The attached article was originally published in 1979 in the Journal of Clinical Chemistry by Edith Johnson Choate of the Lahey Clinical Foundation and outlines the origin of our Northeast the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC) section. Our current Board of Directors decided to make this available to members who might be interested in finding out a bit more about the foundation on which this section was built. We give a brief overview below of this history and how our section structure and function has evolved to its current state.
The first section of the American Association of Clinical Chemists was founded in New York City in 1948 by 9 charter members. This was followed by the formation of the second section of the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) in the greater Boston area the next year. The first officers were Joseph Benotti, Chairman; Harry Ziskind, Vice-Chairman and Esther Thomas, Secretary/Treasurer. Ten years later, the Treasurer became an individual officer position. The Boston Section had 20 original members and in 1961 changed its name to the Northeast Section and included membership from all of the New England states (except Connecticut) with some members from the Eastern Provinces of Canada. During the early period, there were one to two presentation/dinner meetings per year where membership could gather at a local Boston hospital as the venue. By the 1970’s membership for the Northeast Section reached 300 and monthly dinner meetings increased to 3 in the fall and 3 or 4 in the spring. These were held at hotels in the Route 128 area equidistant from Boston, Worcester and Rhode Island. Joint meetings were common with other sections and organizations such as ACS, the Greater Boston Medical Technologists Association and the Connecticut Valley Section. This article also lists the Section Officers from 1949 through 1979, and many familiar names in the field of Clinical Chemistry from the local area can be easily recognized, such as Joseph Annino, Louis Amoruso, Harvey George, Joseph Musto and Nancy Ridley. Several local section members have also received many national honors of all types. In addition, in 1976, the national organization changed it name to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.
This year the Northeast Section celebrates it 60th year (1949-2009). ] There are currently over 400 members and even though several of the functions of the Northeast Section have remained the same for past 30 years there have been some changes. A past-chair position was created and an educational chair added. The section has also co-sponsored the annual Northeast Region Conference and Exhibition with CLMA and CLAS over the last 10 years. In addition, as part of its educational mission, the Northeast Section has elected to support recruitment of young scientists into ADLM and has designated its November dinner/presentation meeting as “student night” where attendance and a one year ADLM student membership is provided to interested and qualified laboratory science students.
Click here for a full version of the History of the Northeast Local Section.