Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Experimental Pathology and Division Director, Laboratory Medicine, was recently awarded the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) Ellis Benson Award. Leal received the award at the ACLPS annual meeting on May 31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
This Ellis Benson Award is the highest recognition for a young faculty member who has achieved meritorious accomplishment in laboratory medicine. It honors the contributions of Dr. Ellis Benson, a pioneer in laboratory medicine and co-founder of ACLPS. The award comprises a plaque, $1,000 cash and travel reimbursement. It provides the awardee with an opportunity to present their work at the ACLPS meeting, highlighting their contributions to the field.
Leal was named the Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Experimental Pathology on January 1, 2025. He joined the department in 2018 and shortly after found himself tackling the challenge of COVID-19 testing. Due to Leal’s efforts in molecular testing, UAB was among the first academic medical centers in the country to offer in-house testing by launching a lab-developed RNA test in March 2020. He, along with his team, tested hundreds of samples daily for patient care, developed pooled testing for the State of Alabama GuideSafe return-to-campus student testing program, and performed viral genome sequencing for the State of Alabama COVID sequencing initiative.
In 2020, Leal received the UAB Faculty Innovator of the Year award. In 2021, he received the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award for service. In 2022, Leal was named the inaugural scientific director of the Southeastern Biosafety Lab – one of the few biosafety level 3 Regional Biocontainment Laboratories build in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Under Leal’s leadership, SEBLAB has been awarded more than $20 million in grant support. Leal was named Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine in 2024 after having served as associate division director in 2022.
Marisa Marques, M.D., Professor Emerita, received the Gerald T. Evans Award for her outstanding leadership and support of ACLPS. This award honors Dr. Gerald T. Evans who was instrumental in the field of Laboratory Medicine after its significant growth following World War II. Evans helped to establish laboratory medicine M.D. and Ph.D. programs, and while he retired prior to the founding of ACLPS, his impact on the field is still felt to this day. Ellis Benson was the first pathologist to train under Evans.
Marques retired from the Department of Pathology on July 31, 2023, after 30 years of service at UAB. A devoted educator and mentor and prolific clinician and researcher, Marques’ impact, like Evans’, is still felt in the Department of Pathology daily. She joined UAB as a resident in anatomic and clinical pathology in 1994 and completed her fellowship in hematopathology in 1998 before joining the faculty as assistant professor in the Division of Laboratory Medicine. Marques was promoted to associate professor in 2004 and to professor in 2008.
In the clinical setting, Marques is particularly interested in improving appropriateness of utilization of blood products and laboratory tests. She has received the UAB Hospital Award of Excellence in Care, Innovation Award in Blood Management, and Top-Rated Hospital Medical Director Award. In addition, Marques received the Lecturer and the Presidential Award from ASFA, the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Management Sciences and Patient Safety from the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the Board of Certification’s Distinguished Service Award by the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) Board of Certification.
In addition to Leal and Marques, other members from the Department of Pathology were in attendance, including Filipe Cerqueira, Chad Siniard, Forest Huls, Ashleigh Reigler, Lucas Lam and Sawanan “Por” Saitornuang. Saitornuang, a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Leal, received an ACLPS Young Investigator Award.
Founded in 1966, ACLPS is dedicated to advancing the profession of laboratory medicine by promoting the highest standards of education, research and practice. The organization has 70 active affiliations with academic and community training centers, focusing on training pathology residents in clinical pathology.