Rising Stars in Health Care Named to ASCP’s 2020 40 Under Forty Top Six List

For the past seven years, ASCP’s prestigious 40 Under Forty program has highlighted the brightest emerging leaders and innovators of pathology and laboratory medicine. In 2020, we honored our newest group of 40 high-achieving ASCP member pathologists, laboratory professionals, and pathology residents under the age of 40 for their achievements and leadership qualities that are making an impact on pathology and laboratory medicine. 

Annually, ASCP has honored from this group a cohort called the Top Five, but in keeping with 2020 as an unprecedented year, ASCP is delighted to award six individuals with the designation of Top Six. These six were identified based on public voting and committee selection. 

Through this esteemed program, our distinguished honorees have had the opportunity to receive recognition within their organizations and media attention as ASCP’s top rising leaders. 

Here is a look at this year's Top Six honorees:

Christian Horrocks, MBA, DLM(ASCP)^CM, Certified Six Sigma Green Belt

Dr. Horrocks is the laboratory services director for the University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah. He works with laboratory leaders across the system, which includes five clinical laboratories, three anatomic pathology labs, dermatopathology, the blood gas lab and various other smaller laboratories throughout the system. He earned a bachelor of science in health services administration from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, and an MBA from the University of Utah. Mr. Horrocks is a Diplomate of Laboratory Management with ASCP and a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. When he is not working, he enjoys being at home with his family and pets and enjoying the outdoors, especially skiing and boating.

Stephanie McGregor, MD, PhD, FASCP

Growing up in rural Illinois, Dr. McGregor says she lacked the words to describe a physician scientist, but somehow envisioned herself in that role. She was drawn to lay articles on medical advances and dove wholeheartedly into science fair projects. After college, she combined MD/PhD studies, and followed by post-graduate study at the University of Chicago to realize her dream. She was thrilled to be involved in bridging the worlds of science and clinical medicine. During her training, Dr. McGregor was intrigued by the lack of data underlying so many patient-care decisions and found herself constantly asking how the profession could improve. Today, as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, she strives to improve specimen processing and interpretation in a manner that facilitates the best possible patient care.

Karen Moser, MD, FASCP

Dr. Moser earned her medical degree from Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri. She subsequently completed residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a fellowship in hematopathology at the University of Utah. She is currently an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah and is a co-medical director of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Laboratory at ARUP Laboratories, in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she also practices hematopathology. She is a member of the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute Expert Panel on Hematology, Immunology, and Ligand Assays, and is a frequent presenter at the ASCP Annual Meeting. Dr. Moser is also an enthusiastic pathology educator and, in addition to clinical teaching of pathology residents and fellows, she co-directs a first-year medical student course in hematology and basic molecular and cancer biology at the University of Utah. Outside of the laboratory, Dr. Moser enjoys hiking and exploring the mountains of Utah with her family.

Abigail Skerritt-Jones, PA(ASCP)^CM

Mrs. Skerritt-Jones grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and emigrated to the United States to pursue an education in laboratory science in Michigan. She worked as a laboratory assistant, phlebotomist, microbiology assistant, client services representative and an MLT at Spectrum Health Lakeland while going to school. She graduated with an associate degree in medical assistant technology and an associate in medical laboratory technology and completed her bachelor of science in clinical laboratory science online. She earned a master’s degree as a pathologists’ assistant from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Illinois. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and five-year old son, Cameron, and her family advocates for foster care and enjoys gardening. Mrs. Skerritt-Jones is the sole pathologists’ assistant for three Cleveland Clinic hospitals, and she is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in health science.

Milad Webb, MD, PhD, FASCP

Born in Iran, Dr. Webb emigrated to the United States and served in the United States military as an Army medic before entering medical school at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno. After hear earned his medical degree and a PhD in biomedical engineering, Dr. Webb then completed pathology residency at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and forensic pathology fellowship at Washtenaw County and Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Offices. He served as assistant medical examiner at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office and as an assistant professor of forensic pathology at Michigan Medicine until 2020. He is currently associate medical examiner at the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Webb is an enthusiastic researcher and has many research interests, including forensic toxicology, forensic neuropathology, firearm-related injuries and the utilization of biomechanics in forensic investigations.

Sarah Wheeler, PhD

Dr. Wheeler received her doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in cellular and molecular pathology, studying the oncogenic and treatment resistance effects of EGFRvIII in head and neck cancer. She continued her combined post-doctoral and clinical chemistry fellowship training at the University of Pittsburgh, studying breast cancer metastasis and dormancy, creating an organ-on-a-chip model capable of recapitulating human metastatic dormancy and re-emergence. After her training, she received a position at a diagnostics company and is currently the medical director of the automated testing laboratories for UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Mercy, and associate medical director of Clinical Immunopathology.

ASCP is enormously proud of the work that this year’s ASCP 40 Under Forty Top Six—and, indeed, all of the 40 Under Forty honorees, are doing. We look forward to watching their careers unfold in the future and seeing their expanding contributions to the health care profession.

To learn more about all of the 40 Under Forty honorees, visit www.ascp.org/40underforty.