T. Vincent Shankey - candidate for Clinical Councilor

Dr. T. Vincent Shankey received his Ph.D. degree in Immunology and Medical Microbiology from the University of Florida School of Medicine (1977), where he worked on the structure and function of IgM antibody-ligand binding, and learned the importance of quantitative measurements. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia from 1977 to 1981, working on cytogenetics and B-lymphocyte function, where he was introduced to flow cytometry. He has been involved in research utilizing flow and image cytometry for over twenty-eight years and worked in clinical flow cytometry for much of that time. Before joining the Advanced Technology Center at Beckman Coulter in 2001, he was the Director of Research for the Urology Department and Scientific Director of a Clinical Flow Cytometry laboratory at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago, Illinois. Current research in Dr. Shankey’s lab at the Advanced Technology Center in Miami Florida focuses on the measurement of signal transduction networks in human leukemias.

Statement of Interest

I see the area of clinical flow cytometry as being composed of two different and related spheres- the practical and the theoretical. The practical involves issues that are addressed in the daily operation of a clinical flow facility (reimbursement, standardization, certification, and proficiency testing), while the theoretical, in essence, addresses what a clinical flow lab might be doing sometime in the future. I believe that ISAC should focus on the later, while helping regional clinical flow organizations address practical issues that frequently have a different focus, depending on the local emphasis and requirements. One critical area of importance to both spheres is education and training. Here, I believe that ISAC should play a key role in organizing or facilitating training in both clinical and basic flow cytometry. I have previously served on ISAC council (1998-2002), giving me a perspective of how things do or do not work. During that time, I played an active role in the transition of the editorship of Cytometry, and in the formation of a single editor for both parts of the journal. Throughout my term as Councilor, I actively participated in the Executive Committee’s operation of the society between Council meetings. If elected, I pledge to again be an active and engaged member of ISAC administration.