INDIANAPOLIS
– Dawn R. Wagenknecht, MS, CHS, has been named the recipient of the 2015
Outstanding Technologist Award by the American Society for Histocompatibility
& Immunogenetics (ASHI).
Wagenknecht,
manager of the HLA-Vascular Biology
Laboratory at
Franciscan St. Francis Health, is recognized for her outstanding contributions
in her field, ASHI officials said. The work she and others perform in their lab
supports services provided at the hospital’s
Indiana Blood and Marrow Transplantation program – the first of its kind to treat blood cancer in Indiana.
An Indianapolis resident, Wagenknecht joined the HLA lab in 1999 and has
been involved in numerous clinical and research projects during her career. She
was science adviser for the team, led by
her late husband Dr. John McIntyre, which pioneered Redox-Reactive Reagents.
They developed a tool kit that enhanced the standards for diagnosing autoimmune
diseases and new biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, and future risk
assessments for cancer and diabetes.
Widely published in professional journals and a frequent lecturer on
topics in her field, Wagenknecht has been recognized in the past for her
research, including a Young Investigator Award presented by the International
Symposium on Antiphospholipid Antibodies.
Wagenknecht will be presented with the Outstanding Technologist Award at
ASHI’s annual meeting in Savannah, Georgia next October.
Wagenknecht received her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Southern
Illinois University and later earned her master’s in biology from Purdue
University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in oral biology at the
Indiana University School of Dentistry.
ASHI is a not-for-profit association of
clinical and research professionals including immunologists, geneticists,
molecular biologists, transplant physicians and surgeons, pathologists and
technologists.
