Kent B. Lewandrowski, MD, FASCP will receive the 2008 ASCP Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Service to Clinical Pathology. The award recognizes an ASCP member who has made a significant contribution to pathology through sustained service to the profession and ASCP.
The award will be presented at the ASCP Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD, on Friday,
October 17, during the Keynote Address at 11:45 am.
Dr. Lewandrowski is associate chief of pathology, director of clinical services (anatomic and clinical pathology), in the Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. He is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, with research interests in pancreatic pathology, serum cardiac markers, and the evaluation of point-of-care technologies.
Dr. Lewandrowski’s interest in point-of-care testing began while he was a resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was involved in designing and implementing a point-of-care quality assurance program. In 2002, Dr. Lewandrowski founded a new journal, Point-of-Care, and is its editor-in-chief. He is also chairman of the Critical Care/ Point of Care Division of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.
Lewandrowski's lab is on the cutting edge of many new things including automation of anatomic and clinical pathology, implementation of voice recognition in anatomic pathology and implementation of comprehensive decision-support software into electronic medical records. In 2005, his fellow physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital chose him to receive the Nathaniel Bowditch Award, which is given each year to a single physician for significant contributions to improving quality and reducing the cost of health care at the hospital.
He began his involvement with the ASCP when he wrote two ASCP Check Samples in 1990 and 1991. Yearly since 2000, he has presented the clinical chemistry section of the ASCP's Resident Review Course. Most recently (since 2005), he has been the clinical chemistry co-editor for ASCP's Check Sample and has been an invited reviewer for ASCP's journals.
"The thing I love about the ASCP is its commitment to education and excellence," said Lewandrowski. "The ASCP is the major force in pathology education in the United States. Also, its publications are outstanding including books, journals, and conferences."
Lewandrowski says his greatest role model is his wife, Elizabeth "…who watches over me and makes sure I get things done and do them completely and correctly." He lives with her just outside of Boston. "Boston is a beautiful historic city with a young, highly educated, internationally diverse population," he said. "The largemouth bass fishing is terrific." Dr. Lewandrowski says the most exciting place he's been is the alligator-infested bass fishing swamps in Tampa Florida. He also enjoys painting.