IFCC Distinguished Clinical Chemist Award
Sponsor: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Inc.
Presented to: Prof. Donald Stirling Young, MB, PhD
The International Federation of
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) is pleased and
honored to announce that Professor Donald Stirling Young, MB, PhD
has been selected to receive the 2008 IFCC Distinguished Clinical
Chemist Award. This award recognizes an individual who has made
outstanding contributions to the science of Clinical Chemistry and
Laboratory Medicine or the application of clinical chemistry to the
understanding or the solution of medical problems. Professor Young
has had a distinguished career as a scientist, clinical
laboratorian and educator and has dedicated his career to the
advancement of our profession. His many contributions to the
international science and practice of laboratory medicine make him
a deserving recipient of this high honor.
Professor Young received M.B. and Ch.B. degrees from the
University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1957 and a PhD in Chemical
Pathology degree from the University of London, England in 1962.
From 1957-1958 he served his internship as a House Physician and
House Surgeon at the University of Aberdeen Teaching Hospitals. He
is Board certified by the American Board of Pathology with a
Special Competence in Chemical Pathology.
Dr. Young is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and
Vice-Chair for Laboratory Medicine, Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania. He had
previous appointments as Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Service at
the National Institutes of Health and Head of the Section of
Clinical Chemistry at the Mayo Clinic. He has authored or
co-authored over 200 papers or book chapters and served as editor,
co-editor, author or co-author of more than 10 books. He is
recognized especially for his excellent series of books ("Young's
Effects") which emphasize the importance of the effects of drugs,
disease, pre-analytical variables and herbs and natural products on
laboratory tests. He also is the co-editor of the popular text
"Directory of Rare Analyses" that is now in its 5th edition.
Professor Young also is a proponent of the use of SI units in
clinical medicine and has authored the book entitled "SI Units for
Clinical Medicine." The research interests of Professor Young are
far ranging and include (1) laboratory quality control and
improvement in quality of results, (2) laboratory uses of
computers, (3) management of laboratory utilization, (4) biological
and analytical components of variation of serum constituents, (5)
development of original and specific laboratory diagnostic
procedures, (6) laboratory efficiency, and (7) assessment and
correlation of laboratory findings with disease.
Dr. Young has contributed to the advancement of the science of
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine through his extensive
service in several organizations including having served as
President of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (1980)
and the IFCC (1985-1991). He has served as a member of the World
Health Organization Advisory Panel on Health Laboratory Services
and several organizational units of the International Union of Pure
and Applied Chemistry. Also, he has been an active member of the
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, former National
Committee of Clinical Laboratory Standards, NCCLS) and has served
in various senior leadership roles in that organization.
Professor Young also has served on the Board of Editors of
several publications including serving as Chair of the Editorial
Board of Clinical Chemistry. Professor Donald Young has received
over 24 awards from organizations of at least 7 countries
represented within IFCC.