Nichole Cortez, RD is a pediatric dietitian supporting both inpatients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and outpatients in NICU follow-up and dietitian clinics. She has special interest in nourishing newborns through the first year of life.

Nichole earned a bachelor's degree from Bastyr University, where she also completed her dietetic internship. She received her master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is a veteran of the US Navy.

In her free time, Nichole enjoys doing anything she can outside, including hiking, running, and gardening. 

Jobeth Kuchar, MS, RD, CSPCC, LD is a registered dietitian who serves children ages 0-17 for a variety of nutrition-related conditions. She has extensive experience in NICU, inpatient, and outpatient pediatric nutrition care. She is a board certified specialist in pediatric critical care and practices in a wide range of areas including infant nutrition, failure to thrive nutrition therapy, healthy eating/weight management, enteral nutrition (tube feeding), food allergies, FODMAP diet, and celiac disease. Jobeth is passionate about working with families to find a nutrition care plan that works for each child.

Jobeth earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). She completed her internship through UNL focusing on clinical and community nutrition. 

Jennifer Merchant, MD cares for newborns in St. Luke's neonatal intensive care units (NICU). She also serves as medical director of the St. Luke's Children's NICU Follow-Up Clinic where the growth and development of our highest-risk patients are monitored and supported with early interventions.

Dr. Merchant provides family-centered care that focuses on optimizing long-term development and health. She is passionate about nutrition in the NICU and its impact on neurodevelopment. To support this interest, she is involved in development of nutrition and feeding protocols as part of a multidisciplinary feeding group. Dr. Merchant has also recently participated in research on low-renin hypertension in neonates. She is also developing of a registry of St. Luke's NICU patients' long-term outcomes to inform continual improvement of our neonatal care.

Dr. Merchant is a fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Prior to her current role, she served as assistant medical director of the NICU at St. Luke's Magic Valley.

In her free time, Dr. Merchant enjoys hiking and camping in Idaho and the Intermountain West and spending time with her husband and three kids.

Dr. Merchant cares for babies in the NICU at St. Luke’s Boise, Magic Valley, Meridian, and Nampa.

Declan O'Riordan, MD is a fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington.

Dr. O'Riordan has experience in pediatric emergency medicine and general pediatrics. His research interests include neonatal herpes simplex virus infections, perinatal brain injury, and intrauterine methamphetamine exposure.

Dr. O'Riordan cares for babies in the NICU at St. Luke’s Boise, Magic Valley, Meridian, and Nampa.