Understanding ADLM’s new Scientific Divisions

A great opportunity to become engaged with ADLM and your colleagues is to participate in a scientific division. For more than 40 years, ADLM Divisions have served as a unique resource for advancing the science in laboratory medicine.

Why get involved in a division? As an ADLM member for more than 30 years, I can attest that there are many benefits: interacting with other ADLM members with similar interests in a specific scientific discipline, increasing your knowledge base, identifying knowledge gaps, and collaborating in research studies and educational programming.

Time for an update

Despite these benefits to ADLM members, many divisions experienced less robust engagement over the last decade as the field evolved and changed. Among ADLM leadership, there was concern that the existing division structure and portfolio did not meet the needs of the current and future membership.

Consequently, in March 2022, the ADLM Board of Directors established the Division Program Implementation Task Force, composed of current and past division chairs, including myself. The Board directed the task force to evaluate the division program and portfolio and provide recommendations for restructuring it.

The task force engaged the ADLM Science & Practice Core Committee and division leadership for feedback and ideas. This was achieved through surveys, meetings, and one-on-one discussions.

Additional valuable sources of information included membership analysis within each division, including assessment of individuals engaged within more than one division; a thorough review of division annual reports to identify strengths and weaknesses of the current division portfolio; benchmarking how similar professional healthcare organizations structure their membership; and defining the current and potential future practice areas in laboratory medicine, laboratory medicine adjacent fields, and diagnostics.

After thorough analysis and careful listening, the task force determined that changes in both the science and professional landscape of the laboratory medicine field indeed required significant changes to the divisions portfolio.

The task force presented its recommendations for restructuring the division portfolio to the ADLM Board of Directors and received approval to move forward.

The new divisions portfolio

The new division portfolio reflects today’s vibrant landscape of laboratory medicine. The divisions are intended to be contemporary and relevant to clinical practice. The new division are:

Cancer Diagnostics & Monitoring Division (CDM)
Cardiovascular Health Division (CVH)
Data Science & Informatics Division (DSI)
Endocrinology & Metabolism Division (ENDOMET)
Genetics & Genomics Division (G&G)
Health Equity & Access Division (HEA)
Hematology & Coagulation Division (HEMCOAG)
Immunology & Infectious Disease Division (IID)
Innovation & Technology Division (INT)
Pediatric & Maternal-Fetal Division (PMF)
Point-of-Care Testing Division (POCT)
Stewardship & Management Sciences Division (SPM)
Therapeutic Drug management & Toxicology Division (TDMTOX)

In addition to restructuring the division portfolio, the organizational structure within the division was updated to be comprised of core leadership officers and supporting officers.

The new division governance and leadership roles aim to promote greater activity within the divisions and greater engagement within the membership.

The elected core leadership consists of a Chair (not elected, 2-year term), Chair-Elect (1-year term), Past-Chair (not elected, 1-year term), Secretary (2-year term), Treasurer (2-year term), and Science & Practice Adviser (2-year term). The appointed supporting officers are an Educational Representative (2-year term), Member Engagement Coordinator (2-year term), Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator (2-year term), Operations & Sponsorship Coordinator (2-year term), and Early Career Representative (1-year term).

How the changes serve ADLM members

There are several key goals for the new division portfolio and structure. One is to provide a convenient space for members to promote discipline-specific scientific research and educational opportunities. Divisions are essential to contributing to a collaborative environment for the ADLM community to join with other members and pursue similar interests.

In addition, the divisions are strengthened in their ability to provide mentoring and networking opportunities. There will be valuable growth opportunities for early-career, mid-career, and established professionals. These opportunities to develop leadership and organizational skills will afford members the professional growth they need to advance the field.

The scientific divisions are vital to the success of ADLM members, and they empower a diverse community of professionals to shape the future of ADLM.

I strongly encourage all our members to engage with one or more divisions. From personal experience, I can attest to how divisions promote professional growth, whether through research studies, scholarly work, or developing essential leadership skills.

I hope all ADLM members—whether early, mid, or established career laboratorians—will seize this opportunity to connect with others who share their passion for the diverse and unique clinical areas that make laboratory medicine such a rewarding field.

Stanley Lo, PhD, DABCC, FADLM is a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and an associate director of the clinical laboratory at Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Email: [email protected]