FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

 

For more information, contact:

Elizabeth Maynard-Garrett, APR

UTHSC Communications and Marketing

(901) 448-4957

 

BASELSKI AWARDED FOR BIOTERRORISM TRAINING EXCELLENCE

 

            Memphis, Tennessee (February 2, 2005) – The Nashville office of the National Laboratory Training Network (NLTN) presented an award for “Excellence in Education” to Vickie Baselski, PhD, DABMM, FAAM, technical director of microbiology for the Memphis Pathology Laboratory and professor of pathology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).

            Baselski has been active in bioterrorism preparedness with the American Society of Microbiology, The Tennessee Department of Health’s Laboratory Services and the NLTN. She developed the first hands-on wet workshop dedicated to the presumptive identification of agents of bioterrorism and has led workshops across the state on the subject.  Her workshop material forms the basis for much of the bioterrorism preparedness training in the United States.

            Baselski serves on the American Society for Microbiology committee that worked with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop the sentinel protocols to define rule-in/rule-out agents of bioterrorism. She also is the clinical consultant for the Memphis-Shelby County Health Department.

            The NLTN commented that it, “deeply appreciates the contributions that Baselski has made to its educational efforts.  She has made a difference in bioterrorism preparedness for many hospital laboratorians and stands as a model of public health at its very best.”

Baselski hold a PhD in microbiology from the University of Texas and has completed a post graduate fellowship in public health and medical laboratory microbiology from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. She won the William H. Ewing Award from the Southern Association for Clinical Microbiology and was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology.

###