Every day College of Health Professions students, alumni, faculty and staff do extraordinary things. Read more about our latest achievements below.
As we celebrate another successful academic year, I am reminded that the work we do in Medical Laboratory Sciences extends far beyond the classroom. Every graduate we prepare, every professional we help advance and every innovation we bring to teaching ultimately strengthens the health care workforce at a time when skilled laboratory professionals are needed more than ever.
At this spring’s pre-graduation ceremony, VCU’s Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences honored graduating senior Takbir Miah with the Kupfer Award, the program’s highest student distinction.
In hospitals and health systems across the country, medical laboratory professionals play a critical role in patient care – analyzing samples, producing results and helping guide diagnoses. But as the demand for skilled laboratory scientists grows, so does the need for clear pathways to advance within the field.
Before she was guiding prospective students through the Medical Laboratory Sciences program at Virginia Commonwealth University, Anood Habahbeh was one of them and searching for direction.
Elizabeth VonCanon, MS, SH(ASCP)CM, instructor in the VCU Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, recently earned her specialist certification in hematology, reflecting expertise in one of the most complex and clinically significant areas of laboratory medicine.
In the VCU Medical Laboratory Sciences program, innovation goes beyond the lab into how students are mastering the material.
Behind every disease outbreak investigation, every newborn screening and every environmental safety test, there’s a laboratory – and a workforce many people never see.
Excellence in medical laboratory science takes many forms. In this issue, you’ll see how it shows up in discovery, teaching, mentorship, access and impact.
If you’d told Kaylah Sams a few months ago she’d be pursuing her bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory sciences in Abingdon on a full ride, she might not have believed you.
On a fall morning in 2019, students in a one-credit careers course at Southwest Virginia Community College filed into their classroom expecting another routine presentation. For Alex Counts – then a pre-med student from the nearby town of Lebanon – it became the moment that would shape the rest of his academic career.
Jenna Carter doesn’t just tutor fellow Medical Laboratory Sciences students to help them study; it’s about making the program she loves feel a little more connected and supportive.
For one week in July, high school and college students from across the country stepped into the fast-paced, high-stakes world of transfusion medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University.
VCU’s Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences will host this year’s American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Virginia Spring Symposium, bringing together MLS students, educators and professionals from across the state for learning, collaboration and connection.
When most people think about heart disease, they picture clogged arteries and “bad” cholesterol. Michael Lacy thinks about the immune system.
Welcome to the inaugural issue of our Medical Laboratory Sciences newsletter. We’re excited to launch this new way of keeping you informed and inspired by the incredible work happening here at VCU.
Maiya Picott fondly recalls the impact a semester in Switzerland had on her as an undergraduate. Enrolled in an interdisciplinary program, she traveled throughout Europe but missed visiting a microbe museum in Amsterdam – an experience she promised herself she’d return for.
On any given weekday afternoon, you’ll likely find Colin Thibodeau, M.S., carefully pipetting reagents, arranging lab benches or chatting with a group of Medical Laboratory Sciences students gearing up for their next hands-on experiment. Just a few years ago, Thibodeau was a student himself – navigating lab protocols, mastering microbiology techniques and in many ways trying to figure out what was next.
Identifying why a patient is suffering from meningitis must be fast – and a new test pioneered by a team at VCU’s Medical Laboratory Sciences promises a breakthrough in pinpointing when a brain-invading amoeba is the cause. Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), an extremely rare but often-fatal infection, has been difficult for medical professionals to identify.
A new summer program aims to build the next generation of lab specialists by giving students a front-row seat to a critical and often overlooked area of health care: Transfusion medicine.
When Rhonda Chapman, M.S., MLS (ASCP), walked back into Medical Laboratory Sciences last December – not as a student this time, but as the department’s clinical coordinator – she felt like she was coming home.
In May, Poonamdeep “Poonam” Bajwa became a pioneer in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences.
Tiny organisms. X-ray machines with dials. What sets the U.S. health care system apart – and what can be learned from practices overseas?
Science always came easy to Lisa M. Pinkney, D.M.
The analytics, the formulas — she loved it all, especially when she applied it to the science of the human body, and in particular, blood.
Toni Said is a super mom. However, even those with seemingly endless energy, passion and strength need help every once in a while.
Seven Virginia Commonwealth University students have been awarded scholarships through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program that will allow them to study abroad during the spring, summer and fall of 2024.
Dr. Melissa Jamerson, chair and associate professor in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences within the College of Health Professions at VCU talked with ABC 8NEWS about waterborne illnesses. Read more about waterborne illness and how to avoid them on the ABC 8NEWS WRIC website.
Avoid infections while visiting rivers and lakes with these helpful tips from a VCU College of Health Professions expert.
Melissa Jamerson, Ph.D., associate professor of immunology and immunohematology, has been appointed chair of the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences at the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Health Professions, effective July 1. Jamerson succeeds Teresa Nadder, who retired this spring.
The VCU Medical Laboratory Sciences Department is collaborating with the state public health lab to offer a Master of Science with a concentration in public health laboratory sciences.
RICHMOND, VA - Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Department of General Services (DGS) today announced a unique partnership between the university and DGS’ Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS), Virginia’s public health and environmental laboratory, to offer concentrated studies intended to prepare the next generation of scientists to work in public health laboratories. The two organizations will collaborate to offer a Medical Laboratory Sciences Master of Science with a concentration in public health laboratory sciences beginning in the Fall 2023 semester.
By Malorie Burkett
VCU College of Health Professions
Samantha Dua, a senior majoring in medical laboratory sciences at the VCU College of Health Professions, and her friend Sarah Plutkis showed off their “magical dancing corn” experiment with baking soda, water and vinegar as one third-grader exclaimed, “Why are the bubbles picking up the corn? That’s so weird!”
Melissa Jamerson, Ph.D., Jenica L. Harrison, Ph.D., and Lisa Perkins, all of the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, are part of a team that is testing the effectiveness of antimicrobial wipes in the health care setting as well as in
“I’ve always had a passion for the medical field as well as community development. This is something I always wanted to do,” said Swenson, 62, who works in the hospital lab at Saint Francis Medical Center. She said she will likely continue to do so after she completes her degree.
Meet Dr. Marilyn Bibbs Freeman, a Medical Laboratory Sciences graduate of the VCU College of Health Professions. Marilyn is the deputy director of the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services in Richmond. Hear her thoughts on why the College is the foundation for who she
Our lab is one of three in Virginia using a test that can tell if you might have the new COVID-19 variant discovered in the United Kingdom. Read more at VCU Health's website.
Becky Perdue, Joan Shumaker and Doris Costley, graduates of the College's Medical Lab Sciences program, were featured in a story on planned giving in the MCV Foundation's Chronicle of Giving publication. We are sincerely thankful for their continued
Have a story about the College of Health Professions in action that you'd like to share? Contact us at mgburkett@vcu.edu or (804) 828-7247.