Whitney Christie is the outpatient dietitian for Mary Washington Healthcare's Regional Cancer Center in Fredericksburg, Va. She is a board certified specialist in oncology nutrition and a certified nutrition support clinician. Whitney was awarded the FAND designation in 2024.

She has practiced for 19+ years, the majority of the time in oncology. She participates in research, quality improvement and outreach projects and serves on multiple clinical teams and committees for the cancer program.

Whitney considers herself a "jack of all trades" in the oncology space, working with patients with all types of cancer. Her interests in oncology nutrition include enteral nutrition, pancreatic insufficiency and telehealth. Whitney believes that each patient has unique nutritional needs. She believes her role is to provide nutritional care that positively impacts treatment outcomes and improves quality of life during one of the most challenging times in a person's life.

Paula Charuhas Macris earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Washington. She has worked at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Wash. since 1987 and is currently the supervisor, medical nutrition therapy services.

Paula is involved in patient care of adult allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients and survivorship patients. She also coordinates dietetic intern training, patient and staff education, and the food safety education program.

Paula has been involved with the Oncology Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group (ON DPG) in both elected and appointed positions serving as the area representative and Treasurer; she is the current awards coordinator. She has spoken at ON DPG symposiums and served as an author and reviewer for practice group publications.

Paula has been a board-certified specialist in oncology nutrition since 2008. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Paula is a past recipient of the Academy's Excellence in Clinical Nutrition Practice Award and the ON DPG Distinguished Practice Award.

Samantha Pritchard is an assistant professor of clinical nutrition and a registered dietitian at Rush University Medical Center. She began her dietetics career 15 years ago in oncology nutrition at City of Hope (formerly Cancer Treatment Centers of America).

Samantha went on to earn a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from Iowa State University and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she was appointed to the NIH Institutional Training Grant (T32) in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism.

Today, informed in part by her ongoing clinical work at Rush MD Anderson Cancer Center, Samantha's research focuses on understanding the role of nutrition in cancer care, including patient experiences, malnutrition trends, and optimizing dietitian workflows to improve care delivery.

Alongside her research and patient care, Samantha teaches courses in the clinical nutrition graduate program, as well as lectures in the medical college and other health sciences programs across Rush.

Renee Thornton completed her bachelor of science, allied health-coordinated dietetics program at the University of Connecticut and Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition at Rutgers University. She is a registered and licensed dietitian. Since 2014, she held the certified specialist in oncology nutrition (CSO) credential.

With over a decade of experience in oncology nutrition, Renee has worked with institutions, including an integrative cancer center in Philadelphia and a leading nutrition telehealth practice. Working with inpatients and outpatients, she provided individualized nutrition therapy for various cancer types across the continuum including prevention, treatment and end-of-life.

Renee collaborated as part of a multidisciplinary metabolic support team to provide enteral and parenteral nutrition support. She is also a contributing author and reviewer for industry journals, newsletters and books. She is passionate about optimizing health outcomes and enhancing quality of life through nutrition. Renee brings a wealth of expertise to the field.