Tara Geise

Founder, President, Treasurer

I am mom to Cody, a 12-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.

Brianna Gordon

VP of Education

Hello! I am a Tampa native and a mom to 2 daughters, ages 7 and 4. When my oldest daughter was 6 months old we discovered that she has food, drug, allergies. Her most severe allergy is peanut and we are currently in Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) maintenance for this allergy.

I spent 10 years working in the Consumer Products Goods industry working for large manufacturer companies. Currently, I am seeking a grad degree at UCF for nonprofit management. I am in my final semester and working part-time at the IRONMAN Foundation. 

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.

Gina Curry

Secretary

Hello! I’m a Tampa native and have two children, both of whom had food allergies. My son was able to outgrow his egg allergy by the age of three. My daughter also outgrew her egg allergy but after two very scary anaphylactic episodes with peanut, we started undergoing the OIT program at John Hopkins. Having support and education was something I needed desperately as I was scrolling for hours trying to find answers. I’m passionate about educating and helping families navigate the world of food allergies.

Professionally, I am Co-Founder and Executive Vice President at NextPath Career Partners. I was born and raised in Tampa, FL, graduating from the University of Florida in 2006. I sit on the board for the CEO Council and am involved with many non-profits including Redefining Refuge, Metropolitan Ministries, Think Big for Kids and Tampa Bay Technology Forum

Sara Peacock Bartos

Community Outreach

I live in South Tampa with my husband, Jason, and our two children. I am a practicing attorney, a member of the Junior League of Tampa, and on the Board of the Hillsborough County Bar Association. Our son, Noah, has several food allergies that were discovered when he was just under a year old. He is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and mustard. Our family has been navigating the world of school, church, and extracurriculars with Noah for many years and we were happy to learn about Tampa Food Allergy Support and Education.

Benjamin Kanfer

Teen Outreach

I’m Benjamin Kanfer. I am 17 years old and am a junior at Plant High School. I enjoy playing basketball and I am on my school’s track team. I am allergic to wheat, pistachio, cashew, chickpeas, green peas, sesame, and arrowroot. Having food allergies taking lots of planning, but it does not stop me from participating in sports, overnight camp, out-of-town trips, or any of the activities that high schoolers do. My friends and siblings are very understanding and that makes managing my food allergies so much easier.

Cody Geise

Pre-Teen Outreach

Hi, I'm Cody Geise and I’m in 6th Grade at Coleman Middle School.
I love soccer, rock guitar and I play the bass in the school orchestra. I have two dogs and a guinea pig.
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.