Dr. Aker is Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees. He studied medicine in Cairo and then joined the fellowship program of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. In 1981 he specialized in urology surgery at Kings College, London. Dr. Aker helped to found the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners in 1989 and the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) in 1993. Dr. Aker participated in the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference and in the Palestinian-Israeli bilateral talks between 1991 and 1993. He was a member of the steering committee for the foundation of the first medical school in Al-Quds University in 1995.
Dr. Aker heads the Board of Trustees of the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy-Muwatin. He is a member of several councils and committees: the Higher Committee for Review of the Educational Process in Palestine, which was established by a decision of the Prime Minister; the Welfare Association Board of Trustees; the Palestinian Health Policy Forum; the Council for Higher Education; the Advisory Council for the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC); the Board of Trustees of the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN); and the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (Masarat).
