James Hollowell, MLS(ASCP)CM, 2019-20 ASCLS Developing Professionals Forum Vice Chair During this past year in my clinical rotations, I was able to experience a wide variety of laboratories and learn from a diverse and talented multitude of laboratory scientists. I interacted with hundreds of hospital employees and worked closely with dozens of laboratory workers at…
Jie Gao, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, and Floyd Josephat, EdD, MT(ASCP) The recent joint American and European guidelines on the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) rely heavily upon the measurements of cardiac troponins (cTn), especially troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI), which are the most useful cardiac biomarker today.1 However, an increasing number of studies…
Meera J. Patel, MS; Subhasis B. Biswas, PhD; and Esther E. Biswas-Fiss, PhD, MB(ASCP)CM* Novel variants of unknown significance are often discovered through genetic testing, which may give rise to the unclear prognosis of pathogenicity. Integration of molecular diagnostic testing with in silico bioinformatic tools and biomedical research can provide enhanced clarification on disease association…
Virtual 2020 Joint Annual Meeting a Success, SAFMLS Joins 2021 Joint Annual Meeting, Congratulations to Newly-Elected Officers, Free Webinar on Laboratory Monitoring of COVID-19 Patients, and more!
Cindy Johnson, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President Dear ASCLS Family, As I sit down to write this letter, I am reminded daily of the strength and wisdom that have been displayed by all of you as we continue to fight the battle against a newly identified virus known as COVID-19. Who would of thought that we…
Learning from the Past and De-Weaponizing Disease Miles Tompkins, MLT(ASCP)CM, ASCLS-Oklahoma President, ASCLS Diversity Advocacy Council Chair “I won’t come to your funeral when you die from AIDS.” Despite being almost 25 years since I came out as a gay man, those words are still emblazoned in my memory as if they were spoken to…
Conversations from Twitter Kathryn Golab, MLS(ASCP)CM This past February, the American Journal for Clinical Pathology released the results of a study completed by the ASCP Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy about workforce job satisfaction, well-being, and burnout among laboratory professionals. Not surprisingly, the study found that 85.3 percent of survey respondents had experienced…
Karrie Hovis, MHS, MLS(ASCP)CM, CQIA Author Karrie Hovis was redeployed to the molecular laboratory to perform the SARS-CoV-2 assay. Monday, March 9, 2020, started like any other weekday. Kids went to school while parents reported to the office. However, the citizens of New Orleans and surrounding areas were not prepared for what the next five…
Navigating the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in North Dakota Christie Massen PhD, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM The North Dakota Public Health Laboratory staff before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The laboratory capacity expanded during the pandemic through many critical partnerships. Being the laboratory director at the North Dakota Department of Health during the SARS-CoV-2 has been rewarding, and the lab has…
George A. Fritsma, MS, MLS(ASCP)CM In February of 2017, George Fritsma and the late Cindy Johns led a Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference (CLEC) plenary session entitled, “Enhancing Laboratory Communication to Reduce Extra-analytical Errors.” The presenters referred to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® (CW) initiative, founded with Consumer Reports in 2012.…