Department's two million test results per year critical to patient care and research
Dr. Thomas Fleisher, former chief of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center's Department of Laboratory Medicine, was one of five recipients of the 2018 U.S. Health and Human Service's Secretary's Career Achievement Award presented on May 9, 2018.
Fleisher directed the department as chief for nearly two decades. He retired in 2017. The Clinical Center's Department of Laboratory Medicine provides laboratory testing for all Clinical Center patients. These activities translate to more than two million test results per year and are critical in supporting the clinical research investigations of NIH researchers and providing world-class care to Clinical Center patients.
Fleisher oversaw the development of a number of initiatives that include:
- a substantial increase in the application of cutting-edge technology in the microbiology and chemistry laboratories;
- expanding the range of analysis of bone marrow samples, including cytogenetic and molecular analyses;
- enhancing flow cytometry testing in the evaluation of hematologic malignancies and primary immunodeficiencies;
- applying genomic methods to the evaluation of patients referred to the NIH with unknown immunodeficiencies;
- and the development of mass spectrometry for endocrine testing.
More recently he facilitated the introduction of microbial genomics testing into the department's microbiology laboratory.
Recently, the Clinical Center's Board of Scientific Counselors expressed stated that "Dr. Fleisher is an outstanding administrator and investigator who has a long history of running a highly successful department that has an international reputation for its service and that uniquely facilitates the research efforts of the Clinical Center and other Institutes."