ASCLS Today Volume 32 Number 6

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors a member who has made remarkable contributions to ASCLS and the laboratory field, and who, by outstanding example, has inspired others. Nominees for the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award were: Judy Davis, Tennessee; Kathleen Finnegan, New York; Paula Garrott, Illinois; and Linda Goossen, Michigan.

The Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2018 was Paula Garrott, who was recognized at the ASCLS Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony in Chicago, a fitting place for the member from Illinois.

In her letter of nomination, her nominator wrote, “Beginning in her early days as a member of ASCLS in 1976, she has been a regular face at local, state, regional, and national meetings. She has been vocal and steadfast about the need for professional licensure. She has served in leadership at every level within the organization—local, state, regional, and national. She has also served tirelessly in other positions, including serving as committee members/chairs and task force members. She has represented ASCLS and the laboratory profession to many affiliated organizations, including the ASCP-BOC (American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification), CCCLW (Coordinating Council on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce), NAACLS (National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science), and IFBLS (International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science). This member has been the recipient of numerous accolades during her professional career. She best emulates what ASCLS looks for in a lifelong member: She has remarkable strength of character, she puts in immense effort into her work, she is widely recognized as a laboratory expert within the field, and is a strong advocate for the profession to those on the outside. I can think of no one more deserving to receive the 2018 ASCLS Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Congratulations, Paula!

It is not too soon to start thinking of nominating a worthy candidate for the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. The deadline is February 15, and it can take time to gather the information required in the application. Visit Awards and Scholarships for details.

Promotion of the Profession Committee Award winners

Leon Headley, 50-year member

Constituent Society Members of the Year

Chicago was the site of the 86th Annual ASCLS Awards Ceremony, made possible by volunteer support of the Awards Committee, awards judges, ASCLS staff, and Ed Neren from NerenPossible Services. Paula Garrott, 2002-03 ASCLS President, presided as mistress of ceremonies, and Deb Rodahl, 2017-18 ASCLS President, and Roslyn McQueen, President-Elect, presented the following member recognition awards.

Constituent Society Membership Awards are given each year to stimulate the recruitment efforts of each constituent society and are based on membership numbers as of May 31.

Greatest Percent Increase in Membership:

1st place: ASCLS-Arkansas

2nd place: ASCLS-Pennsylvania

Greatest Percent Increase in Non-Student Membership:

1st place: ASCLS-Georgia

2nd place: North Carolina Society for Clinical Laboratory Science 

Greatest Percent Retention:

1st place: ASCLS-Hawaii

2nd place: ASCLS-Minnesota

3rd place: ASCLS-Wyoming

Constituent Society Publication Awards are presented to encourage communication through publications and to promote excellence in such publications. There were no true web e-newsletters submitted this year.

Paper or PDF-Based Newsletter:

1st place: The Pennsylvania Newsletter, ASCLS-Pennsylvania, Joshua Cannon, Editor

2nd place: Newslinks, ASCLS-Michigan, Paul Guthrie, Editor

3rd place: Focus, ASCLS-Idaho, Jessica Lewis, Editor

Constituent Society Website Awards recognize excellence in a constituent society’s or other ASCLS-affiliated website.

1st place: ASCLS-Idaho, Diane Stumpf, Webmaster

2nd place: ASCLS-New Jersey, Cynthia Dixey and David Dixey, Webmasters

3rd place: ASCLS-Minnesota, Jenna Amundson, Webmaster

Political Action Committee (PAC) Awards recognize those states that generously support the ASCLS PAC. Winners are calculated by the amount of donations per member in the respective society.

1st place: ASCLS-California

2nd place: Kansas Society for Clinical Laboratory Science

3rd place: ASCLS-Georgia

Promotion of the Profession Committee Award provides recognition to those states that have excelled in fundraising events. Winners are calculated by the amount of funds raised per member in the respective society.

1st place: ASCLS-Colorado, for Project C.U.R.E.

2nd place: ASCLS-North Dakota, for the Ronald McDonald House Charity

3rd place: ASCLS-Montana, for the Children’s Miracle Network, Shodair Hospital

The 11th Leadership Academy graduates completed their year of leadership training in Chicago and were recognized for their accomplishment: Leah Ames, ASCLS-Indiana; Michael Iodice, ASCLS-CNE; and Heather McLaughlin, ASCLS AZ/NV.

Voices Under 40 honors ASCLS members under 40 years old who have shown exceptional commitment to ASCLS, the laboratory profession, and their community at large: Kate Bernhardt, Illinois; Mechelle Reeve, Idaho; Stephanie Rink, Michigan; Cherika Robertson, Arkansas; Pankaj Sethi, Georgia; Brooke Solberg, North Dakota; and Abbey Wichman, Montana.

Keys to the Future recognizes and rewards ASCLS members who have demonstrated their leadership potential to the organization. Forty-five members received Keys to the Future Pins this year.

Omicron Sigma provides recognition of the members who have volunteered their personal resources, time, and energy to ASCLS on the national, regional, and state levels. This year ASCLS recognized 471 nominees.

Membership Milestones recognizes ASCLS members who celebrated 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years of membership. The continued choice to be a member is a sign of commitment to the profession and a desire to make a difference. Eighteen loyal members of ASCLS were recognized for 50 years of membership and for being role models in perseverance and professionalism; Leon Headley, Washington, D.C., was present to pick up his award. Other 50-year members are: Grace Brown, Massachusetts; Dorothy Edwards, Louisiana; Dorothy Fike, West Virginia; Barbara Floyd, Louisiana; Lois Foreman, Colorado; Sue Janke, Wisconsin; Elise Kugler, Pennsylvania; Linda Milson, Wisconsin; Ruth Murray, Florida; Virginia Narlock, Wisconsin; Janet O’Donnell, Florida; Natalie Ortoli-Drew, Connecticut; Shirley Richmond, Texas; Leticia San Diego, Michigan; Frances Singleton, Missouri; Sandra Sommer, Virginia; and Patricia Wood, Washingon.

This year, the Constituent Society Member of the Year recognized 29 members honored by their own Constituent Society for their leadership on the local and state level in 2018. Congratulations to George Fritsma, Alabama; Erin Frasher, Alaska; Claude Rector, Arkansas; April Shields, Colorado; Tripat Kaur, Florida; Scott Wise, Georgia; Susan Morris, Idaho; Amy Liu, Illinois; Bridget Greiner, Iowa; Becky Hetrick, Kansas; Phil Campbell, Kentucky; Dana Grant, Louisiana; Stephanie Rink, Michigan; Jenna Amundson, Minnesota; Lee Byrd, Mississippi; Ashlee Ketchum, Montana; Patty Jackman, New Jersey; Matthew Schoell, New York; Lisa Cremeans, North Carolina; Sharon Reistad, North Dakota; Melanie Giusti, Ohio; Alison Rossdeutscher, Oklahoma; Jean Buchenhorst, Pennsylvania; Lori Murray, South Dakota; Hema D’Souza, Tennessee; Rodney Rohde, Texas; Brenda Kochis, Washington; Kelly Robinson, Wisconsin; and Franki-Marie Herdt, Wyoming.

These societies and member volunteers mentioned above make it possible for ASCLS to achieve and retain its premiere standing in the health care community. Congratulations to all the winners.

Awards are a great way to recognize our members for their efforts. 2019 awards deadlines start February 15. Visit Awards and Scholarships for full details and to nominate worthy candidates.

Louann Lawrence, DrPH, Chair, ASCLS Education and Research Fund, Inc.

The ASCLS Education and Research (E&R) Fund, Inc., awarded two research grants and six scholarships at the ASCLS Annual Meeting in Chicago, totaling $10,000 in grant funds and $11,000 in scholarships for the 2018 funding year. Thanks to your monetary donations and generosity by donating and purchasing items at the E&R Silent Auction at the Annual Meeting each year, we have these funds to award.

2018 Scholarships
This is the seventh year for our Edward C. Dolbey scholarships, given from a charitable trust bequeathed to the ASCLS E&R Fund in 2011 on behalf of Mr. Dolbey, who for many years was a prominent laboratory supplies distributor in Philadelphia and a long-time supporter of all things related to medical laboratory science. The Dolbey Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Lindsey Davenport-Landry of Iowa; the Dolbey MLS Scholarship went to Elizabeth Thornton from Colorado; and Allison Bautista of Florida was awarded the Dolbey MLT Scholarship.

Scholarships named in honor of or in memory of leaders in the ASCLS community make up the remainder of the scholarship funds. This is the fifth year we have given a scholarship in honor of Dan Southern with funds provided by his family. This year the Dan Southern Scholarship went to Luke Goodale of Oregon.

This is also the fifth year we gave a scholarship in memory of Michelle Kanuth. Funds provided by her family make possible the scholarship that went to Jessica Smith of Illinois this year.

This is the third year we have given a scholarship in memory of Bernadette (Bunny) Rodak, and this year the funds went to Nicole Ferrell of Oklahoma. Dan, Michelle, and Bunny served as E&R trustees, and both Dan and Michelle led the fund as chair. Friends and colleagues are invited to honor Dan and memorialize Michelle and Bunny by contributing to these scholarships.

2018 Grants
An ASCLS Member Grant was awarded to Allie Clinton Smith, PhD, from Texas Tech University, for her proposal, “Detection of S. aureus Small Colony Variants in Chronic Wounds.” A second ASCLS Member Grant was awarded to Perry M. Scanlan, PhD, from Austin Peay State University, for “A Simulated Infection Control Model for a Health-Care Facility.” Our E&R trustees were impressed by the quality of all the proposals and truly wish we could have awarded all who applied. The E&R Fund is the only organization funding research grants to help advance our profession.

Contribute
What better way is there to meet your charitable goals than to support our Developing Professionals? You can use the DONATE button that appears on www.ascls.org to make your contribution to the E&R Fund, or simply mail your check to the ASCLS national office, c/o James Flanigan, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, 1861 International Drive, Suite 200, McLean VA 22102. Though your contribution is officially a tax-deductible donation to our 501c3 fund, it is more accurate to think of it as an investment in our profession.

Alpha Mu Tau Fraternity provided $45,000 in scholarships to the following students:

AMTF Graduate Scholarship: Whitney Strosnider, Virginia

Dorothy Morrison Scholarship: Ryan Barry, New York

Eleanor Parchman Scholarship: Morgan Fisher, Virginia

Ida & May Reilly Undergraduate Scholarship: Mariah Alanis, Oregon

James Holley Scholarship: Amber Carlson, Kansas

Martha Winstead Scholarship: Marie Reichert, Arkansas

Roma E. Brown Memorial and Nellie M. Bering Scholarship: Kari Boyer, Iowa

Royce Watson Graduate Scholarship: Regina Wulff, New York

Ruth M. French Scholarship: Heather Hanson, Texas

Unnamed AMTF Scholarships: Thiara Aleman, Florida; Mallory Bouck, Florida; Kaitlin Cruz, Mississippi; Tsetsgee Davaadorj, Maryland; Elizabeth Garton, Oregon; Alexa Gathman, North Dakota; Lillie Meduna, North Dakota; Joanna Miranda, Texas; and Leah Townsend, Oregon

The Diversity Advocacy Council provides scholarships to students in MLS and MLT programs who demonstrate financial need. Scholarships were awarded to Imee Mangubat, Oregon, and Heather Hansen, Texas, this year.

Joseph J. Kleiner Memorial Award, administered by the Education & Research Fund, is given to the lead author of the best Clinical Laboratory Science article of the year. This year’s recipient was Larry Smith for “Laboratory Diagnosis of the Lupus Anticoagulant.”

Beckman Coulter provided Student Travel Grants to the following individuals: Kyleigh Ellis, Louisiana; Stephanie Garcia, Arizona; Heather Hansen, Texas; Haley Martinez, Texas; and Joanna Miranda, Texas. This sponsorship helps students attend and experience the ASCLS Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo and is truly an investment in the future of clinical laboratory science.

In addition, fundraising allowed travel grants to be awarded to support students or new professionals to attend the ASCLS Annual Meeting.

ASCLS Student Forum Travel Grants: Cheyenne Reyes, Louisiana, and Mary Thao, Wisconsin

NPNMF Travel Grants: Julie Bayer-Vile, Iowa; Samantha Buck, Colorado; and Ali Hassan, North Dakota

Diversity Advocacy Council Grant: Genaro Hernandez, Oregon

Check out Awards and Scholarships for information on applying for these grants and scholarships in 2019. Deadlines start March 1.

Beckman Coulter Student Travel Grant winners	Student Forum Travel Grant winners	NPNMF Travel Grant winners	Diversity Advocacy Council Grant winner