ACLPS

News and events

ACLPS News and Events 

ACLPS Fall 2022 Newsletter

If you prefer to view this newsletter as a PDF, please click here.

President’s Letter

Dear ACLPS Members and Colleagues:

I am thrilled to write to you as the newly-elected President. I have been involved with ACLPS since my very first year of clinical pathology residency (nearly 20 years ago) and am now delighted to help lead our organization for the coming year. It is truly a privilege to have the opportunity to continue to advance our society and the field of laboratory medicine.

The past year has been a notable one, particularly with the completion of our first in-person annual meeting since 2019. The University of Washington did an incredible job of hosting and many thanks to Dr. Theresa Nester and her team for all of their efforts in completing such a wonderful educational (and social!) event, especially with the continued pressures of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We remain excited about this ‘return to normal’ and are all eagerly anticipating what Dr. Jim Gorham and his team at the University of Virginia have in store for us for our next live meeting – hold the dates of June 8-10, 2023, when I hope to see all of you in Charlottesville. It’s also never too early to mention abstract submissions, as young investigators and their work remain the lifeblood of our annual meeting and organization. Therefore, please encourage your residents, fellows, graduate students, and other trainees to submit their best research to ACLPS 2023. Check our website and be on the lookout for email announcements about the abstract submission process and deadlines.

Beyond the annual meeting, we anticipate that this will be another productive year for the organization in its ongoing support of junior physicians and scientists. Notably, the Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Grant Program (now in its sixth year) remains a terrific and unique means for early career scholars to gain funding for research related to laboratory science be it clinical, translational, or of a basic science bent. The deadline for grant submission is December 16, 2022 and details on the application process can be found at: https://www.aclps.org/training-grants. We are also in the process of exploring tiered membership levels with free or reduced-cost applications to our organization for those at the earliest stages of their academic careers.

I feel strongly that initiatives like our grant program and tiered membership levels will continue to attract young physicians & scientists to ACLPS and keep them engaged as productive, ongoing members of our society in the years to come.

There are many other goals we seek to accomplish this year. Among those is finalizing the separation of the Secretary/Treasurer position into independent Secretary and Treasurer roles. I am confident this will optimize administrative workflows and create a pipeline for enhanced productivity from our Executive Council. We are also aiming to expand our social media presence, reinvigorating existing platforms such as the ACLPS Twitter account (follow us at https://twitter.com/ACLPS_ if you haven’t already), while simultaneously pursuing new avenues to spread information about our field in general, and the many contributions made by our society and members in particular. ACLPS also continues to advocate on behalf of laboratory medicine practitioners and the vital work that we do. As an example, and most recently, we have co-signed a letter to CMS opposing their proposal to recognize nursing degrees for high complexity testing. Members of our Executive Council have also made many strides in the past year to protect the performance of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) in order to minimize regulatory burdens associated with these assays that could otherwise negatively impact patient care.

Finally, I will close this letter by giving my thanks to all who have contributed to ACLPS in the past year. As an entirely volunteer run organization, we simply could not function without the dedication, effort, and input of the wonderful individuals who constitute our Committees and Executive Council – you all have my gratitude. I would like to especially acknowledge the work done by Dr. Elizabeth Frank (Past President), Dr. Anthony Killeen (Immediate Past President), Dr. Tatiana Yuzyuk (Secretary/Treasurer) and Dr. Angella Charnot-Katsikas (President-Elect) – I could not have asked for a better group of co-officers and am grateful for all their support. Many thanks also to Dr. Grace Kroner for helping us to edit and publish these newsletters!

Let’s have another great year together and hope to see all of you in person in Virginia next June!

Christopher A. Tormey, MD
Professor of Laboratory Medicine
Yale University School of Medicine

Statement Regarding ACLPS Membership Dues Increase

At a recent meeting of the ACLPS Executive Council, the decision was made to raise annual membership dues to $150 starting in 2023, a $50 increase from recent year’s fees. The last time ACLPS raised dues was in 2002, just a little over two decades ago.

The reasons behind this increase are many, but the decision was particularly influenced by the Council’s desire to keep our organization financially healthy, avoiding depletion of critical reserve funds.

We also are aiming for this increase in fees to aid other planned initiatives in this and coming years, including: augmented financial support for young investigators, creation of tiered, lower-cost membership levels for faculty just out of training, and aligning with an association management company to optimize planning & execution of our annual meeting.

The Executive Council recognizes that any fees or dues increase can be challenging, especially in these turbulent financial times, but we hope that this small change will not be a barrier to your ongoing membership. We remain very optimistic about the outlook of our organization and all of the positive contributions our members will make in the coming years.

Annual Business Meeting Minutes

Friday, June 24th, 2022 in Seattle, WA

I. The meeting was called to order at 12:30 PM PT by Dr. Anthony Killeen.

II. Report from Executive Council – Anthony Killeen

Dr. Killeen welcomed the participants to the Annual Meeting, the first in-person meeting since 2019. Dr. Killeen reported that the following were highlights of the Academy’s activities in the last year:

  • ACLPS joined with many other laboratory associations in opposition to the “Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development Act” (VALID), which would formalize FDA oversight over LDTs, and to its inclusion in the MDUFA bill. The position of ACLPS is that we believe that the CLIA framework is appropriate and sufficient to oversee the development and use of LDTs.

  • ACLPS Supported CDC’s work to establish Pediatric Reference Intervals.

  • The most important governance change was the proposed amendment to the Bylaws to split the role of Secretary-Treasurer into separate offices (i.e., Secretary and Treasurer). [This was approved by the Membership, and ratified at the Annual Meeting]

  • We updated our website and transferred some hosting functions to Wild Apricot.

  • Dr. Killeen expressed the gratitude of the Academy to the 2022 hosts at the University of Washington in Seattle, especially to Theresa Nester, Wayne Chandler, Geoff Baird, Juliette Piboonvaranggoon, Miguel Lauchengco and the team.

Dr. Killeen expressed his gratitude to the members to the Executive Council and Officers during the past year, and particularly his personal appreciation of the support during the year from Drs. Tatiana Yuzyuk and Elizabeth Frank, and the Newsletter Editor, Dr. Grace Kroner.

III. Secretary-Treasurer Report – Tatiana Yuzyuk

Dr. Yuzyuk presented the Secretary-Treasurer report. The FY22 audit was completed, and no issues were found. Dr. Yuzyuk reviewed current ACLPS finances and discussed the changes in the balances of investment and bank accounts over time. The growing numbers of members and member donations continue to support ACLPS. Dr. Yuzyuk gratefully acknowledged generous donations from the following individuals (Edward Ashwood, Geza Bodor, Jonathan Genzen, David Jaye, Anthony Killeen, Alexander McAdam, Valerie Ng, Petrie Rainey, David Sacks, Jorge Sepulveda, Tatiana Yuzyuk, and C. Bruce Alexander “In Memory of Dr. John A Smith”) and encouraged donations from all active members to sustain young investigators award and grant programs. She also recognized the sponsors of the ACLPS 2022 annual meeting.

Dr. Yuzyuk talked about the functionality of new Membership portal, which is now used for associate and active membership applications, member profile management, dues payment, and donations. Finally, she thanked the ACLPS president, Dr. Antony Killeen, Executive Council members, and all other committee members for outstanding services in FY22.

IV. Young Investigator Award Program Report – Jorge Sepulveda

Dr. Sepulveda then presented the update from the YIA award program. ACLPS received 80 abstract submissions from 30 institutions. 37 judges participated in reviews, scoring on a 1-9 NIH-style system (1 is the best; 3.8 median score), with approximately 4-5 judges per abstract. There were 22 Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator awards, including 2 student awards. Three abstracts were elected for William L. Roberts YIA with Distinction. The final program included 46 oral presentations and 34 posters.

V. Reports of standing committees:

Program and Finance Committee – Christopher Tormey

Dr. Tormey presented the report from the Program and Finance Committee. The committee met several times in the 2021-2022 period. Discussions primarily focused on planning/updates for the 2022 meeting and strategies to help hosts of 2023 and future meetings. He noted that meeting planning and associated financial work can be a large burden for hosts and, therefore, working with a dedicated planning group (external) might be helpful. There is also a need for a shared drive to disseminate information from previous hosts. Dr. Tormey acknowledged many advantages of the Wild Apricot membership portal including tracking current and new members, polling, and dues payment. Finally, he recognized the effort of the 2022 local hosts and the members of the committee.

Membership Committee – David Jaye

Dr. Jaye presented the Membership Committee update. Currently, ACLPS has 368 Active members and 131 Associate members. In the last 12 months the committee received 30 Active member and 53 Associate member applications. New members this year are from more than 30 institutions. Applications are now submitted electronically using the new Membership portal. The committee members also review applications and vote to approve applicants online. Dr. Jaye encouraged all graduating Associate members to update ACLPS on their contact information post-graduation.

Nominating and Awards Committee – Elizabeth Frank

Dr. Frank presented the report from the Nominating and Awards Committee. The committee received nominations from the membership for each office and committee position to be elected at the 2022 Annual Business Meeting and recommendations for the Academy’s awards (Evans Award, Benson Award). The committee also recognized the recommendation for the Cotlove Lectureship from the Local Hosts of the 2022 Annual Meeting. The selection was presented to the Executive Council for approval. Dr. Frank acknowledged the efforts of the group appointed by President Killeen that led to amendments to the ACLPS bylaws allowing separation of Secretary and Treasurer positions. The ballot to vote on office/committee nominations and the amendments to the bylaws was posted online in early May.

Website Committee – Noah Hoffman

Dr. Hoffman presented the report from the Website Committee. He acknowledged the contributions from all committee members and encouraged the membership to visit the job board and news and events on the website. Dr. Hoffman reviewed the committee plans for the next year. One of the goals is social media integration such as embedded Twitter messages and pushing content to Twitter automatically (news/events, job opportunities). The committee will also work on publishing the newsletter as native web content. Dr. Hoffmann discussed expansion of scope and topics in the future by soliciting content from Executive Council and membership. The transition to a new website committee chair is also planned for next year.

VI. Election results

The ACLPS 2022 election results were presented by Dr. Tatiana Yuzyuk. The 2022 ballot and election were conducted electronically using the membership portal. PDF ballots were also sent via email. 140 ballots were submitted online, 4 ballots were received as scanned PDFs via email, and 5 hard-copy ballots were completed at the 2022 Annual meeting. Dr. Yuzyuk announced that all nominees on the FY22 ballot were elected, and the members voted for the amendments to the bylaws. Elected officers and committee members included: President-Elect, Angella Charnot-Katsikas, MD (Loyola University); Executive Council, Zara Herskovits, MD, PhD (Memorial Sloan Kettering), Brian Shirts, MD, PhD (University of Washington); Nominating and Awards Committee, Melanie Yarbrough, PhD (Washington University); Education Committee, Kayode Balogun, PhD (University of Saskatchewan), Liyun Cao, PhD (University of Alabama), Ronald Jackups, MD, PhD (Washington University); Membership Committee, Kelly Doyle, PhD (University of Utah Health); Website Committee, Christina Pierre, PhD (University of Pennsylvania), Geoffrey Smith, MD (Emory University). Congratulations were extended to our 2022 elected officers and committee members.

VII. Installation of new President

Dr. Christopher Tormey was acknowledged as the new ACLPS President as of the end of this Annual Meeting. Dr. Tormey thanked Dr. Killeen and noted that he was honored to proceed in this role.

VIII. Adjournment

The Annual Business Meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM PT.

Attendees are all smiles during one of the breaks between scientific sessions!

Attendees are all smiles during one of the breaks between scientific sessions!

2022 Annual Meeting Report

by Theresa Nester

The 2022 ACLPS meeting occurred in Seattle, Washington on June 23rd-25th, 2022 and was hosted by the University of Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. The meeting venue was the Grand Hyatt, located on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. Close to 200 laboratorians and pathology trainees registered, and despite poor weather in the northeast and COVID-19, most were able to make it to the in-person event. One of the main purposes of the ACLPS meeting is to celebrate young investigators and the 2022 meeting was rich with excellent presentations and dialogue from our pathology and laboratory medicine trainees. The Cotlove lecture was given by Dr. Charles Murry, who updated the audience on progress with using stem cells to regenerate damaged cardiac tissue. Benson awardee Dr. Melanie Yarbrough presented on the topic of challenging dogmas in clinical microbiology. Meeting co-host Dr. Wayne Chandler came out of retirement to give his reflections on a 40 year career in laboratory medicine. At the annual business meeting, the chairs of the ACLPS standing committees gave their updates (summarized in this newsletter), and then outgoing ACLPS president Dr. Tony Killeen presented the official gavel to Dr. Chris Tormey. The awards banquet was held at the Museum of Flight, where attendees enjoyed a delicious meal, flight simulators, and winged exhibits. Dr. Neal Lindeman received the Evans Award during the ceremony, and the young investigators also received their acknowledgements. On Saturday the 25th, Drs. Brian Jackson and Hardeep Singh each gave thought-provoking presentations, and then the meeting closed with the excellent work of the young investigator grant recipients. It was delightful to be able to connect in person after two years of virtual meetings. Thank you to all who attended the meeting!

2022 Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Awardees

NameInstitutionSponsor
Awards with Distinction
Andrew LaitmanUniversity of WashingtonNoah Hoffman
Denis NoubouossieUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham
University of North Carolina Blood Research Center		Marina Marques
Abraham QaviWashington University School of MedicineChristopher Farnsworth
Student Awards
Trevor KilleenUniversity of Minnesota Medical SchoolAnthony Killeen,
Ramya RamasubramanianUniversity of MinnesotaBharat Thyagarajan
Young Investigator Awards
Ka Keung ChanUniversity of WashingtonJoyce Liao
Justine ColeNational Institutes of HealthDavid Sacks
Ria Fyffe-FreilMayo ClinicMaria Willrich
Anastasia Gant KanegusukuUniversity of Chicago Medical CenterKiang-Teck J. Yeo
Dominique GordyColumbia UniversityTiffany Thomas
Patricia HernandezWashington University School of MedicineChang Liu
Regina KwonUniversity of WashingtonJoshua Lieberman
Edward LeeYale School of MedicineJoe El-Khoury
Joseph LownikCedars-Sinai Medical CenterDavid Gibb
Jamie MarinoWeill Cornell MedicineLars Westblade
Thomas MartinsARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental PathologyVijayalakshmi Nandakumar
Paola RamosMayo ClinicNikola A Baumann
Maria Alice Willrich
Chandler SyNew York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell MedicineLars Westblade
Rebecca TregerUniversity of WashingtonChihiro Morishima
Thao TruongChildren's Hospital Los AngelesLars Westblade
Patrick VanderboomMayo ClinicMaria Willrich
Sithara VivekUniversity of MinnesotaBharat Thyagarajan

Education Committee Update

by Amit Gokhale

ASCP-ACLPS Companion Session

We had the ASCP-ACLPS companion session at the Annual ASCP conference in Chicago on September 7-9. 2022. The speaker was Matthew Krasowski, M.D, PhD and he gave an excellent talk on Informatics Challenges with Providing Inclusive Care for the LGBTQ Patient Population. We had a sizable turnout for the session with great audience participation. If anyone is interested in being a speaker at the 2023 ASCP-ACLPS session, please contact Amit Gokhale (amitgokhale01@gmail.com).

RISE & RISE-First Exams

The Resident in Service Exam (RISE) committee met in October 16-17, 2022 in Chicago to vet questions for the RISE and RISE-First examinations. As a member of the RISE First Clinical Pathology section, we vetted approximately 70 questions for the Clinical Pathology portion of the exam. We will be able to review the preliminary version of the exam in Spring 2023 and receive feedback on the questions after the exam is administered in Fall 2023.

The ACLPS Education Committee is recruiting volunteers to serve as question writers for the RISE/RISE-First/PRISE Questions. ACLPS is a collaborating society for the RISE examination, and ACLPS members have been outstanding question writing contributors. This is a great way for Active Members to contribute to resident education. For anyone interested in submitting questions, please contact the ASCP RISE staff member Jay Wagner (jay.wagner@ascp.org).

Strandjord Young Investigator Grant Program

We have started our application cycle for the Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Grant program. These grants are for research relevant to clinical laboratory science, clinical pathology, and laboratory medicine. Proposed research may be clinical, translational, basic science, quality improvement, and/or regulatory. Grant recipients must either be in training (residency and/or clinical or research fellowship) OR less than 3 years after their first faculty appointment (any level) at the time of application. Funding for individual grants is limited to $7,500. The three award winners in 2022 are Jun Liu, M.D, PhD, Edward Lee, M.D, PhD, and Rebecca Treger, M.D, PhD. Huge congratulations to our three winners! They will be presenting their study findings at the 2023 ACLPS Annual Meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia.

We have started accepting grant applications for the 2022-2023 academic year. The application deadline is December 16th, 2022. Additional information (including eligibility requirements, applications, and a promotional poster) can be found on the ACLPS website (https://www.aclps.org/training-grants). For any further questions regarding the grant program or with the application process, please contact Amit Gokhale (amitgokhale01@gmail.com).

Request for Nominations – Benson and Evans Awards

ACLPS is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Ellis Benson Award and the 2023 Gerald T. Evans Award.

The Ellis Benson Award is presented annually to a young physician and/or scientist (member or non-member of the Academy) in recognition of meritorious accomplishments in the field of Laboratory Medicine. Nominees must either be under 45 years of age by July 1, 2023, or within 10 years of completion of clinical training.

The Gerald T. Evans Award is presented annually to an ACLPS member for outstanding leadership and/or service to the Academy. Names of past awardees can be found on the ACLPS website at www.aclps.org.

Please submit the name of your nominee(s), a current CV, and a detailed letter that explains why the individual deserves the award to:

Anthony Killeen, MD, PhD
Chair, Nominating and Awards Committee
akilleen@umn.edu

Please put the words “ACLPS Nomination” in the subject line.

Award nominations are due by December 15, 2022.

Request for Nominations – Leadership and Committee Positions

ACLPS requests nominations for leadership and committee positions.

The positions available are:

President-Elect

The elected individual will serve a four-year term as President-Elect, President, Immediate Past-President, and Past-President.

Treasurer

The elected individual will serve a 3-year term

Executive Council

Member-at-Large (2 positions): The elected individuals will serve a three-year term.

Nominating and Awards Committee

Member-at-Large (1 position): The elected individual will serve a three-year term.

Membership Committee

Member-at-Large (1 position): The elected individual will serve a three-year term.

Education Committee

Member-at-Large (3 positions): The elected individuals will serve a three-year term.

Website Committee

Member-at-Large (2 positions): The elected individuals will serve a three-year term.

Nominations for these positions are due on December 15, 2022. Submit the name of your nominee(s) along with a current CV to:

Anthony Killeen, MD, PhD
Chair, Nominating and Awards Committee
akilleen@umn.edu

Please put the words “ACLPS Nomination” in the subject line.

Self-nominations will be accepted gladly.

Albemarle County, Virginia.

2023 Lab Medicine Meeting Update

Clear your calendar for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 8, 9, 10, 2023 in Charlottesville, VA, so you can join us for the 58th ACLPS Annual Meeting.

The program promises to be quite exciting, and will feature leading research and trends in Laboratory Medicine, presented by invited luminaries and by Young Investigators.

The 2023 Annual Meeting is hosted by the Department of Pathology at the University of Virginia (UVA, @UVA_Pathology) and will take place at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel, a four-star hotel that combines old-fashioned southern charm with sophisticated taste. The Omni is convenient to UVA grounds and historic sites in and around Charlottesville. For more information, please visit https://www.aclps.org/aclps-2023.

The Friday night awards banquet will be held at Montalto, part of Thomas Jefferson's historic estate, Monticello. Perhaps most famous as the writer of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, Jefferson founded the UVA in 1819. Montalto is a beautiful property up on an aerie, where we will watch the sun set over the city of Charlottesville.

Your local co-hosts are Lindsay Bazydlo and Jim Gorham. We look forward to seeing you all in Charlottesville in June, 2023!

ACLPS 2023.

List of New ACLPS Members

Active Members

Michael O. Alberti
Kayode Balogun
Jennifer Dien Bard
Janetta Bryksin
Yang Cao
Allison Eberly
Nina Haghi
Daniela Hermelin
Evann Hilt
Parsa Hodjat
Michael Hodson
Afshan Idrees
Nicholas Larkey
Jieli Li
Joyce Hsuan-Chieh Liao

Li Liu
Phillip Michaels
Vijayalakshmi Nanadakumar
Deniz Peker
William Sherwin Phipps
Rebecca Marerro Rolon
Nabiha Huq Saifee
Maryam Salehi
Paul Dennis Simonson
Laura Smy
Bharat Thyagarajan
Tatiana Tvrdik
Debbie Rigney Walley
Fang Wu
Yawei Jenny Yang

Associate Members

Ahmed Arfa
Tanjina Akter
Michel Attieh
Cedric Bailey
Nazmin Bithi
Ka Keung Chan
Ibrahim Choucair
Edward A. Dent
Christine Fuja
Mark Girton
Dominique Gordy
Patricia Hernandez
Michael Charles Horwath
Wen-Yu Hsiao
Jim Hsu
Anastasia Gant Kanegusuku
Anurag Khanna
Trevor Killeen
Jacob Kinskey
Kyungmin Ko
Andrew Laitman
Edward Lee
Jun Liu
Joseph Lownik

Angela Ma
Jamie Marino
Juan Luis Gomez Marti
Ryan Martinez
Nicole Mathewson
Mohammad k. Mohammad
Anna Morris
Heather Nelson
Cate Omosule
Matt Andrew Paz
Abraham Qavi
Xiaohua Qi
Ramya Ramasubramanian
Kwon Regina
John Rogers
Kai Rogers
Nicholas Spies
Sydney Stanley
Chandler Sy
Thao Truong
Tayler van den Akker
Patrick Vanderboom
Cristina Figueroa Villalba
Yi Xiao
Carlos Munoz Zuluaga

Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists

Our academy was founded in 1966 and currently has active affiliations with 70 of the approximately 150 academic and community training centers that train pathology residents in clinical pathology.

From its origin, it has followed the mission statement of being dedicated to the advancement of teaching and scholarship in laboratory medicine.

Email: ACLPS@ARUPLAB.COM

Geoffrey Smith