October Faculty and Staff Features

Kimberly Sanford, M.D., FASCP, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine

Sanford, assistant professor of pathology, and associate medical director of transfusion medicine and medical director for an outpatient laboratory at the VCU Medical Center, is the recipient of a Mastership Designation from the American Society for Clinical Pathology – an honor that recognizes exceptional members who have made significant contributions, not only to the field of pathology and laboratory medicine, but also to the ASCP.

Sanford has been dedicated to teaching and research, and advancing the field of pathology. She credits having exceptional mentors like David S. Wilkinson, M.D., FASCP, for guidance through her career. In 1995, when Sanford was a medical laboratory scientist, she helped launch a successful client services division for the VCU Department of Pathology.

For years, she has been actively involved with American Society for Clinical Pathology, serving in a number of leadership roles on several of its committees. Sanford has been a member of the ASCP since 1991, after she passed her certification examination as a medical laboratory scientist. She serves on the editorial review of ASCP’s monthly magazine for laboratory professionals called LabMedicine.

Sanford was presented with this honor during the welcome luncheon and scientific keynote address on October 20 during the ASCP Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kathleen Graber, assistant professor, Department of English, College of Humanities & Sciences

Graber, who teaches in the Creative Writing Program at VCU, received the 2011 Library of Virginia Literary Award for Poetry for her most recent collection, “The Eternal City.” The Library of Virginia praised the book, saying it “suggests the miraculous in ordinary human experience, exploring the interplay among the personal, historical and philosophical.” “The Eternal City” earlier was named a finalist for both the National Book Awards and the National Book Critics Circle Awards. Graber’s Library of Virginia honor included a $3,500 prize and a handsome engraved crystal book.

Deborah Slayden, VCU Health System Workforce Development and Strategy

Deborah Slayden, director of Workforce Development and Strategy at the VCU Health System, has received the 2011 Human Strategist of Year Award from the Richmond Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The award aims to recognize outstanding Human Resources practitioners for strategic accomplishments within their organization. 

Slayden was nominated based on her leadership and implementation of the “VCUHS H.O.P.E. Initiative.” The H.O.P.E. Initiative, implemented in 2005, is a five-year strategic plan intended to make lasting and meaningful changes in the lives of employees, while contributing to the vitality of the surrounding community. Through Slayden’s initiative, VCU Health System employees have access to tuition assistance, housing assistance programs, in-house childcare and much more.

Along with the award, Slayden also received a $2,500 educational grant to be used to advance her strategic HR knowledge, skills and abilities. The award was presented at Richmond SHRM’s 2011 Strategic Leadership Conference.

Sarah Kye Price, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Social Work

Price presented research on postpartum depression at the 21st National Institute of Mental Health Conference on Mental Health Services Research in July in Washington, D.C.
Price discussed research at VCU into how social workers and other health care providers can be motivated to promote treatment for postpartum depression.

More about Price’s research and her perspective of the conference was also featured in the October edition of the National Institute of Mental Health’s monthly newsletter.

Price’s research interests and teaching focuses include women’s mental health during and around the time of pregnancy, reproductive and perinatal loss, community-informed approaches to mental health service delivery, social and cultural responses to reproductive loss and bereavement, social work in maternal and child health settings, fetal and infant mortality risk reduction and community-based participatory research.

David S. Wilkinson, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology

Wilkinson, chair of the Department of Pathology in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, has been recognized by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for more than 30 years of dedication to the improvement of laboratory performance and management.
Wilkinson was awarded the “CAP Distinguished Service Award” at a special CAP ceremony held in Dallas in September. His contributions include the advancement of the practice of molecular diagnostics, the advancement of the practice of medical laboratory management and his many years spent mentoring pathology residents, fellows and faculty.

The College of American Pathologists is a medical society serving more than 17,000 physician members and the laboratory community throughout the world. It is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of board-certified pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. The College is an advocate for high-quality and cost-effective patient care.