Lauren Ciszak, MD, a fellow in the Leadership in Preventive Medicine Program at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland, has been making significant strides in improving community health through her project, the Pursuit App. The fellowship program, part of the Division of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, integrates various clinical departments, including family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, and encourages new fellows to contribute to innovative projects like this one.

Dr. Ciszak’s project aims to enhance nutrition and culinary skills across Maine by introducing innovative Food Medicine programming. Partnering with Rewire Health, she has created the Pursuit app, a mobile culinary platform designed to make culinary medicine accessible to all. Dr. Ciszak emphasizes that we often underestimate the impact food can have on one’s quality of life, especially for those with nutrition-dependent chronic conditions. Her prior research has shown that when patients are provided with cooking instructions and fresh, healthy food, their likelihood of continuing to eat healthily increases, thereby improving their overall quality of life.

Rewire Health, the partner behind the Pursuit app, is a culinary medicine platform that collaborates with health systems and community-based organizations to provide sustainable, joyful and engaging nutrition education. Culinary medicine takes a hands-on approach to nutrition education, emphasizing experiential learning and focusing on the practical aspects of healthy eating—how to eat well, rather than just what to eat. The app is available in English, French, Lingala and Spanish, with Arabic and Portuguese versions coming soon.

The Pursuit app personalizes the user experience by asking patients questions about their available cooking equipment, ingredients and desired difficulty level to ensure relevant recipes. The app’s recipe library then tailors meal suggestions to the user’s preferences, with filters for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and various categories. Meals range from level one, where minimal cooking is required, to level three, which introduces more exciting recipes with multitasking and additional skills.

Ciszak participated in the Innovation Cohort to advance this idea, which she stated provided her with valuable insights into bridging the worlds of research and business. “It taught me to communicate better between these two disparate worlds and gave me some insights into how a healthcare business idea becomes a reality,” she said.

This app is now being piloted across MaineHealth and its community partners, with departments ranging from Addiction Medicine to Oncology. The MaineHealth Preventive Medicine Enhancement for Maine (PrevME) department has contributed $10,000 towards the app’s rollout across the system for the year.

Ciszak also received additional project funding through the MaineHealth Innovation Philanthropy fund to support intensive training in community-engaged research methods and establish a community advisory board. The remaining funds will be used to purchase a commercial-grade refrigerator and necessary equipment for storing and distributing produce and emergency food bags at the Comprehensive Addiction Medicine (CAM) space.

Dr. Ciszak is eager to assist any program or department within the system in onboarding and piloting this innovative tool. For more information on how to get started, please contact Lauren Ciszak at lauren.ciszak@mainehealth.org.