BLD Make Connections - Adam Blacker

BLD Make Connections

with Adam R. Blacker, M.S., CHS (ACHI), MLS (ASCP)^CM

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Adam Blacker has dedicated the last 17 years of his professional career to the clinical laboratory.  He currently acts a Diagnostic Laboratory Manager in the department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.  Adam is Michigan State University alumni, graduating with a B.S in Medical Technology in 2003 and M.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science in 2008.  Adam’s first clinical laboratory experience was in a high paced Detroit hospital blood bank before he returned to MSU for further education.  While in graduate school he served as a research assistant and worked as an ASCP board certified Technologist in the MSU Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory.  This is where Adam discovered the unique world of HLA testing and its impact on transplant medicine. He would eventually board certify as a Histocompatibility Specialist and oversee HLA and Bone Marrow Laboratories as an Administrative Director for an Organ Procurement Organization in Nevada.  Adam was also nominated and elected president of the American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics in 2018.   From a MSU student without clear direction or knowledge of the clinical laboratory profession, through bench level Technologist and beyond, his career path makes a truly interesting story.