Nicholls alumna receives award for nutrition work

Former Nicholls Athlete and alumna Allison Cazenave, RDN, CSO, LDN, has been chosen as the 2022 Morrison Healthcare Clinician of the Year, selected from a field of over 1,500 registered dietitians from across the country. 

Cazenave returned to Thibodaux to work as an inpatient RD at Terrebonne General Medical Center after graduating from Nicholls, completing a one-year dietetic internship at Southern University A&M College and passing her RD exam. Cazenave became a board-certified specialist in oncology nutrition by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in October 2020.

“When I started creating and building this nutrition program in 2019, an award of this magnitude was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Not only is having the ability to provide medical nutrition therapy to our patients an honor and privilege, but having the ability to develop and implement a complete, comprehensive nutrition program at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been a dream come true,” said Cazenave. 

“To know that I am able to impact and provide benefit to someone going through the toughest battle of their life is such a blessing. Every time I attend a bell-ringing ceremony, I get full-body chills. These patients are fighting the toughest battle ever, and yet, they continue to put on a smile every day, inspire everyone around them and never give up. Lastly, I would like to thank the gentlemen with Roux For A Reason for trusting and believing in my goal and vision with this nutrition program. Without their continued support, none of these incredible achievements would have been possible.” 

Cazenave works with patients daily to help provide them with nutritional support throughout their cancer treatment.

Proper nutrition during a cancer treatment can help improve overall health, improve tolerance of treatment therapy, reduce hospitalization and decrease incidence of malnutrition. 

Oncology patients are often under-recognized and undertreated with nutritional support due to a lack of resources and staff. Registered dietitians are required to be an available resource at a cancer facility but are not required to provide full-time service, the university said in a press relase. Having a board-certified specialist in oncology mutrition is even more beneficial to the patients as they are able to provide oncology-specific medical nutrition therapy to improve the nutritional status of the patients. 

Cazenave is one of only eight board-certified specialists in oncology nutrition in the state and one of only two in the Bayou Region. Her work with the Thibodaux community through the Terrebonne General | Mary Bird Perkinds Cancer Center made her an excellent choice for the award, the university said.

The mission of the Didactic Program in Dietetics at Nicholls State University is to provide comprehensive learning experiences immersed in Bayou Region culture to prepare students for supervised practice, leading to eligibility for the CDR credentialing exam to become Registered Dietitians.