Award for Impactful Innovation in Education

The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) Clinical Laboratory Educators Forum (CLEF) Award for Impactful Innovation in Education recognizes outstanding achievement of an individual ASCLS member who has provided an innovation/tool in education. The awardee is recognized for their ability to identify a need or a gap in clinical laboratory education and for creating a tool or innovation to address this need and/or providing this information to other educators.

About the Award: CLEF recognizes the efforts that educators make and are aware that we are the last ones to promote ourselves. Through this award, CLEF recognizes innovative and creative avenues that educators take to build future professionals.

Eligibility: Current ASCLS membership and member of CLEF for at least one year prior to the date of application/nomination. Must provide ASCLS membership number in application.

Award Criteria: The educator selected for this award has contributed to the laboratory educator community in education during the calendar year. This may include, but is not limited to, excellence in education beyond the local level, with widespread recognition of the recipient’s excellence, which may include teaching, directing, mentoring, writing, and speaking abilities, ideally to multiple levels of audiences.

Application Requirements and Process: A completed application will include an explanation of need and how it was addressed and shared. Must also provide supporting documentation of impact (e.g., letters of support/testimonials, use analytics, adoption rate, etc.). Application packet includes information form and supporting documentation (not to exceed five documents). Submitted electronically via the link below.

Award: Recipients receive a placard and a $500 monetary award at the Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference (CLEC).

Application Deadline: December 31.

Judging Criteria: The judging committee will consist of 3 (three) volunteers from the CLEF Leadership Council. CLEF Leadership Council are not eligible to apply for this award during their tenure on the council and will recuse themselves in the voting if they are a colleague or associated with a nominee. Applications will be assessed on completion of the award packet and impact of innovation based on students and educators reached and directly affected. Nominees may only receive this award once every five years, however, they may be nominated until an award is received.

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At ASCLS, and within CLEF, we believe that innovations that improve teaching and learning and that are shared generously with the community deserve to be highlighted and celebrated by all of us. The submission portal for 2027 will open in Fall 2026.

2026 CLEF Impactful Innovation in Education Award Recipient

Dr. Sonya Hidalgo: “Lab-n-a-Bag: MLS Outreach Kits for Pre-College Students”

The Clinical Laboratory Educators Forum (CLEF) is proud to recognize Dr. Sonya Hidalgo, MLS Program Director and Assistant Professor at McNeese State University, as the 2026 recipient of the CLEF Impactful Innovation in Education Award.

Dr. Hidalgo is the visionary creator of Lab-n-a-Bag, an innovative outreach initiative that expands access to Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) education and increases awareness of our profession in pre-college classrooms. Her work addresses a critical and long-recognized challenge in laboratory medicine: the lack of early exposure to MLS careers in high school science education, where diagnostic laboratory practice often remains invisible.

Each Lab-n-a-Bag kit is thoughtfully designed to bring laboratory science directly into the classroom. The kits contain safe, MLS-aligned, hands-on activities along with teacher lesson plans and student materials, including synthetic blood typing, thereby allowing educators to introduce authentic laboratory concepts without the need for specialized facilities or biohazard clearance.

What makes this innovation especially impactful is its intentional focus on scalability, accessibility, and community sharing. To date, more than thirty free of charge Lab-n-a-Bag kits have been placed in regional high schools across Louisiana and Texas. Dr. Hidalgo has also shared the initiative with educators through professional outreach at the state level, extending its influence even further.

Through Lab-n-a-Bag, Dr. Hidalgo has created more than an outreach project. She has built a practical and sustainable model for strengthening the MLS workforce pipeline and elevating the visibility of our profession.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sonya Hidalgo on this well-deserved recognition. Her creativity and commitment to innovation exemplify the spirit of the CLEF Impactful Innovation in Education Award and the future of laboratory science education.