The Michigan Society of Histotechnologists will host the 1999 Annual Meeting, 
June 18th & 19th, at The Holiday Inn West in Lansing. This years program 
features a record number of new presenters giving new lectures & workshops! 

Marla Bigelow from Labconco will be lecturing on laboratory safety and Peggy 
Wenk, Histology Education Coordinator at Wm. Beaumont, will follow with a 
real-life experience of a laboratory that does not meet air and water 
compliance levels! Joan Vesey,  technical specialist at Richard Allan 
Scientific, will share her wealth of troubleshooting knowledge. David Tacha, 
Director of Research and Development at BioCare Medical, will teach us the 
molecular biology and nomenclature of cancer; and, in a second workshop, 
relate the 4 major antibody categories to their antibody panels. If you have 
an unquenchable appetite for immunohistochemistry, Kathleen Dittrich from 
Dako Inc. will give a wet workshop utilizing the HercepTest™ assay, the much 
acclaimed test for qualifying patients for Herceptin™ therapy in the 
treatment of breast cancer. 

We will also have a smorgasbord of staining workshops. MSH secretary Paula 
Bober and Membership Chair, Sandy Wilkins from HPA Labs, will give their NSH 
bound workshop “Bugs of the 90’s”. Participants will learn to identify 
microorganisms particularly relevant today (Pneumocystis, Listeria, 
Helicobacter), the stains that demonstrate them and how to troubleshoot for 
increased staining proficiency. Dick Dapson, Anatech Ltd. President and MSH 
treasurer, will give us a new perspective on how and why dyes stain! In our 
traditional “Basic Lecture Series”, Christine Kulas, MSH Study Guide Chair, 
from HPA Laboratories, will refresh our H&E troubleshooting skills! Also, in 
the basic series, Jaime Gandhi from Mt. Carmel in Ohio, will discuss 
processing, while Peggy Wenk guides us through fixation. 

Skip Brown from Lab Management Consultants, will explore the changing role of 
the health care professional in today's lab. Need a lab math refresher 
course? Wendy Bilpuch (look for her as Wendy Edgett on the program) from 
Genesys Regional Medical Center and Rachel Kropf, from William Beaumont 
Hospital, have just what you are looking for. Their workshop, “Lab Math for 
Today's Histotech”, will cover all the basics for successful (and effortless, 
they claim) laboratory math functions. Calculators (or extra fingers and 
toes) recommended for this one! 

We think you'll agree that it features a pretty impressive selection. Join us 
for this wonderful weekend of education, product review (visit the vendors!), 
and fun! 

Program brochures are in the mail. If you do not receive one in the next week 
(but want one!) please contact me at 616-964-6450 or DWolfe6632@aol.com