Tara Geise

Founder, President, Treasurer

I am mom to Cody, a 14-year-old with severe food allergies to peanuts, eggs, dairy, wheat, chicken, sunflower and sesame seeds. He was diagnosed as a baby. I am anaphylactic to fish and allergic to cashews and pistachios. My husband has oral allergy syndrome and we have other family members with food allergies. That is the reason we are so passionate about education and advocacy!

I serve as Co-Chair of the FARE Board of National Ambassadors. My husband, Josh, also serves on the Board and we have participated in the FARE Advocacy Day in DC for several years.

For 20 years I worked as a compliance and finance consultant and director for political and non-profit organizations and I am involved with several other local non-profit organizations.

Dana Kanfer

Vice-President

I am the mom of three boys ages 23, 21 and 17. My 17-year-old was diagnosed with multiple food allergies as an infant. His food allergies include some “top nine” and some not in the “top nine.” Navigating food allergies through preschool, elementary school, middle school, sleep away camps, and now high school, has taught us patience, resilience, and adaptation. I enjoy volunteering for the food allergy community and both on a local and national level. When I am not wearing my food allergy mom hat, I volunteer in many capacities at Plant High School- as a board member of the Academic Foundation ,in the College Resource Room, and mentoring students. I am a lawyer, however I am now the proud business owner of Kanfer College Consulting, LLC. I help students and their families navigate the college application process with the goal of supporting families in making important decisions and finding “right fit” colleges.

Panida Sriraroon, MD

Medical Advisor

I am a professor at USF pediatric allergy and immunology based out of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHACH) in St. Petersburg. I have been in the Tampa Bay area since 2006. I am a site director of FARE Clinical Network (St Pete site) and the Medical Director of USF Pediatric Allergy/Immunology clinic where I see general allergy and immunology patients with trainees and other faculty. In2019, JHACH has established the new Food Allergy Clinic, of which I am also the Medical Director and I see patients there. This clinic offers care to patients with food allergy and its related conditions (eczema, EOE, FPIES, etc), as well as food oral immunotherapy (Palforzia, peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk, sesame, etc).  

I live in St Pete with my husband and 2 kids, ages 12 and 8. My husband is a USF adult pulmonologist/intensivist working at Tampa General Hospital.  We do not have food allergies in the family, but I and the kids are super allergic to dust mites, pet dander, pollens, etc and the three of us have been on allergy shots for several years (the youngest started at age 3!).

Over the past years, I've had the great privilege of working with many families. Every day at work, my goal is to see everyone eat foods safely.

Megan Deremiah

Secretary

Megan got involved with Tampa Food Allergy Support & Education in 2021. As the mom of a young son with multiple food allergies (and minimal prior knowledge on the topic), she found our group while seeking out local resources. After attending multiple group meet ups and being an avid supporter of the annual Teal-O-Ween Party, she was elected as a member of our board in 2025.

As a swim instructor in the Tampa area, Megan encounters many children with food allergies and actively encourages their families to get involved with the organization. Especially knowing how scary and isolating it can feel, Megan is passionate about building relationships and community with other parents who are new to the world of food allergies.

Along with her wife and son, Megan loves going to Disney World and volunteers with Dogs Inc. as a puppy raiser for future service dogs.

Cody Geise

Teen Outreach

Hi, I'm Cody Geise and I’m in 8th Grade at Coleman Middle School.
I love soccer, rock guitar and I play the bass in the school orchestra. I have two dogs.
I am allergic to peanuts, eggs, dairy/milk, chicken, sesame, sunflower seed and wheat.
Food allergies are challenging, but I want to help people learn how to manage having food allergies, especially anyone newly diagnosed.
I want people to understand that food allergies don’t define who you are.