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Debra G.B.
Leonard Accepts the 2009 AMP Leadership Award
Supported by Abbott
Molecular
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Debra G.B. Leonard and
Greg Tsongalis
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(Text of comments made by Debra Leonard upon acceptance
of her award)
My career has grown up with the field of Molecular Pathology
and has been intertwined with the growth and development of
the Association for Molecular Pathology. This is so true
that my husband, Greg, decided he had to finally come to
this AMP meeting, since he has spent the last 17 years
hearing about AMP through my reports and commentaries. I
want to briefly tell you about the intertwining histories of
AMP and my career.
I completed the MD-PhD program at New York University. My
thesis work involved making cDNA libraries to identify genes
important for neuronal differentiation. This was prior to
PCR and I had to make all the viral packaging reagents
myself for the cDNA libraries. I worked for two full
summers to make the libraries. After finishing medical
school, I completed AP only Pathology residency training.
During my research postdoctoral fellowship, I performed my
first PCR using a converted toaster oven. During the
post-doc, I was shocked to find out that commercial cloning
reagents were available for synthesis of a cDNA library in a
few days instead of the two summers it had taken me. This
was an early realization for me that the field was moving
rapidly from a technology development perspective, which
continues to this day, with the chance that we will have
individual complete human genome sequences possible in a few
short years. After my post-doc and during my Surgical
Pathology fellowship, I decided on molecular pathology as a
career direction in consultation with two close friends who
also were MD-PhD pathology residents, while drinking at a
local New York City bar. We thought this would allow me to
combine pathology and molecular biology into a more unified
clinical focus and career path. While now from my senior
perspective, this was not a good process for career advice
and mentoring, and I do not recommend this way of making
career decisions to the younger members of the audience, it
worked well for me, in retrospect.
But looking for a molecular pathology job in 1991 was not
easy. Most pathology chairs thought molecular pathology was
a great research focus, but wanted to know what I was going
to do clinically. I accepted an Assistant Professor
position at Case Western Reserve because the chair, Michael
Lamm, agreed that molecular pathology was clinical and not
just research. In fact, it was Dr. Lamm who told me about a
little molecular pathology meeting in Bethesda in the fall
of 1992, and encouraged me to attend, which I did. At that
first one day meeting, there were presentations by George
Michalopoulos, David Cooper, Ron McGlennen,
and others, with heated discussions about the need for
Pathology to embrace molecular diagnostics so it was not
taken by other specialties. There also were discussions
that molecular pathology was only a technology and not a
true pathology subspecialty, and would go the way of the
immunohistochemistry specialty, which had been incorporated
into surgical pathology practice and was no longer a
subspecialty. Meetings were held the following two years
and I remember the vibrant discussions about different
tests, the meaning of results, and standardization of
testing, and the continuing discussions about the future of
molecular pathology.
I was not aware at the time, but the birth of AMP was being
planned by an Organizing Committee, with people I revered as
the leaders of my burgeoning specialty:
Dave
Cooper,
Tom Frank, Ron McGlennen, Carlton Garrett,
Tony Killeen, Mark Lovell, Jeff Kant,
Mark Sobel, Cheryl Willman, Jeff Cossman
and Steve Thibodeau. I say I was not aware that is,
until I received a call from Mark Sobel telling me
about the plans to establish AMP and asking if I would be
willing to be the first Clinical Practice Chair and a member
of AMP Council. I was thrilled to be a part of the first
AMP leadership team, and learned my first lesson in career
development, which is that you have to be present and
participate to have a chance at having a leadership role. I
had been present at the three pre-AMP meetings, and had not
been a wall flower (not that any of you who know me could
ever imagine I would be a wall flower), but was an active
participant, speaking up about my experiences in molecular
pathology and asking questions.
AMP was born in 1995, 15 years ago, with Dave Cooper
as the first President, Jeff Kant as the first
President-elect, and I was the first Chair of the Clinical
Practice Committee. The Clinical Practice Committee over
the next two years most notably created the Test Directory
and published a paper on guidelines for molecular pathology
test development and validation. Since David Cooper,
there have been 14 Presidents who have contributed their
leadership and vision to AMP: Jeff Kant, Peggy
Gulley, Cheryl Willman, Mark Sobel, I was
the fifth President followed by Karl Volkerding,
Karen Kaul, Dan Farkas, Angie Caliendo,
Mark Lovell, Barb Zehnbauer, Andrea
Ferreira-Gonzalez, Greg Tsongalis and now, Jan
Nowak, with Karen Mann and Tim O’Leary to
come. For me, this is the Who’s Who of Molecular Pathology
leadership, and I am very proud and humbled to be among this
group of colleagues and friends who have led AMP over the
years, today and into the future.
More than the history of AMP, are the memories from the
past 17 years of my career in Molecular Pathology that are
tied to AMP. Please allow me briefly to reminisce. Some of
you will remember my talk on the FDA plans for the Analyte
Specific Reagent rules at a Sunday morning AMP session, in
which I described my trials in parking to be able to review
the public comments on the proposed rules in which the only
available parking space was so small that I had to climb out
my car window. I remember a trip to Zwolle in the
Netherlands with Karen Kaul, Dan Farkas and
Karl Volkerding to present at a Molecular Pathology
meeting co-sponsored by AMP, running for the last train back
to Zwolle after seeing the tulips, and drinking wine in a
small bar with my colleagues and discovering that our
honorarium envelopes contained our relatively generous
honoraria…in cash! I remember storming to the microphone at
an AMP session on gene patents to give the head of Athena
Diagnostics a piece of my mind on their exclusive license
enforcement policies. I remember being the target of much
anger from my colleagues at an AMP meeting after having
helped Steve Gutman at the FDA define the elements the FDA
could use to review non-FDA approved molecular tests. I have
actively stamped out the use of the term “home-brew” tests
(since I have never practiced molecular pathology in my home
and do not brew anything in the performance of molecular
tests) and replaced it with the term laboratory developed
tests or LDTs. Although, I noted even yesterday the use of
“home brew” in the title of a poster, so my work clearly is
not done. I remember more recently goofing with other past
presidents for a photo op at a recent AMP meeting, all of us
sitting on a sofa with Jeff Kant rolling up his pants
to show off his legs. I also remember the SACGHS and AMP
baseball hats Mary Williams provided to me so I could
symbolize my change from SACGHS member to AMP representative
when presenting AMP comments to the SACGHS. Most of my
fondest professional memories and closest colleagues are
linked to AMP.
When thinking about receiving the AMP Leadership Award, I
looked up definitions of leadership. One quote from
Wikipedia that seemed quite appropriate is from Alan Keith
then at Genentech said: “Leadership
is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute
to making something extraordinary happen.” Well, AMP is
certainly something extraordinary. AMP has developed over
the past 15 years into the most vocal, nimble and effective
force for molecular pathology today. This transition of AMP
from concept to national leadership has truly taken a
village, all of us. AMP also is extraordinary in the
diversity achieved in leadership roles within AMP, and the
inclusiveness of multiple voices and perspectives. If, in
my various roles in AMP and my participation in the national
discussions that affect the practice of molecular pathology,
I have contributed to making AMP and the practice of
molecular pathology what it is today, then I am humbled and
honored to have been selected to receive this award. There
is no greater honor for me than the recognition of my
colleagues. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. |