Louann Lawrence, DrPH, MLS(ASCP)CM, Education and Research Board of Trustees Chair

It is time to consider application for 2018 Education and Research (E&R) Fund grants and scholarships. Please encourage undergraduate and graduate students whom you know, as well as ASCLS members doing research, to apply. Application forms and instructions are available at www.ascls.org/awards and the deadlines are April 1 for scholarships and May 1 for grants. 

Please print and mail your scholarship applications with accompanying transcripts and references to:

Joe Briden
Alpha Mu Tau Fraternity Executive Secretary
7809 South 21st Drive
Phoenix AZ 85041-7736

Joe processes scholarship applications for both E&R and Alpha Mu Tau Fraternity (AMTF). 

Please e-mail your grant applications to ASCLS Executive Vice President James Flanigan at jimf@ascls.org.

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 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.

DCLS Scholarship
The newest effort being considered is to support those brave doctoral students studying for the DCLS. There is no specific graduate support for these individuals who will be the vanguard for this advanced level of practitioner in our field. The E&R Fund would like to be home for this effort, with your support. Specify “DCLS” when you donate if you wish to help build that endowment fund.

E&R Grants and Scholarships 2017 Report
The ASCLS Education & Research Fund, Inc. awarded two research grants and six scholarships in 2017, thanks to your contributions. This is the fourth year in which scholarships have been made in honor of Dan Southern and in memory of Michelle Kanuth, and the second year to give an undergraduate a Bernadette “Bunny” Rodak Memorial Scholarship. 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.

This is the sixth 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. These scholarships support both graduate and undergraduate education.

The E&R Fund Memorial MLS Scholarship is intended for contributors who wish to honor or memorialize a colleague, friend or family member with a gift in his/her name. The recipient receives, in addition to the scholarship, a letter with the donors’ and honorees’ names. If you would like to contribute to the Memorial Scholarship, address your check to the ASCLS E&R Fund, or use the ASCLS DONATE page, designate the E&R Fund Memorial MLS Scholarship, and provide the name of your honoree.

2017 Scholarship Winners
The 2017 Daniel K. Southern MLS Scholarship recipient was Nicole Dispensa from Illinois. The Michelle S. Kanuth MLS Scholarship recipient was Emily Nagel from South Dakota and the Bernadette Rodak Memorial Scholarship recipient went to Sadaf Ahmad from New York. The Edward C. Dolbey Graduate Scholarship went to Michelle Campbell from Minnesota while the Dolbey MLS Scholarship recipient was Maryssa Schleis from Nebraska. The Dolbey MLT Scholarship went to Kara Smolarek from Florida. The 2017 total of scholarship awards supported by your contributions was $10,500. 

2017 E&R Fund Grant Awardees 
The E&R Fund Grant program attracted five applications for the Member Research Grant and one for the I. Dean Spradling Graduate Research Grant. The Member Research Grant was awarded to Nilanjan Lodh from Marquette University for a proposal titled Point of Care Diagnosis for Schistosomiasis from Urine by LAMP. The I. Dean Spradling Grant was awarded to Brian Deck from Michigan State University for The Viability Effects of Incorporating Opioid Peptide [D-Ala2,D-Leu5] Encephalin into Peripherally Collected Hematopoietic Stem Cells. This represents $8,000 in grant funds awarded. Our E&R Trustees were impressed by the quality of all the proposals, and truly wish we could have awarded all who applied. We strongly encourage masters and doctoral students to apply!