In a strong field of nominations, Mia Evangelista of the Pathology Services Core received the award for technical achievement, Edison Floyd in the Pathology Service Core received the customer service award, and Paige Schmadeke in the BioSpecimen Processing Facility received the performance excellence award.
The UNC Core Facilities Staff Recognition Award program recognized three recipients for the 2022 fall award cycle: Mia Evangelista, Edison Floyd and Paige Schmadeke. Each award recipient will receive $1,000 and a feature on the Office of Research Technologies website. The program review committee congratulates all winners and thanks those who nominated core employees for these awards during this award cycle.
Mia Evangelista, employed in the Pathology Services Core, was recognized as the winner of the Technical Achievement Award for her work as a histotechnologist. Her multiple nominators spoke highly of critical protocol modifications she made to facilitate COVID-19 research and that she has been a critical component in the core’s optimization of immunohistochemistry protocols for multiple PIs. Nominations came from core leadership and several of the core’s customers and all spoke of her dedication and problem-solving skills in the lab.
Also from the Pathology Services Core, Edison Floyd was recognized as the winner of the Customer Service Award for the support he provides to the core’s customers who utilize the GeoMx platform which has required extensive, customized troubleshooting to ensure projects stay on their timeline and coordinating transfers of samples and data to other core facilities. Floyd has continually gone above duty to adjust his schedule and the timeline of sample processing to ensure optimal results for his customers. Additionally, Floyd supervisors spoke to how his successful management, coordination and prioritization of samples for clinical trials, has been a significant asset to the lab’s operations.
Finally, Paige Schmadeke from the BioSpecimen Processing Facility was the winner of the Performance Excellence Award. Schmadeke’s supervisor spoke to how much she depends on Schmadeke to keep the lab running smoothly no matter the obstacles. From staff shortages to COVID restrictions to supply chain issues, Schmadeke has ensured that the core could meet the needs of the customer and done so while demonstrating teamwork and leadership.
There were many nominations for this fall’s award cycle, all of which are doing outstanding work in their respective core facilities: Carolyn Suitt (CGIBD Histology), John Easterbrook (NORC), Madison Schroder (NORC Metabolomics Core), Craig Sykes (CFAR Clinical Pharmacology and Analytical Chemistry), Julia Portecarrero (Translational Genomics Lab), Linda Pluta (Vironomics Core), Gabrielle Cannon (Advanced Analytics Core), Diane Wallace (Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Core).