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 following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name. It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
2007 The Morton K. Schwartz Award for Significant Contributions in Cancer Research Diagnostics
Dr. Diamandis is division head of clinical biochemistry in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital; biochemist-in-chief at the University Health Network and Toronto Medical Laboratories; and division head of clinical biochemistry in the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Diamandis has been active in the field of cancer diagnostics over the past 20 years. He currently chairs the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry effort to develop guidelines for the clinical use of tumor markers. His main research interests are tumor markers, especially a group of enzymes called human tissue kallikreins. His most recent research focuses on proteomic methodologies for identifying novel cancer biomarkers and the physiology of kallikrein enzymes, as they relate to cancer initiation and progression. He is also conducting research to validate multiparametric panels for early ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer diagnosis. Dr. Diamandis serves on the boards of 25 journals. He has published more than 400 original papers and holds 13 patents, with another 20 pending. He co-authored a recent textbook, Tumor Markers. For many years, he has run workshops on tumor markers and proteomic technologies at AACC annual meetings.
2000 The Distinguished Scientist Award
Eleftherios Diamandis, MD, PhD, FACB was honored with the AACC 2000 Distinguished Scientist Award.
1999 Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research
Eleftherios P. Diamandis, MD, PhD, will receive the 27th annual award, sponsored by the Roche Diagnostic Systems. Dr. Diamandis currently is Head, Section of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, and Professor and Head, Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto. He received his BS in Chemistry, his PhD in Analytical Chemistry, and his Medical Degree from the University of Athens, Greece. He completed a Post-Doctoral Diploma Program at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Toronto. Dr. Diamandis is board certified in Clinical Chemistry by the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC).
Dr. Diamandis has played an active role in the AACC for many years and is currently a member of the Organizing Committee of the Oak Ridge Conference.
His research interests include advanced analytical technology and instrumentation, especially the technique of time-resolved fluorometry and its applications for developing highly sensitive immunological and molecular techniques. He is also interested in designing new methodologies for the diagnosis and monitoring of breast, prostate, and other cancers and in the identification of new genes that are involved in various cancers. Over the last 5 years, Dr. Diamandis published extensively on prostate-specific antigen and its use in prostate and breast cancer diagnostics. More recently, his group has identified a number of novel genes that belong to the kallikrein gene family and molecularly characterized the kallikrein gene locus in humans. Previously, he published extensively on the p53 tumor suppressor and its role in carcinogenesis as well as its clinical applications.
Dr. Diamandis has presented to numerous national and international meetings and has published more than 250 research papers, review articles, and book chapters. He co-edited a book entitled Immunoassay, published by Academic Press in 1996.
Dr. Diamandis’ previous awards and honors include the Chisholm Memorial Fellowship from the University of Toronto (1983), the AACC Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievements by a Young Investigator (1985), the Med-Chem Laboratories Award for Best Poster Presentations at the annual Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists meeting (co-author of eight different winning posters between 1985 and 1998), the Van Slyke Society Research Grant Award of the AACC (1989), the annual Research Excellence Award of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (1995), and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Toronto (1997). He was “Kubasik Lecturer”, Upstate New York Section of the AACC (1998), and has won the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Clinical Ligand Assay Society (1999).
1985 Outstanding Scientific Achievements by a Young Investigator
Eleftherios P. Diamandis will receive the 1985 AACC Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievements by a Young Investigator. This award is sponsored by Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostics, Inc.
Dr. Diamandis received his bachelor’s degree and the Ph.D. degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Athens. He then joined the faculty there and has developed a collaborative program of research, rooted in fundamental analytical chemistry but becoming more clinically oriented and impacting upon important aspects of laboratory diagnosis. While continuing as a member of the professional staff at the University, he entered medical school. These studies were interrupted for two years, staring in 1982, to complete the diploma course in clinical biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He has since returned to the University of Athens as lecturer and to complete his medical training.
Dr. Diamandis has been involved in several research projects in the field of clinical chemistry. He has developed ion-selective electrodes for measurement of serum creatinine, albumin, and amylase; and he has adapted these techniques to continuous-flow analysis. He also has developed enzymic fluorimetric assays for bile acids and HPLC methods for glycated hemoglobins and urinary cortisol. Recently he has isolated digoxin-like immunoreactive substances from human serum and tissues and currently is working on the characterization of these compounds.
Dr. Diamandis currently has two students working toward the Ph.D. degree under his direction. He is the co-author of more than 40 journal papers, one book chapter, and 10 abstracts and presentations. He was the recipient of the Chisholm Memorial Fellowship for the period 1983–1984 from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Toronto.
Dr. Diamandis is married and has two children, Maria and Phedias. His wife, Anastasia, a Ph.D. analytical chemist, is a lecturer at the University of Athens. During his free time, he enjoys playing tennis.