the pediatric hematology and oncology program and serves as a key member of the pediatric research team.
Her professional affiliations include the Pediatric Nutrition, Oncology Nutrition, and Dietitians in Nutrition Support practice groups of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as well as ASPEN (the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition).