Fixation on Histology

The NSH family has lost one of its great champions and leaders – Andrea Grantham. Andrea received her histology training from Cleveland State University. While working at Case Western Reserve Hospital in Cleveland she met her husband, Bill. They shared their life together in Arizona, Kentucky, and Iowa before moving to El Paso, Texas. Andrea attended the University of Texas El Paso and worked as a histologist for 14 years in El Paso before moving to Tucson, Arizona. She retired from the University of Arizona as a Research Specialist.

Andrea was an active member of the histology community. She was a member of several state histology societies and served many positions for the Arizona Society of Histotechnology including President for two terms. In the mid 2000’s she also served as a Region Director for the National Society of Histotechnology.

She was a strong advocate of the NSH Awards & Scholarships program working with histologists in her state to submit applications and take advantage of the educational opportunities. In 2005 she was awarded the J.B. McCormick, MD Award for distinguished service to NSH and in 2012 she was the recipient of the Lee G. Luna Travel Scholarship Award. She utilized her Luna Travel scholarship funds to travel to Cusco, Peru to help develop a histology program at the lab at CerviCusco. She chose CerviCusco because of the high rate of cervical cancer among women in the Andes Mountain region of Peru. She felt it was a special opportunity to give back to people who are disadvantaged by the lack of proper medical care.

Andrea lost her battle with cancer on the morning of Jan. 4 and was with her husband Bill and their two children when she passed peacefully at Banner Hospital in Tucson. She was a wonderful person with an enormous heart. She will be truly missed.

You can view her obituary here.