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 It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
1971 Outstanding Contributions Through Service to the Profession of Clinical Chemistry
Miriam Reiner was one of the founding members of AACC in 1948. The Capital Section honored her memory by naming one of its awards after her and the section posted a brief biographical sketch which highlights her contributions.
Miriam Reiner was named the 1971 AACC Fisher Award winner at the 23rd AACC National Meeting. The award, given annually to honor outstanding services by a clinical chemist to the profession, consists of a plaque and $1000 honorarium.
Dr. Reiner was one of the organizers and a charter member of AACC. She was the first AACC Membership Chairman [1949–1951] as well as a member of the Executive Board during the formative years, and has since served in many capacities. She was President of the Association in 1962–63 after a year as President-Elect, was elected to the National Nominating Committee for several terms, has been the National Representative from the Capital Section to the Council and served again on the Membership Committee of a now full grown organization.
In addition, she was a prime organizer of the Capital Section of AACC and its Chairman in 1953. For the 1968 National Meeting in Washington, D.C., she was chairman of the Publicity Committee.
Dr. Reiner also made a considerable contribution to the profession and to the image of the clinical chemist when she set up the format and became Editor of the first volume of Standard Methods in Clinical Chemistry. She has continued to be active on this committee and a contributor to subsequent volumes.
1963 AACC Past President’s Award
Her interest in clinical chemists extends beyond the National Organization and in 1967 she was honored at the Chemical Society Meeting at Guayaquil, Ecuador, where her experience was used to help organize Clinical Chemists of Ecuador.
Dr. Reiner was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and the M.S. in biochemistry from Columbia University. Her Ph.D. in biochemistry was obtained at Georgetown University. Her career as a clinical chemist began at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. She retired in 1970 from the position of Chief of the Chemistry Division, D.C. General Hospital, Washington D.C., but has continued to work with and for AACC.
A Diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry, she is also a Fellow of AAAS, a member of the American Association of Clinical Scientists, a Life Member of the New York Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, Iota Sigma Pi, and Sigma Delta Epsilon.
In recognition of her accomplishments she received the Capital Section Award in Clinical Chemistry in 1965.