Sonja Connor, MS
Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) Representative, OHSU Sterol Laboratory; Research Associate Professor Emeritus
Oregon Health & Science University
What has had the greatest impact on your career path in nutrition?
The greatest impact on my career path in nutrition was my association with William E. Connor, MD, who was my incredible mentor and boss – as well as my husband! For 40 years I was a member of the Lipid-Atherosclerosis Research Group during the golden age of lipids. Bill gave me many opportunities and challenged me to do more than I ever thought I could. I was able to do more than I thought I could because of the excellent undergraduate education I had at Kansas State University and the graduate education at the University of Iowa. I was a co-investigator in a number of nutrition research projects including the prevention of coronary risk factors in 233 randomly selected families, the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on the developing brain and retina and on the prevention of arrhythmias, and the transfer of lutein and zeaxinthin across the placenta and in the prevention of macular degeneration. I couldn’t have asked for more from my career in nutrition.
