Working in Harmony: Critical Conversations on Nutrition, Pressure Injuries, and Interdisciplinary Care

Frank Aviles is a physical therapist with over 34 years of experience in wound care, specializing in the treatment and management of chronic wounds and lymphedema. Currently collaborating with clinics in Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama, he is deeply committed to advocacy, education, and patient care. His extensive expertise spans the continuum of care, encompassing roles as a physical therapist, wound and lymphedema specialist, hyperbaric technician, consultant, and educator.

Frank played a pivotal role in establishing a nationally recognized outpatient wound care center, achieving notable outcomes that garnered national acclaim. Additionally, he developed a comprehensive inpatient pressure injury prevention program with a nutritional focus, which received recognition from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Beyond his clinical work, Frank is active in research and publishing and co-hosts The Frank & Lizzie Show, an educational platform for wound care clinicians. Through this channel, he and Elizabeth Faust, continue to elevate standards of care by sharing innovative insights and best practices with the healthcare community.

Elizabeth Faust, known as Liz or Lizzie, is a Nurse Practitioner, Wound, Ostomy, and Continence specialist.  She graduated from Gwynedd Mercy University with her MSN in Adult Nurse Practitioner in 2009 and became a CWS, CWOCN, CWOCN-AP, and CSWS. She served for 13 years at Tower Health System in West Reading, PA, in a variety of roles, including inpatient CWOCN, system administrative lead for Wound Ostomy practices, and department head of inpatient wound care under plastic surgery at a 700+ Level 1 Trauma Center in Eastern Pennsylvania.  She previously served as a nurse practitioner in an outpatient wound care center using a physical therapy model. She is passionate about education, particularly with NPWT and Pressure injury prevention and management. She has lectured internationally and facilitated Bioskills labs across the country. She runs a consulting business, Lizzie Wounds, LLC, focusing on education, marketing, product development, legal case reviews, and research.  She also co-hosts an educational channel for wound care clinicians called The Frank & Lizzie Show.  

Carley Rusch serves as a Medical Science Liaison in Medical Affairs & Research at Abbott specializing in Adult Therapeutic Nutrition.

Prior to joining Abbott, Dr. Rusch completed her bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida (UF) specializing in Dietetics. She earned her master’s degree and completed her dietetic internship through the MS-DI program at UF. During her dietetic training, she also served as a research coordinator on a variety of study protocols, including topics on gastrointestinal dysfunction, inflammation, pre- and probiotics, and the gut microbiome. She then went on to work as an inpatient dietitian at Advent Health Orlando and served as a preceptor for their dietetic internship program. Her clinical experience spans a variety of disease states such as cancer, gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, malnutrition and critical care.

Following her time working in clinical practice, Dr. Rusch completed her PhD in Nutritional Sciences at UF. Her doctoral research investigated the effect of the Mediterranean diet on improving constipation and intestinal inflammation in Parkinson’s disease. During her graduate programs, she has taught multiple undergraduate and graduate courses on nutrition, metabolism, and research methods. In 2020, she was awarded Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Rusch has several publications in peer-reviewed journals and been invited to present at national and international conferences.