CLSI Announces the Recipients of the 2019 CLSI Excellence Awards

 Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA—The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute announces the recipients of its 2019 Excellence Awards.  These awards celebrate the achievements of CLSI volunteers who have helped improve the quality of medical care worldwide.

The John V. Bergen Excellence Award is presented to an outstanding volunteer or group of volunteers in recognition of advances in CLSI organizational directives and objectives, through unique and significant contributions. This years’ John V. Bergen Excellence award is presented to Dr. Thomas Fritsche. Dr. Fritsche has been a CLSI volunteer for over 30 years and has participated in the development of 33 documents. He now serves on CLSI’s Consensus Council.

The Excellence in Consensus Management award is presented to volunteer project leaders who have exhibited extraordinary management and/or oversight skills instrumental to the successful completion of a CLSI project(s). This year’s Consensus Management Awards goes to Dr. Thomas Williams and Dr. George Eliopoulos.

Dr. Williams has been a tireless advocate for CLSI for over 15 years in a variety of governance, standards processes, and technical standards development roles. Dr. Eliopoulos, who has served as a voting AST subcommittee member for the past 15 years, has exhibited thoughtful wisdom and the extraordinary ability to achieve consensus from the passionate, yet often disparate viewpoints of scientific thought-leaders in the antimicrobial resistance field.   

The excellence in Standards Development Award is presented to volunteers who make a significant contribution to the development of a consensus standard, guideline, or other work product. Such an individual is dedicated and committed to CLSI consensus development and an enthusiastic participant throughout the consensus process. This year’s winners of the Excellence in Standards Development awards are Dr. Marina Kondratovich and Dr. Stephen Jenkins.

Dr. Kondratovich actively participates in CLSI’s document development process, advocates for our standards with other related US professional societies and organizations, as well as globally with the Harmonization Taskforce, which includes nine countries. Dr. Jenkins has been a dedicated member on many CLSI committees, subcommittees, and working groups over the years. A mentor in his field, Dr. Jenkins helps steward the future in standards development and promotes the work of CLSI in his publications and talks.

CLSI’s highest award is the Russell J. Eilers Memorial Award. This award is given to an individual or group selected by the CLSI President for having made exceptional contributions to CLSI’s success over extended periods of time. 2019’s Russell J. Eilers award is presented to Dr. David Hecht. For 25 years, Dr. Hecht has selflessly given countless hours of his time, scientific expertise, and leadership talents to CLSI to advance the field of laboratory medicine.  Dr. Hecht has served on CLSI’s Board of Directors and has also been a member of the Board’s Strategic Planning Task Force.

For a list of past award winners, visit the CLSI website here. For more on the awards or the nomination and selection process, visit the CLSI website here.

For more information about CLSI’s Excellence Awards, contact Patrick McGinn at pmcginn@clsi.org or +1.484.588.5933.   

  

CLSI sets the standard for quality in medical laboratory testing. A not-for-profit membership organization, CLSI brings together the global laboratory community for the advancement of a common cause: to foster excellence in laboratory medicine.     

For nearly 50 years, our members, volunteers, and customers have made CLSI a respected, transformative leader in the development and implementation of medical laboratory testing standards. Through our unified efforts, we will continue to set and uphold the standards that drive quality test results, enhance patient care delivery, and improve health care around the world.    

By using CLSI standards, laboratorians can improve process quality, speed the development of standard operating procedures, and implement safer practices with greater ease and efficiency.