June 2024

Congratulations to former ASHI President and longtime ASHI member, Dr. Rene Duquesnoy, who received the 2024 Thomas E. Starzl Prize in Surgery and Immunology.

Announcing the best research and review papers published in

Human Immunology in 2022

Each year, the Human Immunology editorial board awards the best original research papers and the best review papers from two years previous. The top papers in each category published in 2022 were chosen based on citation and download statistics gathered from 2023. The papers were then voted on by the Human Immunology editorial board members.

Click here to view the winners!

ASHI wants to help you organize a Local HLA meeting

ASHI provides financial support for you to hold a local HLA meeting. The main goal of this effort is to engage technologists in inter-laboratory learning activities. ASHI will provide up to $1,500 in reimbursement to assist with local meeting planning and conduct.

Click here to submit your online funding application before August 1, 2024. The application is also available in our handbook. The ASHI Local HLA meeting handbook has all the tools you'll need to organize your meeting. This will help guide you from start to finish!

Hosted by the Technologists' Affairs Committee

Click here to register

This course is designed to help develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence of laboratory instructors to deliver more effective training. Participants will learn how to apply CDC’s Quality Training Standards and Training Developer Checklist to the training they develop for laboratory professionals. The strategies and practices discussed can be adapted to a variety of training types, such as in-person lectures; See-one, Do-one, Teach-one; or eLearning (on-demand). This course is approved for 10 contact hours of P.A.C.E.® credit.

Candidates should be located within the U.S. and have:

• A minimum of one year of experience training laboratory professionals
• An identified training to reference during course activities and apply learned standards
• Access to virtual training equipment (e.g., computer, web camera, headphones) and software (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Reader)
• Approval from their supervisor to attend all sessions

This course consists of five virtual 2-hour sessions. All sessions are held virtually from 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET. See the brochure for additional details.

To express interest, visit the course link below and select the blue “+Get Approval” button under the sessions tab. Note: To access available sessions, you first need to create a CDC TRAIN account or log in if you already have an account. There are a limited number of seats available. Expressing interest does not guarantee a seat in this course. Your registration will be reviewed for eligibility. If approved, you will receive an email notification. Registration deadline: July 17th.

Click here to register

Please contact the course project team at labtrainingneeds@cdc.gov for more information.

The ASHI Membership Committee hosted an orientation for new members that covered various aspects of their membership benefits. Registration was open to all ASHI members.

Click here to watch the recording

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) hosted a virtual town hall for the organ donation and transplant community on Monday, June 10th. The town hall provided more information on:

• Separation of the OPTN Contractor and OPTN Boards
• Future governance of the OPTN



The call was recorded. Email Board.Relations@unos.org for more information.

2024 AC-1 Submission Deadline – June 14th

The result submission deadline for the AC-1 survey is Friday, June 14, but labs are encouraged to submit as soon as possible so any software issues can be resolved before the deadline. Also, testing your login today can avoid last minute access issues which could prevent timely submission. Detailed instructions for AC result entry are in the PT Data Center and a recording of the AC webinar is on the PT page of the ASHI website.

2024 EMO-1 Reports

The EMO-1 Summary report is available in the ASHI PT Data Center along with Participant Reports. The cell subset summary will be available in the coming weeks.

2024 HT-1 Survey

The review process is underway for HT-1 survey results. Participating laboratories will be notified by email once HT grades and reports are finalized.

Coffee & Compatibility

International organ allocation practices: a spotlight on Portugal



Dr. Christina Jorge shares what has made Portugal’s organ allocation system one of the best in the world, as well as the challenges it faces and the innovations it has planned.

Click here to listen and receive CECs.

Scientific Awards application open until August 1st

Early Career Investigator Award (ECIA) 

The aim of the Early Career Investigator Award is to support future research leaders who are committed to conducting impactful basic or translational science research. This program offers ASHI members an award of up to $40,000 for research related to histocompatibility or immunogenetics in various disciplines such transplantation, cancer, autoimmunity, infectious disease, disease association, or pharmacogenomics.

Click here for eligibility criteria, application process, proposal review criteria, and more.

_____________________________

Innovation Scholarship Award (ISA)

The goal of the Innovation Scholarship Award is to recognize and further a significant body of work in the fields of HLA, immunogenetics and/or transplant immunology as demonstrated by publications, educational initiatives and/or developed translational tools and analyses. Each of three recipients will receive a $1500 honorarium. These awards will be presented at the ASHI Annual Meeting.

Click here for award categories, application checklist, and selection criteria.

_____________________________

Michael Schmiederer Research Support Award (MSRSA)

The aim of the Michael Schmiederer Research Support Award (MSRSA) is to support impactful clinical research in the fields of histocompatibility and immunogenetics. This program offers ASHI members an award of $15,000 for one year of research related to various clinical disciplines such as transplantation, cancer, autoimmunity, infectious disease, disease association, or pharmacogenomics. The award is sponsored by Labcorp in memory of a beloved coworker, Michael W. Schmiederer, PhD, S(ACHI).

Click here for eligibility criteria, application process, and more.

_____________________________

Completed applications and questions can be sent to ASHI Headquarters at info@ashi-hla.org. Please put the name of the specific award in the subject line.

The application deadline is August 1, 2024. Information on all three awards can be found here. Thank you.

Consider becoming a peer reviewer for Human Immunology, ASHI’s scientific journal! If you have enough specialist knowledge to provide constructive criticism or consider yourself an expert in your field, we invite you to learn more about the benefits of being a reviewer and the reviewer resources available, by visiting www.elsevier.com/reviewer.

Click here to get started today. 

"What is the most commonly cited deficiency during ASHI lab inspections?"

Click here to view the Accreditation Review Board's response.

Would you like to be featured as our next ASHI Member or Volunteer Spotlight? Click the links below to answer a few questions about your member/volunteer experience. For more information, or if you would like to nominate someone to be highlighted as our next spotlight, contact Cathy Landolt at clandolt@ashi-hla.org.