REDWOOD CITY, CA, June 11, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alex M. Saunders, MD, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
An accomplished academic pathologist, business executive and problem-solver, Dr. Saunders distinguished himself across the span of more than 40 years, culminating with his role as the chief executive officer of Chronomed Inc.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, as Sandor Szende, youngest of three brothers, his parents passed away during the period of escape from the beginning of WWII. Placed in boarding school, Vancouver College, Vancouver, BC at age 10 years, he learned the importance of a diligent work ethic from the Irish Christian Brothers who ran the school. He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1953 from Stanford University and went on to earn an MD at the University of British Columbia in 1957. In the years to follow, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in pathology and immunology at the University of Chicago.
During his intern year Dr. Saunders assisted in treating 8 patients with an experimental cancer drug. All these patients died of infection (not the cancer). While investigating the reason, Dr. Saunders found discrepancies in the laboratory results and realized the Differential White Blood Cell test needed important improvements.
Later, while teaching and researching as assistant professor at Stanford University, Dr. Saunders was approached by a company in the clinical laboratory industry to put his ideas into practice by pioneering a fully automated white blood cell test. With the help of 40 engineers, biologists and statisticians, he designed a revolutionary test that was successfully brought to market after nearly five years of research and development.
In subsequent years, Dr. Saunders contributed to and managed research at several other companies within the medical industry. During this time, he spearheaded bottom up the development of new products that would lead to lucrative initial public offerings – among these products, he helped establish the first clinical Reticulocyte counter and the first clinical lymphocyte subset detection by Flow cytometry (a key product in the treatment of AIDS), as well as development of a method for detecting and classifying fetal cells from maternal blood. Dr. Saunders contributed close to 50 peer reviewed publications in academics and industry, and holds 35 technological patents for his inventions.
Upon his retirement, Dr. Saunders established Chronomed Inc. as its chief executive officer. In this capacity, he spearheaded innovations in retrospective time-resolved testing for blood samples and more recently focused on supporting effective solutions for point-of-care testing in clinical settings. Though retired, Dr. Saunders remains semi-active with the company as its president.
In more recent years, Dr. Saunders has dedicated himself to making a vibrant home out of his retirement community, where he has introduced various activities that were previously unavailable. He has also explored a secondary career as an author, having written his autobiography, "To Our Credit: Two Autobiographies," alongside his brother, Peter Paul Saunders in 2009, and "Book of Strange Lights: First Volume of the Reset Civilization Series," which serves as the first entry of a science fiction series.
On a personal level, Dr. Saunders is a loving father to three highly talented children, one of whom holds a doctorate in chemistry – his other son is a computer engineer, while his daughter is a librarian. His late wife, Peggy, distinguished herself as a trained biologist who also studied religious education and taught in local parishes. She served as a volunteer for the American Red Cross Disaster Service and was a responder during the tragic days following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Currently battling cancer, Dr. Saunders is finally benefitting from his own prior laboratory equipment innovations. His own doctors would not now be in their field if they could not rely on that test.
About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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