The board of directors of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) has approved the name change of the award “Outstanding Contribution for a Publication in the Journal Clinical Chemistry” to “The Sigi Ziering Award for Outstanding Contribution for a Publication in the Journal Clinical Chemistry.” Sponsored by DPC, the award is given in recognition of the paper published in the AACC’s journal Clinical Chemistry, during the preceding calendar year, that most significantly advances clinical laboratory science and laboratory medicine. The award consists of a plaque and $5,000 in cash.

Dr. Sigi Ziering, former CEO and Chairman of the Board of DPC, passed away in November of 2000. The AACC board warmly and unanimously embraced the renaming of the award as a small way of recognizing Dr. Ziering’s many years of support and contributions to the field.

This year’s award recipient is Michel G. Bergeron, M.D. of Laval University, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada. Dr. Bergeron founded that institution's Infectious Diseases Research Centre, and founded and currently serves as chairman of the board of Infectio Diagnostic Inc. (IDI). His publication, chosen for the award, is titled “Development of conventional and real-time PCR assays for the rapid detection of group B streptococci” and appeared in the March 2000 issue of Clinical Chemistry. Representatives of DPC and the AACC presented the award at a special dinner following the plenary session of the AACC annual meeting in Chicago.