loader from loading.io

What Does a REDs Diagnosis Actually Look Like? Dr. Rosa Pasculli Explains

Lane 9 Podcast

Release Date: 06/18/2026

100 Episodes, Almost 10 Years, and We're Still Here: A Lane 9 State of the Union show art 100 Episodes, Almost 10 Years, and We're Still Here: A Lane 9 State of the Union

Lane 9 Podcast

What does it look like to build something for almost a decade — not because you had a perfect plan, but because you kept showing up? For the 100th episode of the Lane 9 podcast, host Heather Caplan, RDN, sits down with her co-founder Alexis Fairbanks to talk about where Lane 9 started, where the conversation around REDs and period health actually stands in 2026, and what they're still working on. This one is equal parts reflection and real talk — about what it felt like to learn about the Female Athlete Triad after the fact, why athlete stories still matter more than clinical...

info_outline Fueling Through Injury: Nutrition, Body Image, and Getting Back on the Bike with Shira Evans show art Fueling Through Injury: Nutrition, Body Image, and Getting Back on the Bike with Shira Evans

Lane 9 Podcast

What do you actually eat when your body is healing — and you're not allowed to move? That's the question Shira Evans, RD, CSSD, found herself living through after a significant cycling accident left her with a concussion, road rash, and a scapula broken in two places. As a sports dietitian who specializes in REDs and disordered eating in athletes, she knew exactly what to do nutritionally — but navigating the mental health piece, the unsolicited body comments, and the slow, humbling process of returning to sport? That was a whole other conversation. Shira is a registered dietitian and...

info_outline A Co-Founder Check-In: Traveling, Training, and the Sub-3 Journey with Alexis Fairbanks show art A Co-Founder Check-In: Traveling, Training, and the Sub-3 Journey with Alexis Fairbanks

Lane 9 Podcast

What does it look like to chase a goal and then permit yourself to let it breathe for a season? Host Heather Caplan, RDN, is joined by her Lane 9 co-founder Alexis Fairbanks for an informal midsummer catch-up. They talk travel, food culture in Spain and Portugal, the very real struggle of treadmill running, women's sports they're following right now, and what Alexis is training for after deciding to take a much-needed break from marathon training. They also check in on Alexis's sub-3 marathon goal (where she's gotten as close as 3:02) and what it looks like to stop forcing it and let the...

info_outline Give Yourself Some (or a lot of) Credit: A 2026 Midsummer Check-In show art Give Yourself Some (or a lot of) Credit: A 2026 Midsummer Check-In

Lane 9 Podcast

"I have no doubt you could run that half-marathon, but I understand the hesitation." That note from her physical therapist is what Host Heather Caplan, RDN, needed to hear, and this episode is her passing it along to you. It's midsummer. Schedules are chaotic, training cycles are in-between, and sometimes the most useful thing a podcast can do is just pause and remind you: you've come further than you think.  In this solo episode, Heather reads a Substack essay she wrote in May after a long season of navigating plantar fasciitis, a hamstring tweak, a race she almost didn't run, and the...

info_outline Fueling for a Sub-3 Marathon: Laura Filla on Ferritin, Nutrition, and a Breakthrough Marathon show art Fueling for a Sub-3 Marathon: Laura Filla on Ferritin, Nutrition, and a Breakthrough Marathon

Lane 9 Podcast

What does it take to reach sub-3 with your period intact and your body well-fueled? That's the question Coach Laura Filla can now answer from experience. After four years, ten marathons, low ferritin, grief, a coaching business, and two kids, Laura crossed the finish line at Bayshore 2026 in 2:58:43. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, sits down with Laura to talk through the whole arc: what changed, what didn't, and why the breakthrough finally came when she stopped white-knuckling her training and started thriving through it. Laura Filla is a marathoner, mom, RRCA Level 2 Certified Running Coach, and...

info_outline What Does a REDs Diagnosis Actually Look Like? Dr. Rosa Pasculli Explains show art What Does a REDs Diagnosis Actually Look Like? Dr. Rosa Pasculli Explains

Lane 9 Podcast

What does it actually take to diagnose REDs, and what happens after? If you've ever wondered what's going on behind the scenes when a sports medicine physician suspects REDs, this episode is your inside look. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, sits down with Dr. Rosa Pasculli, a non-operative sports medicine physician based in Atlanta, to walk through the full medical picture: how REDs gets diagnosed, what labs actually matter and why, and what treatment looks like in practice. It's a masterclass in multidisciplinary care, and a reminder of just how important it is to have a physician on your team who...

info_outline Miran McCash on Women in Run Coaching, and the Conversations Girls Aren't Having With Their Male Coaches show art Miran McCash on Women in Run Coaching, and the Conversations Girls Aren't Having With Their Male Coaches

Lane 9 Podcast

What does it actually take to build a girls' running program from three athletes to a full roster, and what does it cost the coach who gets it there? That's at the heart of this conversation with Miran McCash: high school cross country and track head coach at Highline High School, and owner of ANA Run Coaching, an all-women adult running coaching business based in Seattle. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, and Miran talk about what it's really like to be a woman in a head coaching role, how she's creating space for girls to talk about their bodies and their periods, and why representation on the...

info_outline Mary Cain on REDs, Period Health, and Why Sports Should Be Healthcare - This Is Not About Running show art Mary Cain on REDs, Period Health, and Why Sports Should Be Healthcare - This Is Not About Running

Lane 9 Podcast

What if we stopped treating sport like entertainment and started treating it like healthcare? That's the question at the center of this conversation with Mary Cain: professional middle-distance runner, Stanford medical student, and New York Times Bestselling author of the new memoir This Is Not About Running. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, and Mary Cain talk about what it would actually take to change sports culture, including how we coach youth athletes, how providers diagnose and treat REDs, and what it means to find yourself outside of sport.  Chapters 09:10- What hope actually looks like...

info_outline Osteitis Pubis Postpartum Experience with Coach Becky Anthony show art Osteitis Pubis Postpartum Experience with Coach Becky Anthony

Lane 9 Podcast

"Once I started doing more core work...prescribed to me by a pelvic floor DPT, and what everyone says you should be doing after pregnancy...I was feeling pain," shares Lane 9 Coach Becky Anthony, head coach and owner of Taylored Training Run.  Becky shares her story with a rare injury, osteitis pubis, which she was diagnosed with around three months postpartum. She was working with a physical therapist (DPT) on a return to run program, and had tried to check the boxes before getting back to the sport. But something felt wrong, and painful. And it took a little while to get an accurate...

info_outline Nutrition: Signs You're Actually Eating Enough as an Athlete (and How to do That!), with Dietitian KC Stockmon show art Nutrition: Signs You're Actually Eating Enough as an Athlete (and How to do That!), with Dietitian KC Stockmon

Lane 9 Podcast

"The [symtpoms] of under-fueling, and REDs, make it a lot harder to meet your [calorie] needs," shares dietitian KC Stockmon. "It's kind of this vicious cycle."  We're here to talk about how many calories an athlete actually needs to be eating, WHY it's important to eat enough, and the symptoms of under-fueling. The problem is, under-fueling is so common in athletics that athletes are quick to dismiss their symptoms as just "part of training". When actually, if the body has the energy—aka calories—that it needs to function well *and* recover from your training sessions, you might feel...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

What does it actually take to diagnose REDs, and what happens after?

If you've ever wondered what's going on behind the scenes when a sports medicine physician suspects REDs, this episode is your inside look. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, sits down with Dr. Rosa Pasculli, a non-operative sports medicine physician based in Atlanta, to walk through the full medical picture: how REDs gets diagnosed, what labs actually matter and why, and what treatment looks like in practice. It's a masterclass in multidisciplinary care, and a reminder of just how important it is to have a physician on your team who knows how to ask the right questions.

Dr. Pasculli is a former competitive dancer turned sports medicine physician with a particular clinical interest in bone stress injuries and REDs. She is the head team physician for Emory University, overseeing 450+ varsity athletes, and serves as a consulting physician for the Atlanta Ballet, the Georgia Ballet, and the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders. She also sees runners, weekend warriors, and masters athletes, including, as she mentions in this episode, an 80-year-old woman doing an Ironman.

07:59- How Rosa got into sports medicine and the female athlete space
12:44- What she's seeing in the clinic: awareness of REDs and where education still falls short
14:47- REDs as a diagnosis of exclusion: what that means and why it takes a team
15:51- Lab work 101: CBC, CMP, ferritin, thyroid, and what Rosa is actually looking for
21:48- DEXA scans: who needs one and when, including the Female Athlete Triad Coalition's updated guidelines
24:22- Medical management of REDs: risk stratification, the REDs CAT2 tool, and keeping athletes in sport where possible
25:26- When it becomes dangerous: bradycardia, orthostatic changes, and the malnourished heart
28:34- Setting expectations with patients and parents around timeline and testing frequency
30:31- The Emory Women's Sports Medicine program and the cross-institutional community behind it

Resources mentioned:

Connect + get support:

  • Are you an athlete? Find a sports dietitian, DPT, therapist, or coach who understands athletes at lane9project.org/directory.

  • Are you a clinician or coach? If this conversation resonated with you professionally, Lane 9 Membership was built for you. Join a community of dietitians, DPTs, psychologists, sports medicine providers, and coaches who are doing this work, and get listed in the Lane 9 Directory so athletes can find you. Future clinicians and coaches are welcome too.

  • Follow us on Instagram and get in touch anytime!