Betty Kovacs-Harbolic, MS, RDN, CDN, BCC, ND

 Michael is a licensed clinical psychologist. He earned his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. His background includes extensive experience in the space of emotional intelligence. Michael maintains a private practice and has facilitated many groups inside and outside of Mount Sinai’s weight loss research center. He also has a degree in International Business and Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He completed a study abroad in Japan and lived and worked in Paris, France for four years. His passion is in helping people go from insight to accountability with their life goals, and he focuses on the relationship between thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. 

Dr. Hannon is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Georgia working in private practice. In individual sessions, she enjoys helping clients work towards their personal, interpersonal, and professional goals by encouraging them to explore and express their vulnerabilities and needs in session and outside of session. Dr. Hannon also provides group psychoeducation and support for individuals seeking to modify their relationships with food, themselves, and their bodies. Dr. Hannon’s therapeutic style incorporates interpersonal, person-centered, and cognitive behavior therapy with an emphasis on personal strengths and resilience. 

Dr. Hannon obtained her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and Human Systems from Florida State University after receiving her Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology at Western Kentucky University. Her experience prior to starting her own practice includes working in college counseling centers with both students and staff. Dr. Hannon specializes in issues related to adjustment, sexual orientation and gender identity, depression, and anxiety, and has experience providing support to individuals struggling with self-esteem, relationship concerns, and academic and professional difficulties. She also has extensive experience conducting psychological testing and assessment, including evaluations of parenting capacity, trauma and other psychological concerns, substance abuse, academic concerns, learning disorders, and attention deficit disorder.

 Science in Food and Nutrition from The College of Saint Elizabeth. For nearly a decade, she has counseled patients one-on-one to meet their individual health and weight goals, spending six of those years at the New Jersey Bariatric and Metabolic Institute specializing in bariatrics and weight loss/management. In 2021, she was tasked with starting and managing a new Food FARMacy program through Jersey City Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health, which aims to address food insecurity and improve chronic disease states by increasing access to food and nutrition counseling. Her passion for education led her to create Good Food Bad Doodles, an initiative focused on making science and nutrition easy to understand via simple explanations and colorful visuals. 

Mary Lou has been with Mount Sinai Morningside for two years as the registered dietitian/nutritionist (RDN) co-leader. She brings to the program many years of clinical work as an RDN with a focus on obesity, diabetes, and kidney diseases.

In addition to working at Morningside, Mary Lou is employed at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, where she holds the role of interventionist for three randomized clinical trials involving technology to engage clinical populations in both weight loss and lifestyle change. The research includes mHealth and Social Cognitive Behavior of Change as tools to achieve weight loss. The intent is to diminish disease complication. At NYU, Mary Lou has also been working with obese individuals with underlying diseases such as T2DM, chronic kidney disease, and World Trade Center Associated Lung Injury.

Previously, Mary Lou worked for Compass-USA in the Morrison Health Care Division in the role of Regional Clinical Nutrition Manager. The position included teaching in an accredited Diabetes Education Program where she utilized her Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) credentials. To complement her full-time work, she spent several years working part-time as a Certified Renal Specialist in a Hemodialysis Clinic. (Fresenius, US Renal Care, Inc.)

Mary Lou was educated at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg VA and then furthered her education at the University of Albany School of Public Health. She enjoys spending time with her daughters and grandson of 15 months. She also enjoys biking, swimming, gardening, and cooking vegetarian style meals.

 Tammy Russell, MS, RD has a long history as a dietitian, an integrative nutritionist and a functional medicine-based counselor.  She has worked in the fields of inpatient and outpatient nutrition, clinical research, health coaching, private counseling and teaching.  She has a bachelors and Master’s degree in Nutritional Science from Rutgers University, and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.  Tammy trained in functional medicine with the Institute for Functional Medicine, Functional Medicine University, Apex Energetics and Metagenics.  Additionally, trained in motivational interviewing and health coaching through the WellCoaches program.  She maintains a private practice where she caters to a cohort of GI, cardiovascular, autoimmune and other chronic disease patients.   In her free time, Tammy enjoys hiking, walking, reading, creating new recipes in the kitchen, and spending time with her family.