Richard Donald Krause, PhD, DABCC, a long-time AACC member and committed researcher and clinical laboratorian in his native Alberta, Canada, died on October 25, 2016.
Dr. Krause was a clinical chemist at Calgary Laboratory Services (CLS) and a clinical assistant professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He trained in the clinical chemistry postdoctoral program at Ohio State University and was board certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry.
As a clinical laboratorian, Dr. Krause played a key role in quality control and assurance for chemistry tests across the Calgary zone and surrounding rural areas, overseeing a high volume medical laboratory, and working with clinicians for test interpretation and patient care. Over thirty years in Calgary, he was tireless in providing his time and expertise in ensuring that laboratory tests were performed and reported with high quality for optimal patient care and remained loyal to this cause especially during decades of significant restructuring and changes to laboratory services within the Calgary zone and surrounding rural areas.
Dr. Krause contributed his expertise for maternal-fetal medicine and prenatal screening in Alberta including the early risk assessment program for first and second trimester screening, and collaborating with the PEGASUS (PErsonalized Genomics for prenatal Aneuploidy Screening USing maternal blood) study which is a large multicenter Canadian clinical trial which will validate the performance and utility new genomic technologies for screening for major fetal chromosome imbalances in pregnant women using maternal blood. In addition, he was instrumental in initiating new reporting and calculations of estimated glomerular filtration rate for kidney function as part of the Alberta Kidney Disease Network.
Dr. Krause served as section chief of Clinical Biochemistry at CLS in the past and was an active faculty member of the clinical chemistry fellowship program at Calgary Laboratory Services. He was a kind and thoughtful mentor to many residents in pathology and endocrinology, fellows in clinical chemistry, as well as to junior faculty members. His door was always open and he used his gift of generosity and wisdom for mutual collaborations and consultations for service-related issues for all CLS staff.
Dr. Krause served as an executive member in multiple societies including the Alberta Society of Clinical Chemists and the Alberta Association of Clinical Laboratory Doctoral Scientists. He was a dedicated member of AACC, never missing an annual meeting in his 41 years of service, and the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Dr. Krause will be deeply missed for his love and dedication to the field of clinical chemistry and for his gentle character to his colleagues and loved ones.
A ceremony celebrating Dr. Krause’s life was held on November 1 in Calgary.