ViraCor Laboratories, which specializes in molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases; and IBT Laboratories, a clinical-diagnostics and biomedical-research laboratory specializing in immunology and allergy assays, today announced the companies are merging to create a new specialty diagnostics laboratory.

The merger of ViraCor and IBT creates a combined company with more than 200 employees serving more than 4,000 physicians, hospitals, commercial laboratories and biopharmaceutical companies.  The new company's test menu includes cellular, immunology, and allergy testing services as well as molecular assays that detect and monitor microbial pathogens.

"By combining our expertise and resources, we have created a company with an unmatched commitment to patient care, a rich diagnostic test menu, and deep R&D capabilities that will continue to set new standards for quality service and science in the clinical laboratory industry," said Maureen Loftus, president of IBT, who will serve as chief business officer of the combined company. 

The combined company will operate out of its two current laboratory facilities located 22 miles apart in Lee's Summit, MO and Lenexa, KS.  ViraCor founder and CEO Phillip "Flip" Short will step down from his role as CEO and serve on the company's board of directors. IBT founder Dr. John Halsey will continue to work with the combined company as a consultant to ensure a successful transition.  Dr. Laurence R. McCarthy, a Venture Partner at Ampersand Ventures who served as Executive Chairman of IBT's board of directors, will serve as Executive Chairman of the combined company's board of directors.

For more information, visit www.viracoribt.com.

Tonight at the AMT Award Convocation, AMT members will win awards for their talent, skills and service. Congrats to all winners!

Order of the Golden Microscope--Charlie Baker, MT, South Carolina

Medallion of Merit--Patricia Poitier-Sands, RMA, Florida

Technologist of the Year--Richard Crowner, MT, RPT, Florida

RMA of the Year--Gretchen Tupa, RMA, Arizona

President's Award--Zenaida Maraggun, MT, Louisiana

The Becky Award--Joyce Lybrand, MT, South Carolina

Exception Merit Award--Marilyn Albertsen, MT, Oregon; Patricia Kroeger, RMA, Ohio; Melissa Martin, RMA, Pennsylvania; Robert Newberry, MT, Arizona; Tonya Satterfield, MT, West Virginia

The Pillar Award--Pearl Campbell, RMA, Florida; Sylvia Causey, MT, South Carolina; Gaye Hudson, MT, Tennessee; Louise Isbell, RMA, Oregon; Pamela Kriegel, MT, Maine; Cynthia Moore, MT, Louisiana; Patricia Westbrook, MT, Texas; Jane Lee Wise, MT, Arizona

Distinguished Achievement Award--Vanessa Austin, RMA, AHI, Indiana; Tina Crawford, RPT, Arizona; Marcia Dean, MT, Jamaica; Nancy Gabl, RMA, Illinois; Jerry B. Johnson, MT, North Carolina; Henry Oh, MT, AHI, New Mexico; Valerie Owens, RMA, Tennessee; Joyce Reed, MLT, South Carolina; Marina Salazar, RMA, Hawaii; Pamla Sharp, RMA, New Jersey; Coleen Sinclair, MT, Jamaica; Lia Kaye Spears, MT, Oklahoma; Glenda Howard-Stephens, MLT, Texas; Meritta Strachan, MT, Florida

Silver Service Award--Roxann Clifton, MT, Oklahoma; L.E. Vern Hein, MT, Indiana; Elizabeth Hurd, MT, Arizona; Charlene Maturi, MT, Maine; Ray Schiffer, MT, Texas (posthumously)

Cuviello Excellence in Education Award--Dr. Naomi Melvin, MT, CLC, Florida

O.C. "Skip" Skinner Uniformed Services Award--Hattie Gallon, MT, Georgia

Chet Dziekonski Educational Award--Robert Reid, New Mexico

AMT Technical Writing Awards--1st Place--Francis Torres, MT, Texas, "Caffeine-Induced Psychiatric Disorders," 2nd Place--Terrie Bruckner, MLT, Wyoming, "Monoclonal Antibodies Used as Cancer Immunotherapy"

AMT Feature Writing Awards--1st Place--Solomon Goldenberg, RMA, Florida, "Medical Ethics," 2nd Place--Willard M. Bracey, Jr., MT, Maryland, "The Use of Empty Containers from Laboratory Supply Purchases Would Help to Run a Lab More Efficiently and Conveniently."

2008 Honor Roll State Societies--Alabama, Arizona, DC/Delaware/Maryland, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine/New Hampshire, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northwest (WA/ID/MT), Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rocky Mountain (CO/WY), South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia

Medical Lab Technician Student of the Year--Melissa Marie Smith, Oklahoma

Medical Assistant Student of the Year--Amanda Martinez, California

Student Writing Awards--1st Place--Charissa Isch, Oklahoma, "Colorectal Cancer," 2nd Place--Robin Nagel, Missouri, "Coronary Artery Disease," 3rd Place--David Jones, California, "Bilateral Perisylvian Polymicrogyria"

State Society Publication Awards--Journal--1st Place--Texas, "The New Texan," Kim Meshell, Editor, 2nd place--Michigan, "Microbe," Suellen Schobert, Editor, 3rd Place--Tennessee, "Tenn-O-Scope," Kaye Tschop, Editor, Newsletter--1st Place--Oregon, "The Microscoop," Marilyn Albertsen, Editor, 2nd Place--Arizona, "Arizona SunTech," Gretchen Tupa, Editor, 3rd Place--Illinois, "The Illinois Reporter," Nancy Gabl, Editor

Most Improved Publication--Northwest State Society, "Newsletter," Theresa Indovina, Editor

Editor of the Year--Marilyn Albertsen, MT, Oregon, "The Microscoop"

Yesterday at the AMT National Meeting, Jim Hernandez, MD, MS, assistant professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, College of Medicine; medical director of Laboratories and Chair of Clinical Pathology, Mayo Clinic-Arizona, spoke to attendees on "Adjusting Your Sails: Motivational Skills for Allied Health Professionals."

Dr. Hernandez focused his lecture mostly on change--how some people like the challenge, and others shy away from it. He gave reasons why people typically resist change:

--Do not know

• Lack of communication
• Lack of shared vision

--Are not able

• Have not been trained
• Conflicting goals in the organization
• Have not been given the tools

--Are not willing

• Informal customs/inertia
• Lack of trust
• Have a general fear of change

For more on Dr. Hernandez's lecture, check out the AMT conference story on our Web site on July 14.

"I was shaking. My heart was beating fast. I was scared ... and that was only when I was being interviewed by 60 Minutes!"

US Airways First Officer Jeff Skiles told this joke when he opened up the keynote address at the 71st AMT National Meeting, held June 22-27 in Minneapolis.

Skiles told attendees he was not scared when his plane landed on the Hudson River in January, mainly because of his previous training, his knowledge of procedures and the teamwork of his crew -- very similar to working in the medical field, he explained.

He gave details to AMT members about the fateful flight, his newfound celebrity and how being confident in your training can help you in a tight spot, and how adaptability can help you avoid mistakes. For more on Skiles' lecture, check out the AMT conference coverage on our July 14 Web update.

Highlighting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a new display was unveiled recently at the Memphis International Airport in the Danny Thomas Terminal.

Inspired by the airport terminal's architecture, the permanent display illustrates in words and photos the vision of the hospital's founder, Danny Thomas.

It focuses on the hospital’s outstanding treatment, innovative research and great fundraising efforts to fight childhood catastrophic diseases. The research concepts for the three-dimensional molecular models etched in crystal blocks each represent a different area of science on which St. Jude focuses. At 16 feet long, 3 feet wide and 12 feet high, the display expresses the hospital's child-centered character and global research impact.

View the video here: http://kl.am/TPw

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), Franklin Lakes, NJ; and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a Swiss foundation developing, evaluating and accelerating implementation of new diagnostic tools for poverty-related diseases, today announced a significant price reduction in the cost of liquid culture testing.

The agreement lowers the cost of BD MGIT reagents.  BD's TB diagnostic technologies utilize liquid culture testing protocol providing results faster than traditional, solid media culture, according to a company press release. The liquid culture test, widely used in modern research settings, is particularly effective for stemming the spread of multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in developing countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, the reagents will now be discounted 80 percent.  The lower prices will enable more tests to be administered in 39 high-burden countries, as identified by the World Health Organization.

"We are very happy about this price reduction for a needed assay to better and more rapidly detect MDR-TB and XDR-TB. These results are also a direct outcome of a fruitful collaboration with public and private partners such as UNITAID and BD," said Giorgio Roscigno, MD, FIND chief executive officer. 

"During a time of severe economic distress, resources are constrained and high-burden countries face intensified healthcare challenges. This agreement means that it will be possible to make this test more accessible and affordable to those who need it most, which is very encouraging and promising." 

As a person who has lost a loved one to cancer, I am always interested to find out more about the advances being made to fight this horrible disease. Sometimes I forget that there are so many people behind these advances and discoveries, working tirelessly to help save lives.

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center recently released a book called Legends and Legacies. The book includes the personal journeys of female physicians and scientists at the cancer center. Each chapter covers a different woman, how she came to work in that field and why she feels it is important.

One chapter is about Janet M. Bruner, MD, professor and chair of pathology. She shared how she got into the field:

"Everyone knows what a surgeon does and what a pediatrician does. But how many people--even medical students--really know what a pathologist does? I needed to find out, so I spent a year during medical school doing a pathology student fellowship. I had the wonderful opportunity of working alongside pathology residents, finding out what a pathologist's life is like and what they really do every day. I never looked back! Pathology has been my calling ever since. In addition to providing puzzles to solve, pathology is also a basic medical science with plenty of opportunities for scientific research."

Dr. Bruner's story and those of the other women at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center are interesting and inspiring, and they should be celebrated for what they do to help fight cancer.

Jessica Terry, 18, discovered a granuloma while looking at her own intestinal tissue slides in an Advanced Placement science class in her high school, ending the mystery about her previously un-diagnosed illness.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports how physicians were puzzled by Terry's symptoms, until she spotted the granuloma, which was confirmed after her teacher sent a digital photo taken at the microscope to her pathologist, who then diagnosed the teenager with Crohn's disease.  

The article mentions how some diseases are difficult to diagnose, and recommends some samples get a second review. While Terry's eyes might have made a valuable addition to the lab, she is entering nursing school in the fall.

"The world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic." With these words, Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), raised the influenza pandemic alert to phase 6, the highest level.

With almost 30,000 confirmed cases reported in 74 countries, and direct human-to-human transmission no longer clear in some countries, H1N1 has met the scientific criteria for a pandemic. As of today, the U.S. has reported 13,217 cases of H1N1 and 27 deaths. 

"We are in the earliest days of the pandemic. The virus is spreading under a close and careful watch," Dr. Chan told the media.

Dr. Chan said we can expect moderate severity in the initial stages of the pandemic. She noted many infected with H1N1 make a full recovery.

The WHO is communicating with influenza vaccine manufacturers, who should wrap up seasonal flu vaccine production in the next couple weeks, and be able to focus on H1N1 vaccine production.

At the 18th IFCC-EFCC European Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, data will be presented on Ortho Clinical Diagnostics' two in vitro diagnostic systems recently introduced to the market. The award winning VITROS 5600 Integrated System and the VITROS 3600 Immunodiagnostic System were conceived and engineered from the ground up based on new research and feedback from 60 laboratories to give patients and clinicians high-quality and reliable test results, according to the company.

An Ortho Clinical Diagnostics press release highlighted these benefits of the VITROS instruments:

• intuitive and easy-to-use
• reduced turnaround and maintenance times
• high throughput operation
• elimination of sample and reagent contamination through the use of single-use tips
• ability to change reagents, consumables and waste while the system is operating, providing uninterrupted assay processing
• intelligent sample management and hardware enhancements to improve workflow and turnaround time
• use of the MicroSensor automated sample integrity capability to perform sample quality indices checks (a first time ever on an immunoassay system)

Other abstracts evaluated the Ferritin assay on the VITROS 3600 and the development of the automated HIV assay for use on both Systems.

Having diversity in the workplace is an important matter. In her book Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce, Natalie Holder-Winfield explains why this is key to any organization and how to bring diversity into your workplace. ADVANCE asked Holder-Winfield a few questions on this topic. For more information, check out her Web site.

A: What are some tips for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce?

NHW: For starters, companies can partner with professional trade organizations geared toward minorities and college and graduate school affinity groups to recruit minority talent. Smart companies will also rely on these professional trade organizations and affinity groups to provide them with the information, feedback and resources they will need to understand how to level the playing field in their workplaces and create an environment that will not only attract but also keep the minority talent they recruited.

A: If you are a member of the minority and you feel marginalized at work, what should you do?

NHW: The professionals I interviewed for my book shared a number of strategies one can use if they feel marginalized at work. For instance, one woman doctor of color who felt like an outsider amongst white male Jewish doctors (who kept kosher) found she was excluded from the social network and access to informal mentoring.

Some strategies for overcoming these barriers include creating allies in the majority, participating in office functions (even when you don't want to), and not being afraid to ask for the help you need.

However, if the workplace shows no signs of warming up to the outsider, I found many of the professionals I interviewed were not afraid to leave and find a more welcoming work environment.

A: What are your ten common barriers to inclusion in the workplace and why are they a problem?

The ten most common barriers to inclusion are:

1) Lack of Informal Mentoring: Employees expressed frustration with finding informal mentoring opportunities and role models who could assist with maneuvering through and understanding the company's corporate culture.

2) Promotions and Lack of Quality Work Assignments: Employees resigned from companies once they determined there were limited growth opportunities.

3)  Perceived Underperformance: Despite their demonstrated ability to complete quality work, employees felt unfairly criticized, and sometimes penalized, for work habits deemed unconventional by management.

4) Cultural Insensitivity: Employees witnessed managers and colleagues make inappropriate jokes or comments about people because they were different.

5)  Inability to Recover from Mistakes: Employees were not given the same opportunities as members of the majority to redeem themselves after making a mistake.

6) Aggressive Communication and Behavior: Employees were exposed to managers and colleagues who exhibited hostile and unprofessional behavior.

7) Dual Identity: Employees felt conflicted by professional work identities that did not allow for the expression of their personal identities.

8) Stereotypes, Assumptions and Biases: Employees felt limited in their advancement because of the company management's assumptions and biases about their abilities and capabilities.

9) Being the First: Employees who were the first in their families to pursue a particular professional career found themselves playing catch up to their majority colleagues who had extensive resources and connections.

10) Isolation: Employees were disappointed when they believed their companies did not value diversity or did not encourage all employees' advancement.

When employees--from doctors to nurses to any professional who works at a hospital--encounter these barriers, they often do not feel as though they have an equal opportunity of advancement and may (consciously or unconsciously) not invest their whole selves into their work. (It's simple--who is going to invest her 110 percent into a situation and not see any return on investment?) By not investing their ideas and perspectives, employees are not at their most productive and subsequently, the workplace suffers. This is a lose-lose situation for the employee who feels like an outsider and the workplace.

BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), has expanded its research grants to support life sciences research during the current economic downturn.

"We have expanded the BD Biosciences Research Grant Program to provide a greater pool of funding and an increased number of grants that may offer a lifeline to some of the numerous projects being halted or delayed because of resource cuts," said Robert Balderas, vice president, Biological Sciences, BD Biosciences. "It will offer selected life science researchers needed support to carry out their work that may lead to tomorrow's biomedical breakthroughs."

The new BD Biosciences Research Grant Program will award 14 scientists with a total of $140,000 worth of research reagents throughout the next 12 months. Grant applications should focus on research in one of seven core areas: stem cell, multicolor flow cytometry, cell signaling, cancer, immune function, infectious diseases and neurosciences.

The Center for Phlebotomy's latest book has been selected as a finalist in the Independent Book Publisher's Association's annual Ben Franklin Awards. Blood Specimen Collection FAQs was published last fall by the Center and nominated for outstanding interior design in a 1- or 2-color book.

The 378-page desk reference contains answers to hundreds of the most commonly asked questions on blood specimen collection posed to the Center by healthcare professionals since its founding in 1998. The book's interior was designed by Joseph Sims, Jr., the Center's graphic designer and web developer.

The Center for Phlebotomy Education develops educational materials for healthcare professionals who draw blood specimens for laboratory testing, and recently opened up the School of Phlebotomy next to its offices in Corydon, IN

The Ben Franklin Awards are presented annually by the Independent Book Publishers Association, a trade association of over 4,000 independent publishers. A preview of the book's interior design can be viewed at ww.phlebotomy.com/FAQbook/FAQbook.html.

To purchase this book, check it out in the ADVANCE Healthcare Shop.

In an interview with Federal News Radio in March, Tara O’Toole, MD, MPH, was asked what she would tell President Obama if she had the chance. Her reply: "There is a possibility, a real possibility, that there could be the equivalent of a bio-Katrina on his watch."

Later, the Obama Administration nominated Dr. O'Toole to serve as under secretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security.

ADVANCE is working on a story about the possibility of a so-called "Bio-Katrina" and wants your input. Has your facility updated its pandemic preparedness plans (in light of recent events like the H1N1 or "swine flu" outbreak)? Does your facility have in place a solid bioterrorism plan? Does your city conduct mock drills for a bioterror outbreak? Are you or is someone you know involved in the strategic planning for your hospital's bioterrorism outbreak disaster planning?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, we'd like your input.

E-mail mpatton@advanceweb.com to be included in our September cover story on bioterrorism.

Do you currently work in hematology or coagulation?

If so, we'd would like to speak to you about the benefits of working in those lab specialty areas. Send an e-mail to mpatton@advanceweb.com to be featured in an upcoming issue of ADVANCE.