ASCLS Today Volume 34, Number 7

Alpha Mu Tau Fraternity provided $41,000 in scholarships to the following students.

• Royce Watson Graduate Scholarship: Kristen Sigl
• Ruth M. French Scholarship: Georgia Artzberger
• James Holley Scholarship: Rachel Schaeferle
• Dorothy Morrison Scholarship: Stephanie Jacobson
• Eleanor Parchman Scholarship: Katelyn Hadlich
• Ida & May Reilly Undergraduate Scholarship: Jada Hicks
• Martha Winstead Scholarship: Rachel Siddall
• Roma E. Brown Memorial and Nellie M. Bering Scholarship: Afaf Maslah
• Unnamed AMTF Scholarships: Amani Adeeb Abushamma, Trevor Davis, Ebalin Dutan, Carli Dyba, Laura Kelley, Kenedee Kristjanson, Edward McVoy, and Isis-Dominique Navarro.

The ASCLS Education and Research (E&R) Fund provided $13,000 in scholarships to the following students.

• Edward C. Dolbey Graduate Scholarship: Shannon Kern
• Edward C. Dolbey Undergraduate Scholarship: Jacob Dickman
• Edward C. Dolbey Undergraduate Scholarship: Karlee Quail
• “Bunny” Rodak Undergraduate Memorial Scholarship: Lacie Melder
• Southern Undergraduate Scholarship: Mariana Salcido
• Kanuth Undergraduate Scholarship: Mollie Wynn

Joseph J. Kleiner Memorial Award, administered by the E&R Fund, is given to the authors of the best Clinical Laboratory Science article of the year. This year’s recipients are Claire Owaja, Evelyn Roback-Navarro, Naomi Iwai, and Nadine Leret for “Hyperglycemia Activates the CD27-CD70 Axis on Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells.”

The following scientific research and paper and poster awards were given at the 2020 ASCLS Joint Annual Meeting.

Scientific Research

This year’s recipients are Gerald Redwine, Louis Caruana, Rodney Rohde, and Chris Russian for A Prospective Study of Patients Diagnosed with Sarcoidosis: Factors – Environmental Exposure, Health Assessment, and Genetic Outlooks.

Scientific Assembly Awards

• Chemistry/Urinalysis: Vicki Freeman
• Laboratory Administration: Lezlee Koch

Annual Meeting Poster Awards

• Professional. This year’s recipients are Brandy Gunsolus, Kellie Foss, and Gurmukh Singh for Promotion of Appropriate Laboratory Test Utilization.
• Graduate. This year’s recipients are Corey Swackhammer, Jacob Gault, Aaron Beaver, Estephania Yanez, and Talyor Eaves for Rapid Molecular Detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using Real-Time PCR.
• Undergraduate. This year’s recipients are Rachel Siddal, Carol Young, and William LeBar for Cefiderocol Susceptibility in Gram Negative Organisms.

Annual Meeting Oral Presentation

This year’s recipients are Leanne Hutson and Joy Obuekwe for Acute Myeloid Leukemia – Down Syndrome: A Case Study.

Education Scientific Assembly Student Paper Awards

Research Paper. This year’s recipient is Kristina Olack for Capillary Blood and Urine Ketone Body Analysis During the Ketogenic Diet.

Case Study. This year’s recipients are Jennifer Adcock, Mohammed Al Swar, Ali Al Zaher, Abhay Joshi, and Kathryn Napier for Testing Implications for IgE Monoclonal Gammopathy.

The following Clinical Laboratory Science Journal Distinguished Author Awards were given at the 2020 ASCLS Joint Annual Meeting.

Education Section

This year’s recipients are Mitzi Glover, Tina Patel Gunaldo, Donald Mercante, Angela Foley, and Michele Zitzman for “Promoting Interprofessionalism within an Academic Environment.”

Clinical Practice Section

This year’s recipients are Catherine Montemore, Yuliya Dobrydneva, and Marcia Firmani for “The Impact of Blood Utilization Guidelines on Product Usage.”

Research and Reports Section

This year’s recipients are Linda Le, Kayla Schmidt, Mark Vanzo, and Tim Randolph for “Anemia and Anemia Biomarkers in Developing Countries.”

Focus Section

This year’s recipients are Erin Graf, Caitlin Dougherty, Vincent Escuyer, and Stephanie Mitchell for “The Emergence of Pathogenic Genomics in Diagnostic Laboratories Series.”

The purpose of the ASCLS Board of Directors Award is to recognize persons in the Society who have given exemplary service to the Society in the past year. The following Board of Directors Awards were given at the 2020 ASCLS Joint Annual Meeting.

• Louann Lawrence for serving as Education & Research Fund chair
• Dana Bostic for serving as the CLEC Steering Committee chair
• Tripat Kaur for serving as the CLEC host city liaison
• Rick Panning for serving as the Constituent Society Task Force chair
• Linda Goossen for serving as the Constituent Society Task Force vice chair
• Kathy Doig for serving as the Leadership Development Committee chair
• Rebecca Rogers for serving as the Nominations and Marketing and Communications Committees chairs
• George Fristma for serving as the Choosing Wisely Task Force/Committee chair
• Melissa Dumoulin for serving as the Membership Committee chair
• Lynne Williams for serving as Annual Meeting Steering Committee chair

The Robin H. Mendelson Memorial Award was established in 1971 to commemorate a courageous young man who struggled for five years with kidney dialysis and two transplants during the infancy of transplant technology. The award honors outstanding service and contributions to ASCLS, the ASCLS Education & Research Fund, and to the clinical laboratory science profession. The award is a plaque that is presented to the outgoing ASCLS president and up to three additional honorees at the close of the annual ASCLS House of Delegates. This year’s recipients of this prestigious award are:

• Cindy Johnson for serving as 2019-20 ASCLS president
• Brandy Gunsolus: We want to recognize Dr. Gunsolus for her trailblazing efforts on behalf of this profession as the first ever Doctor of Clinical Laboratory Science (DCLS) practitioner. While becoming the “first” of anything is a daunting task, Dr. Gunsolus by any and all standards has surpassed all expectations that could have been placed upon her. She is an accomplished practitioner and scholar who has assured that the value of laboratory medicine and the DCLS practitioner is heard within her institution and beyond. Her contributions to the body of knowledge and ability to provide impactful continuing education based upon her research to both laboratory and non-laboratory professionals is without comparison. The award is intended to “honor outstanding service and contributions to ASCLS, the ASCLS Education & Research Fund, and to the clinical laboratory science profession,” which is fitting for Dr. Gunsolus.
• Gilma Roncancio-Weemer: Gilma has been very active in ASCLS and has served in many roles at the state, regional, and national levels. She served on the ASCLS Board of Directors as secretary/treasurer. Gilma has been a mentor and friend to many laboratory professionals throughout her career. Most notably, Gilma has been a special advisor to the Ascending Professionals Forum for the past six years and has made a huge impact on the next generation of laboratory leaders.
• Patricia Tille: Dr. Tille is a widely respected content expert in the field of medical microbiology and molecular diagnostics, and in 2019-20 alone, was the lead corresponding author on four publications through the International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science. She serves as a content reviewer in microbiology in the textbook Medical Laboratory Science Review, which is geared toward helping MLS students prepare for the national certification exam. Additionally, she speaks frequently at state, regional, and national meetings on both microbiology and molecular diagnostics.