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Charles D. Hawker, Ph.D., MBA, FACB
Professor (Adjunct) of Pathology
Charles D. Hawker, Ph.D., MBA, FACB
Titles:
- 2002-present, Scientific Director, Automation and Special Projects, ARUP Laboratories
- 1996-2002, Director of Special Projects, ARUP Laboratories
- 1992-96, Vice President for Logistics, ARUP Laboratories
- 1981-91, Technical Director and other positions, SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories, St. Louis, Missouri
- 1971-81, Laboratory Director, Laboratory Procedures Esoteric Center, Upjohn Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan|
- 1971-81, Manager, Research & Development, and other positions, Laboratory Procedures Division, Upjohn Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan
About Charles D. Hawker, Ph.D., MBA, FACB
Dr. Hawker has been at ARUP for more than 19 years. He has developed several significant and unique automated systems that have made ARUP arguably the most automated clinical laboratory in North America. These systems include an automated transport and sorting system with capacity for 5000 specimens per hour, a two-story, all-robotic freezer storage system that holds more than 2.3 million specimens, any one of which can be retrieved in under 2.5 minutes, and the world’s first automated thawing and mixing workcell (of which there are now two at ARUP). He is currently investigating machine vision technologies for automated quality inspection of laboratory specimens. Prior to working in laboratory automation, Dr. Hawker was well known for having the first widely-available radioimmunoassay for parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the U.S. His laboratory also did the first research that lead to the discovery of procalcitonin and its role as a marker for septic shock.
Dr. Hawker is a past President of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB), the Clinical Ligand Assay Society (CLAS), and the Association of Clinical Scientists (ACS). He served two terms as Secretary of NACB and is the current Secretary of the ACS. He has received the Professor Alvin Dubin Award from the NACB for contributions to the profession and to the Academy, the Becton Dickinson Award from the Association for Laboratory Automation, the John Bergen Award of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and a Diploma of Honor from the ACS. He has chaired automation committees in both CLSI and Health Level 7 and currently serves on the CLSI Area Committee for Automation and Informatics. He is also Chair of a CLSI Subcommittee to develop a standard for Specimen Labels. He is a co-author or author of four book chapters on clinical laboratory automation and is a frequent lecturer at national and international conferences.
Selected Publications
- Hawker CD, Roberts WL, DaSilva A, Stam GD, Owen WE, Curtis D, Choi B-S, and Ring TA, 2007. Development and Validation of an Automated Thawing and Mixing Workcell. Clin Chem 53(12): 2209-11.
- Hawker CD, Garr SB, Hamilton LT, Penrose JR, Ashwood ER, and Weiss RL, 2002. Automated transport and sorting system in a large reference laboratory: Part 1. Evaluation of needs and alternatives and development of a plan. Clin Chem 48(10):1751-1760.
- Hawker CD, Roberts WL, Garr SB, Hamilton LT, Penrose JR, Ashwood ER, and Weiss RL, 2002. Automated transport and sorting system in a large reference laboratory: Part 2. Implementation of the system and performance measures over three years. Clin Chem 48(10):1761-7.
- Boyd JC and Hawker CD, 2006. Automation in the clinical laboratory. In Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, Fourth Edition (CA Burtis, ER Ashwood, DE Bruns, Editors), Saunders Elsevier, St. Louis, MO, p. 265-297.
- Boyd JC and Hawker CD, 2007. Automation in the clinical laboratory. In Tietz Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry, Sixth Edition (CA Burtis, ER Ashwood, DE Bruns, Editors), Saunders Elsevier, St. Louis, MO, 171-187.
- Hawker CD, 2007. Laboratory automation: total and subtotal. In Laboratory Management, (RC Friedberg, RL Weiss, Editors), Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, 27(4): 749-770.
- All Publications: Click Here
Honors and Awards
- W.E. Upjohn Prize Award, 1979
- Clinical Chemists Recognition Award, 1980
- Distinguished Service Award, 1998, Clinical Ligand Assay Society
- Becton Dickinson Award, 2000, Association for Laboratory Automation
- Outstanding Speaker Awards, 2000 and 2007, American Association for Clinical Chemistry
- Professor Alvin Dubin Award, 2005, National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry
Professional Education
- B.A., 1962, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, (Chemistry)
- M.S., 1965, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, (Biochemistry)
- Ph.D., 1967, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, (Biochemistry)
- 1967-69, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biochemistry (Howard Rasmussen, M.D., Ph.D.)
- 1969-71, University of Pennsylvania, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, (Robert D. Utiger, M.D.)
- M.B.A., 1985, Washington University, St. Louis, MO (Executive MBA Program – Class I)