Lifetime Achievement Award

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Reilly H. Stewart

Title: R&D
Industry: Research and Development/Diagnostic Devices
Type of Organization: Medical Service
Major Product/Service: Medical services, research and development
Expertise: Mr. Stewart has almost 40 years experience. He is responsible for research and development for human diagnostic products. He specializes in immunology. Mr. Stewart has been active in helping to create procedural documentation for diagnostic laboratory testing and submission of necessary FDA requirements for clearance of new diagnostic tests performed by both research and clinical laboratories. Mr. Stewart is responsible for leading teams that hold patient care with profound respect during the design and creation of Clinical Laboratory products and procedures to be used in diagnosis and monitoring of human disease. He enjoys writing, and has achieved successful diagnostic device submissions to the FDA and University grant requests awarded by the National Science Foundation.
Geographic Area of Distribution: California
University/Degree: B.S., Biology, Loyola Marymount University; Graduate Courses, Biochemistry and Physical Chemistry; Internship, Hospital Clinical Laboratory; Certified, American Red Cross, to teach Mountaineering Oriented Advanced First Aid
Born: October 17, 1958, Los Angeles, California
Hobbies/Sports: Backpacking
Spouse: Sandra Kathleen Stewart
Work History: Mr. Stewart began his career in the laboratory by alphabetically filing Pap smear reports for the Department of Pathology at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. While completing his degree, Mr. Stewart continued working in the laboratory preparing cytology and pathology samples for examination. After being admitted to a year-long internship and classroom program, he later obtained certification as a Medical Technologist recognized by the American Society for Clinical Pathology board of certification. Mr. Stewart has experience in clinical research performed at UCLA as a university designated as a participant in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study organized in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute of Health. This project was one of the first large-scale epidemiologic studies of transmission mechanisms for what was then identified as Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus III, now known as HIV. Mr. Stewart’s experience in the techniques of highly specific cell enumeration, used in the initial monitoring of HIV-positive patient wellness and prognosis, is also applicable to the study of hematologic malignancies. Mr. Stewart began his management career at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, and was able to assist with the diagnostic procedures to better tailor treatment for victims of leukemias, lymphomas, and bone marrow disorders. More recently, he was invited to join the Research and Development team at Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, now known as Becton Dickinson Biosciences in San Jose, California.
Career Accomplishments: Mr. Stewart has been challenged with health issues during his life, which he views as spiritual gifts to help reinforce his empathy with the patients who benefit from the diagnostic and monitoring tests he has assisted in developing. He was responsible very early for writing procedure manuals throughout the different laboratory disciplines. He has assisted in the leadership of efforts to prove a test useful for patient care, and has resumed his early career roles in authoring procedures and necessary quality control requirements to ensure accuracy.