The CLSI To Your Good Health Workshop took place today in Baltimore, Maryland. The workshop offered exciting networking and learning opportunities for manufacturers, regulatory agencies, health care professionals, and educators and students. 

After an intensive day of learning, the workshop concluded with a special event—a 40th anniversary celebration dinner. CLSI thanked the outstanding and important contributions of members and volunteers, acknowledged the new executive leadership and directors, and recognized 2008 award recipients.

Highlights of this year’s program included: Service Recognition, John V. Bergen Award, Honor Awards, and the Russell J. Eilers Memorial Award.

Award recipients included:

Service Recognition
Service awards are presented to members of the Board of Directors, area committee chairholders, and subcommittee and working group chairholders to recognize completion of service on the Board or as an area committee chairholder. For subcommittee chairholders, the awards reflect successful completion of a standards project.

Board of Directors
 
Thomas L. Hearn, PhD
Board of Directors
 
Susan Blonshine, RRT, RPFT, FAARC
Board of Directors
 
Lillian J. Gill, DPA
Board of Directors
 
Klaus E. Stinshoff, Dr.Rer.Nat.
Board of Directors
 
Board Committees
 
Susan Blonshine, RRT, RPFT, FAARC
Education Committee
 
Wayne L. Brinster
Business Development Committee
 
Mary Lou Gantzer, PhD
Quality and Ethics Committee
 
Valerie L. Ng, PhD, MD
Education Committee
 
Area Committees
 
Paul J. Mountain, MSc, MT(ASCP)
Area Committee on Automation and Informatics
 
Subcommitees and Working Groups
 
Robert D. Arbeit, MD
Subcommittee on Bacterial Strain Typing (MM11-A)
 
David A. Armbruster, PhD, DABCC, FACB
Working Group on Toxicology and Drug Testing in the Clinical Laboratory (C52-A2)
 
Lucia M. Berte, MA, MT(ASCP), SBB, DLM; CQALASQ, CQM
Subcommittee on Occurrence Management (GP32-A)
 
Donald H. Chace, PhD, MSFS
Subcommittee on Mass Spectrometry in the Clinical Laboratory (C50-A)
 
Dennis J. Ernst, MT(ASCP)
Working Group on Venipuncture (H3-A6)
 
Jan W. Gratama, MD, PhD
Working Group on Immunophenotyping of Lymphocytes (H42-A2)
 
W. Harry Hannon, PhD
Working Group on Blood Collection for Newborn Screening (LA4-A5)
 
John A. Koepke, MD
Working Group on Differential Counting (H20-A2)
 
Richard A. McPherson, MD
Subcommittee on Analysis of Body Fluids in Clinical Chemistry (C49-A)
 
Karen K. Mortland, AIA, MT(ASCP)
Working Group on Laboratory Design (GP18-A2) 
 
Maryalice Stetler-Stevenson, MD, PhD
Subcommittee on Flow Cytometry of Leukemic Cells (H43-A2)
 
Daniel W. Tholen, MS
Working Group on Using Proficiency Testing and External Quality Assessment (GP27-A2)
 
Ronald J. Whitley, PhD
Working Group on Blood Collection for Newborn Screening (LA4-A5)
 
Michael L. Wilson, MD
Subcommittee on Principles and Procedures for Blood Cultures (M47-A)

Honor Awards

Excellence in Standards Development
This award is given to the volunteer or group of volunteers who make significant contributions as participants in developing a consensus standard, guideline, or other work product.

Roger R. Calam, PhD, DABCC; and Paul J. Mountain, MSc, MT(ASCP)

Excellence in Mentoring
This award is given to the volunteer who, by enhancing a mentee’s performance, satisfaction, and professional growth as a CLSI volunteer, contributes to the success of CLSI projects and ensures the long-term mentee participation in CLSI.

Susan Blonshine, RRT, RPFT, FAARC

Excellence in Global Leadership
This award is given to the volunteer who is extraordinarily committed to CLSI’s strategic goal to reach out to and involve the global health care community in the development of projects.

Gary L. Myers, PhD

Excellence in Member Organization Leadership
This award is given to the CLSI member organization that clearly helps CLSI maintain its leadership in developing documents.  

BD

The John V. Bergen Award
The annual John V. Bergen Award recognizes the volunteer or group who advances CLSI organizational directives and objectives through unique and significant contributions.

James H. Jorgensen, PhD

This year’s recipient, Dr. James Jorgensen, received his PhD from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1973. He started his career as a Research Associate at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, Burn Institute, Galveston Unit, and is now Professor, Department of Pathology, Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, and the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as well as Director, Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at University Hospital. He has written and contributed to over 290 scientific publications and has also received numerous honors and awards. Dr. Jorgensen has been actively involved in CLSI for over 20 years, currently serving as the Chairholder for the Working Group on Fastidious or Infrequently Isolated Bacteria as well as Advisor to the Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of which he previously served as Vice-Chairholder and Chairholder. He served on the CLSI Chairholders Council and was Chairholder of the Area Committee on Microbiology.

Russell J. Eilers Memorial Award
The prestigious Russell J. Eilers Memorial Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to voluntary consensus.

W. Harry Hannon, PhD

This year’s recipient Dr. Hannon received his PhD (1972) from the University of Tennessee in Biochemistry and did postdoctoral training at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories. He has written over 225 scientific publications and served on over 20 national and international committees for a variety of laboratory standardization and quality assurance issues. Among his CLSI activities since 1978, he chaired CLSI committees for Blood Spot Collection on Filter Paper for Neonatal Screening Programs and the CLSI training video that won the first FREDDIE Award for CLSI. Dr. Hannon received many awards for his contributions, including the Robert Guthrie Award and two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Charles C. Shepard Science Awards.

Glen Fine, MS, MBA, Executive Vice President, CLSI, says, “The CLSI awards dinner was an opportunity to acknowledge all of the volunteers who commit their time and energy to the consensus process. Without the dedicated commitment of our volunteers, we simply would not exist.”

Honoring volunteers demonstrates CLSI’s recognition of the essential role of medical professionals. Fine adds, “We want to show our volunteers, members, and customers that medical laboratory professionals are a critical part of our organization.” Fine continued, “It is timely to celebrate the health care professionals making a difference to CLSI at our conference, since National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (NMLPW) will be held at the end of this month. NMLPW is a week dedicated to making the pubic aware of the rewarding medical laboratory profession and the hard work that goes into improving medical testing and saving lives.”

Check out the May edition of CLSI eNews for 2008 CLSI Leadership Conference photos and exciting To Your Good Health Workshop details.