In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) and AACC Academy were also both rebranded to the Academy of Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine. The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name, the Academy’s old name, NACB, and/or FACB (one of the old designations for members of the Academy). It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
2006 The Edwin F. Ullman Award
Dr. Kricka is professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the general chemistry laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
He has served AACC in countless capacities, the foremost as president in 2001.
This award recognizes an individual for contributions that advance the technology of clinical laboratory sciences, and two of Dr. Kricka’s efforts, in particular, have had a profound effect on the field. The first involves chemiluminescence and bioluminescence: He was instrumental in the development of two of the three major chemiluminescent technologies currently used in routine testing, including an enhanced luminescence system for peroxidase labels and the 1, 2-dioxetane substrate, now widely used to detect alkaline phosphatase labels and other hydrolytic enzymes.
He has also played an important role in adapting chemiluminescent and bioluminescent assays to point-of-care testing. His second defining work, in collaboration with Dr. Peter Wilding, is with analytical microchips.
Dr. Kricka played a critical role in the development of micro-fabricated clinical analysis devices and devices that isolate cells, analyze DNA, test for fertility, assist in vitro fertilization, test for drugs and hormones, and integrate tests for malignancy. These miniaturization techniques resulted in the first demonstration of numerous analytically useful processes in microchips, including immunoassay, assessment of sperm motility, and DNA amplification.
Today many laboratories and companies have research and development programs based on Dr. Kricka’s discoveries.
Dr. Kricka holds 30 U.S. patents and is the author or co-author of over 350 articles, abstracts, book chapters, and papers and of 20 books. He is editor-in-chief of Luminescence; a member of the editorial boards of Clinical Chemistry, Lab-on-a-chip, and Analytical Biochemistry; and past editor of the Journal of Immunoassay.
2001 AACC Past President’s Award
Larry J. Kricka, DPhil, FACB, FRCPath, CChem, FRSC, is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the General Chemistry Laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BA and DPhil degrees in chemistry from York University (UK). After completing postdoctoral training at the University of Liverpool (UK), he joined the faculty in the Department of Clinical Chemistry and the Wolfson Research Laboratories at the University of Birmingham (UK), where he was a Reader in Clinical Chemistry. In 1981, he was a Medical Research Counsil Traveling Fellow at the University of California in San Diego, and in 2002, he was the Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Christ’s College, Cambridge, England.
Dr. Kricka is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, the NACB, and the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a member of the Association of Clinical Biochemists and the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists.
Dr. Kricka has played an active role in AACC since 1988 and is currently Past-President of AACC and a member of the AACC Board of Directors. In the Philadelphia Section, he held the positions of chair and membership chair; he also participated in the activities of the Northeast Alliance. He served on the organizing committees for CliniChem ’91, ’93, ’94, and ’98, and was Chair of CliniChem ’97. At the national level, he has been the chair of the Oak Ridge Conference Committee and a member of the Meetings Management Group and the Board of Editors, AACC Press. His Division-level activities include committee work for the Clinical Diagnostics and Immunology Division. He was a member of the Endo/LIP Committee and Chair of the Symposium Committee for the 1993 National Meeting held in New York. Dr. Kricka is also active at the international level. He is the Past-Chair of the Committee on Advanced Technologies of the IFCC and currently chairs an IFCC Working Group on Nanotechnology; he also is a member of the IUPAC Committee on Microchip Nomenclature and the NCCLS subcommittee on Molecular Methods for Microarrays.
Dr. Kricka’s research interests include micromachined analytical systems, the analytical applications of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence, nonisotopic immunoassays, and heterophile antibodies. He has lectured extensively and has published more than 350 papers and review articles and authored/edited 18 books. He is Editor-in-Chief of Luminescence, Editor of the Journal of Immunoassay, and a member of the editorial boards of Clinical Chemistry and Analytical Biochemistry. His previous awards and honors include the Society of Analytical Chemistry Silver Medal (Royal Society of Chemistry; 1981), Brigish Technology Group Academic Enterprise Competition Award (1985); Department of Trade and Industry, Industry Year Award for Technology Transfer (1986); Prince of Wales Award for Innovation and Production (1989); Queens Award for Technological Achievement (1990); Rank Prize for OptoElectronics (1991); Certificate of Honor Award (AACC, New Jersey Section; 1995); the Kubasic Lecture Award (AACC, New York Upstate Section; 1997); and the AACC Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry in a Selected Area of Research (1998).
1998 Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research
Larry J. Kricka, PhD, will receive the 26th annual award, sponsored by Roche Diagnostic Systems. Dr. Kricka is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the General Chemistry Laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BA and DPhil degrees in chemistry from York University, England, and after completing postdoctoral training at the University of Liverpool, England, he joined the faculty in the Department of Clinical Chemistry and Wolfson Research Laboratories at the University of Birmingham, England, where he was a Reader in Clinical Chemistry. Dr. Kricka is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a member of the Association of Clinical Biochemists.
Dr. Kricka has played an active role in AACC and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of AACC, and a member of the Editorial Board of the association’s Journal, Clinical Chemistry. In the Philadelphia Section, he has held the positions of chair and membership chair, and also participates in the activities of the Northeast Alliance. He was chair for the Symposium Committee for CliniChem ’91,’93, and ’94, and was Chair of CliniChem ’97. At the divisional level, Dr. Kricka has served on the Clinical Diagnostics and Immunology Division Committee; at the national level, he chaired the Oak Ridge Conference Committee and was a member of the Meetings Management Group and the Board of Editors, AACC Press. Previously, he was a member of the Endo/LIP Committee and Chair of the Symposium Committee for the 1993 National Meeting held in New York.
Dr. Kricka is also active at the international level; he serves on the International Scientific Program Committee of the International Symposium on Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence, and was recently appointed Chair of the Committee on Advanced Technologies of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC).
His research interests include micromachined analytical systems, the analytical applications of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence, nonisotopic immunoassays, and heterophile antibodies. His work in chemiluminescence originated at the Wolfson Research Laboratories, Birmingham, England. Together with Tom Whitehead, Gary Thorpe, and other members of the Wolfson team, he developed the enhanced chemiluminescent detection reactions for peroxidase labels, which were subsequently commercialized in conjunction with Dr. Ed Foottit at the British Technology Group, London, England. Further studies on the application of chemiluminescent reactions and stabilized adamantyl dioxetane substrates for alkaline phosphatase labels in immunoassay and DNA analysis were undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Irena Bronstein at Tropix, in Bedford, Massachusetts.
During the past decade, Dr. Kricka’s ongoing collaboration with Dr. Peter Wilding, and more recently with Dr. Paolo Fortina, has led to major advances in the development and application of micromachined devices in clinical analysis. Silicon microchips have been devised and tested for a diverse range of analytical and preparative techniques, including sperm motility, in vitro fertilization, immunoassay, cell isolation, and different types of nucleic acid analyses (PCR, DOP-PCR, and LCR). His current work is directed towards the development of fully integrated microchips (“lab-on-a-chip”) for PCR-based assays.
Dr. Kricka has lectured extensively, has published 250 papers and review articles, and has authored/edited 12 books. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence, Editor of the Journal of Immunoassay, a member of the editorial boards of Clinical Chemistry, Analytical Biochemistry, and Talanta, and an invited reviewer for many prestigious scientific journals.
Dr. Kricka’s previous awards and honors include the Society of Analytical Chemistry Silver Medal (Royal Society of Chemistry) (1981), the British Technology Group Academic Enterprise Competition Award (1985), the Department of Trade and Industry, Industry Year Award for Technology Transfer (1986), the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation and Production (1989), the Queens Award for Technological Achievement (1990), the Rank Prize for Opto-Electronics (1991), the Certificate of Honor Award, AACC, New Jersey Section (1995), and the Kubasik Lecture Award, AACC, New York Upstate Section (1997).