February 23, 2010

Cesar Collins

Director Técnico de Laboratorio - CEQUIMAP

Coordinador Área Salud - CEQUIMAP

Facultad de Ciencias Químicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Dr. Collins,

As you may already know, the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry and the International Clinical Cytometry Society are developing an international certification program for cytometry. We have previously carried out a Market Analysis that found strong evidence for a need for such a certification, and that there was a significant body of knowledge required by all cytometrists, from basic research to clinical practice and from flow cytometry to image cytometry. We are therefore currently engaged in the next step of the process of creating the certification, a Role Delineation (or Practice Analysis) Study that seeks to identify the specific tasks and knowledge required by cytometrists. The heart of the Role Delineation study is a two-day, in person meeting of a panel of subject matter experts to create a survey for this purpose.

Based on your outstanding credentials and accomplishments within the field, we would like to invite you to participate in this meeting. It will be held from 9 am March 29, 2010 through 3 pm March 30, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. All travel, hotel and meal expenses for panel members will be covered. Please let us know by 5:00 pm EDT on February 24 whether you are able to participate.

The subject matter experts will represent all disciplines of cytometry and different geographic regions. The survey that will be created will then be submitted for approval by another group of experts. If you are not able to participate in the March 29-30 meeting, please let us know whether you would be willing to participate in this second panel of experts. The latter review will be conducted by email and web conferencing. The final survey will be submitted to the memberships of ISAC and CCS, as well as volunteers from affiliated societies and regional cytometry groups. A final list of required competencies will be generated from the survey responses, and used to create an initial certification exam.

We hope that you share our view of the importance of certification in improving the standards of practice in cytometry and expanding the role of cytometry in biomedical research and practice. We believe that becoming certified will also be a major aid to the careers of cytometrists.

We look forward to your participation in this important mission, and thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Bob Murphy, President, ISAC and Brent Wood, President, ICCS