Fixation on Histology

Each year at the NSH Convention, NSH and our sponsors take time to celebrate the accomplishments and ongoing endeavors of our members. This year, was no different as award and scholarship recipients were acknowledged throughout the Convention in Baltimore on September 8-11.  In this week’s post we will celebrate the Award Recipients. Stay tuned next week as we celebrate our scholarship winners.

Histotechnologist of the Year – Luis Chiriboga, PhD, HT (ASCP)
Sponsored by Epredia

While Luis may be humble in nature, his commitment to NSH and the field of Histotechnology does not go unnoticed by his peers. Luis was nominated for his dedication to NSH through his volunteers roles as Board of Directors, Editorial Board, speaker/educator,  and a voice for the profession leading NSH’s public policy task force in its efforts to increase the visibility of the profession among legislative and regulatory public policymakers. In addition, Luis has an extensive list of publications throughout his career.

Jules Elias Award for Excellence in IHC & Molecular Techniques – Cindy Lowe, HTL(ASCP), QIHC(ASCP)  
Sponsored by Dr. Richard Cartun

Cindy has been part Vanderbilt University Medical Center for over 16 years and her colleagues wanted to recognize her for her contributions to the research efforts, specifically in the realms of IHC, immunofluorescence and RNAScope of hundreds of investigators over the past decade and a half. Cindy is not only an incredible asset at the bench but has mentored and trained a second Research Assistant in IHC which has increased their turnaround times significantly. Cindy has worked with students and post-doctoral fellows within the lab to develop new IHC assays for at least 5 different proteins providing  pivotal foundational data for grants and manuscripts.
 

Excellence in Management - Thomas Huynh, HT(ASCP)
Sponsored by Sakura Finetek USA

Thomas been working in the field for almost 20 years and has been in the management role for six years currently serving as the Chief of Histology in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery. Thomas’s co-workers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center nominated him because they say that is he a fantastic manager who always makes his employees feel appreciated and is always eager to lend a hand or an ear. He believes that a happy staff is a productive staff. From acknowledging excellent work to buying breakfast tacos, he truly shows his appreciation for us.

Excellence in Digital Pathology - Lisa Stephens, MBA, HTL(ASCP)
Sponsored by Sakura Finetek USA

Lisa was nominated for this award because of her passion, vision, and leadership in Digital Pathology Under her leadership and commitment to patient care The Cleveland Clinic ePathology Department implemented a new user-friendly platform for “eConsults” where patients from around the world can receive a consultation. They have also expanded eIHC services for clients to receive patient results faster.

 

President’s Award - Connie Wildeman, MPA
Sponsored by National Society for Histotechnology

NSH President, Jerry Santiago, selected NSH staff member Connie as the recipient of this year's award. Jerry wanted to specifically recognize her this year for her leadership and development of the newly launched NSH Histotechnology Training Program. The Histotechnology Training Program is a one of its kind courses combing self-paced online training with live preceptor interaction and instruction. The program provides a training and onboarding resource for laboratories across the country facing histotechnologist workforce shortages.
 

 
Journal of Histotechnology Editor’s Award - Elizabeth Chlipala, HT(ASCP), QIHC (ASCP)

Selected by the JOH’s Editor-in-Chief, Yongfu Wang, Liz was recognized for her expertise in digital pathology, research and preclinical histology, and protocol and special technique development has bolstered the Journal’s capacity to assess and attract high-quality manuscripts in these areas. Additionally, she worked closely with other editors to build a guide for collecting and reporting metadata for slide-based histotechnology assays to enhance reproducibility.“

Journal of Histotechnology Outstanding Publication  of the Year - Clifford Chapman, MS, HTL (ASCP), QIHC (ASCP)

Each year, the Editorial Board of the Journal of Histotechnology selects a paper published in the Journal of Histotechnology that is innovative, promotes and presents histotechniques, is well-designed, and clearly written.  This year, Clifford’s manuscript, CelLock TM: An innovative standardized cell-block preparation procedure was selected.