Association for Molecular Pathology Newsletter - AMP 2009 Technologist Travel Awardees

Association for Molecular Pathology
Newsletter
February 2010, Volume 16, Number 1

Inside this Issue

Special Features
• AMP 2009 Leadership Awardee
• AMP Award for Excellence in
Molecular Diagnostics
• Executive Officer's Report
• Photo Contest Winners
• Annual Meeting Photo Album
• CHAMP
• JMD Report
• Web Editorial Board
Young Investigator Awards
• 2009 Young Investigator Awardees
Tech Corner
• 2009 Technologist Awardees
• 2009 Technologist Travel Awardees

Committee Reports
• Clinical Practice Committee
• Economic Affairs Committee
• Membership & Professional
Development Committee
• Nominating Committee
• Professional Relations
Committee
• Program Committee
• Publications Committee
• Training & Education Committee

Subdivision Reports
• Genetics
• Hematopathology
• Infectious Diseases
• Solid Tumors

2010 AMP Officers and Appointees

2009 AMP Technologist Travel Awardees

The first AMP Technologist Travel Awards were given this year to three technologists who do not receive funding from their institutes for travel to the AMP Annual Meeting. The funds for this award are a result of generous donations to the Leadership Fund by AMP members. The Training & Education and Membership & Professional Development Committees thank all of the terrific and highly qualified applicants and encourage everyone to consider making a donation to the Leadership Fund, which can be used for valuable initiatives like the Technologist Travel Award. Please visit the website, http://www.amp.org/Awards/grantFund.htm.
Congratulations go to Lorraine Dominguez (University of Arizona), Debbie Nielson, (University of Pennsylvania) and Tong Zhang (The Ontario Cancer Institute). As part of the award agreement these winners were required to submit a post-meeting report.

	Lorraine Dominguez I enjoyed every aspect of the AMP 2009 Annual Meeting! Attending the Poster Sessions was my favorite event. I was able to meet other AMP members that have implemented the same assays that are currently in my lab. We were able to share our findings of positivity rates and missed viral targets, compare cutoffs for positive values, and exchange e-mails which have been very helpful in troubleshooting problems in the laboratory. It was comforting to hear that other laboratories were also experiencing the same issues on assays currently in our laboratory. I learned about other similar assays and their pros and cons. The knowledge gained during the Poster visits has facilitated the implementation of a new Respiratory Viral assay in our laboratory. I would like to thank the AMP Training and Education Committee for having given me this remarkable experience!
	Debbie Nielson I attended the 2009 AMP Annual Meeting, courtesy of the new Technologist Travel Award. As a technologist and laboratory manager, this award was invaluable as our institution no longer funds travel to meetings as it has in the past. I have been attending the AMP Annual Meetings since 2003 and find the experience an invaluable tool for assessing new technologies that are presented in the lectures and the corporate workshops. This information helps us plan for the future of the laboratory and stay current. I particularly enjoyed the Technical Trouble Workshop “What would you do.” The interactive nature of the Workshop and the ability to immediately see what others would do in certain situations was a format that I think should be continued in the years to come. A wide range of topics was covered so the workshop had something for everyone. The Workshop on Paraffin-Embedded Tissues was also of particular interest to me. We are always interested in improving the quality and yield of our nucleic acid extractions and we learned some valuable technical tips that we will be able to use in our laboratory to improve extractions. The experiences of North Shore with the H1N1 virus again provided us with information we could relate directly in our laboratory at a time when we were finishing H1N1 assay validation. Such current data was very informative. I plan to return to AMP every year.
	Tong Zhang I have been attending the AMP Annual Meetings since 2004. This year I am so pleased to receive the AMP Technologist Travel Award. I found that attending the AMP meeting is always a good opportunity for me to gain valuable continuing education in terms of new knowledge and exchange of information. Plenary sessions, Workshops, Early Bird Sessions, posters and exhibits let me learn a lot of recent advancements in the field. Social event provided a perfect atmosphere of communication. It is also beneficial to form new professional relationships for further collaborations. As a test development technologist in the molecular diagnostics laboratory, participating in the AMP Annual meetings does have a great impact on my role. I will share what I have learned from the meeting with my colleagues and implement it in the new assay development / validation where appropriate. I thank the AMP Training and Education Committee so much for supporting my 2009 conference trip.