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 It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
2021 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Professor Dr. (h.c.) Marilyn A. Huestis was a tenured senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, for 23 years where she conducted controlled drug administration studies. She also was an Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD until 2017. Currently, she is Senior Fellow, Institute on Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, on the Novella Fronda Foundation Scientific Committee, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Science Advisory Board, Senior Scientific Advisor of NMS Labs, and President of Huestis & Smith Toxicology, LLC. Her research program focuses on discovering mechanisms of action of cannabinoid agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, oral fluid testing, driving under the influence of drugs, and the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of novel psychoactive substances. She published 523 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and hundreds of invited lectures and abstracts were presented at national and international meetings. Professor Huestis received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College (cum laude), a master's degree in clinical chemistry from the University of New Mexico (with honors), and a doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of Maryland (with honors). Professor Huestis will receive the National Safety Council’s Distinguished Service to Safety Award in October 2021, and previously received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki in Finland in 2010. Other important awards include the 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Alexander O. Gettler Award, 2018 National Safety Council’s Borkenstein Award, 2017 Sir Kenneth Standard Distinguished Lecturer for the University of the West Indies, 2016 Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Orator, Melbourne, Australia, 2016 Marian W. Fischman Lectureship Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2016 Saferstein Memorial Distinguished Lecturer at Northeastern University, 2015 Excellence in Scientific Research, Women Scientist Advisory NIDA Investigator Award, 2015 Norman P. Kubasik AACC Lectureship Award, 2015 Distinguished Fellow from AAFS, 2010 The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) Alan Curry Award, 2008 AACC Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research Award, 2007 International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT) Irving Sunshine Award, 2005 AAFS Rolla N. Harger Award, and 1992 Irving Sunshine Award for Outstanding Research in Forensic Toxicology. The journal Clinical Chemistry featured her as an “Inspiring Mind”. She currently serves on the Organization of Scientific Area Committee on Toxicology, World Anti-doping Agency’s Prohibited List Committee, and the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division Executive Board. Professor Huestis served on the National Commission on Forensic Sciences. She is past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, past Chair of the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and past president of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.