Lara Al-Dandachi, MPH, RD, CDCES

Lara Al-Dandachi is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) , Certified Diabetes Educator and Obesity specialist that provides care to patients in UCLA Health’s Gonda Diabetes Center in Westwood , Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills.

Lara is the Nutrition Director of the PRO (Program for reducing Obesity) , responsible of  developping and updating the Nutrition Curriculum for Adults and Adolescence Obesity Nutrition Education and training new PRO RDs,  within the Division of Endocrinology at David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health. Lara successfully coordinated the UCLA Gonda Diabetes Prevention Program, which was awarded full CDC recognition in 2018, working on multiple cohorts. Lara thrives to continue to grow in her field of expertise.  She has attended the Harvard Blackburn course in Obesity Medicine at Harvard Medical School twice and continues to attend and receive the Certificate of Training in Obesity for Pediatrics and Adults through the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics  She provides medical nutrition therapy based on evidence-based practice. Lara is one of very few Registered Dietitians in the nation and in the State of California that are triple board certified in diabetes care specialty CDCES, advanced diabetes management BC-ADM and obesity and weight management subspecialty (CSOWM) . She is fluent in Arabic and French.

Ms. Al-Dandachi is passionate about diabetes education /prevention and Obesity management, and coaches patients on how to improve their lifestyle by incorporating mindfulness, physical activity , intelligent food choices and integrative medicine into their daily lives. She provides personalized care to patients with Obesity, prediabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood, and treats each patient with compassion, care and understanding. She also teaches the type 2 diabetes group class in Santa Monica and the Integrative approaches to improve Diabetes Care on the Westside area. 

Ms. Al-Dandachi graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics and then relocated to the United States to complete her graduate studies in Public Health. She earned a Master of Public Health degree from Loma Linda University in 2003, and completed her clinical dietetic internship at Loma Linda University. During her public health practicum, she volunteered at Riverside County and San Bernardino County, working with underprivileged populations on public health initiatives, including HIV education and prevention and the Head Start program, among others.

Ms. Al Dandachi enjoys spending time with family and friends. Loves to travel with her son & to cheer up at his soccer games. She enjoys hiking, skiing , and serving her community. Her favorite city is still Beirut, her home town, where her family resides.