Dr. E. Donnall Thomas hired her as the dietitian on his bone-marrow transplant team. Now, after more than 37 years of service to the Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Saundra Aker is preparing to retire on Feb. 9.
Aker, SCCA Nutrition and Patient Food Services manager, developed innovative patient-nutrition practices for patients and standardized these practices to assure that nutrition would not serve as a variable in transplant protocols. Recently, Aker has served as the food safety officer for the SCCA and surrounding medical community.
She has also received numerous honors and recognitions, including being named Outstanding Dietitian of the Year and receiving the Excellence in Clinical Practice and Research Award, both in 1993, from the Washington State Dietetic Association.
Read more about Aker in Center News at www.fhcrc.org/about/pubs/center_news/2004/oct21/gart2.xml.
