Mary Signaigo (President)
Mary Signaigo is the Clinical Lab Educator for the Blood Bank at Mercy Hospital St. Louis. Her primary role as CLE is to teach college students or graduates with a Bachelor of Science the clinical requirement for obtaining MLS certification. Mary is also responsible for all procedures, training, audits and competencies for the Blood Donor Services and Transfusion Services departments. Mary was born and raised in St. Louis but went to college at Avila University in Kansas City then lived in Dallas and Austin, Texas before returning to her hometown. Flexibility is one benefit of being an MLS.
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Shay Jones (Past President)
Shay Jones received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana and his Medical Technologist training from St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, Indiana. Upon completion of Medical Technology training, he was hired on as an Immunohematologist at Community Blood Center. Shay has broadened his training to include training as a genomics tech at the National Center for Blood Group Genomics. Shay is also the Kansas City Education Coordinator where he enjoys passing on knowledge to CLS students and pathology residents. He has presented numerous case studies at HAABB. In his free time, Shay enjoys spending time with his wife and his dog Gracie, watching movies, reading, and taking on house projects throughout the year.
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Carrie Easley (President Elect)
Carrie Easley received her degree in medical laboratory science from the University of Kansas
Medical Center in 1999, and has been with Stormont Vail Health since
2009. Her current role as Laboratory Manager of Quality & Transfusion
Safety gives her the opportunity to work with professionals from all over our
facility. She passed the SBB exam by the experience route in 2022 and is currently in the Masters of Transfusion Medicine program at the University of
Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Carrie serves as a volunteer assessor for
both the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies and the
College of American Pathologists. She has special interests in patient
blood management and caring for the critically ill and massively hemorrhaging patient.
Carrie and her hisband have lived in Lawrence, KS for 25 years with their five children. She enjoys reading, gardening, playing wiht their gold retrievers, and trips to the beach.
Carrie and her husband have lived in Lawrence, KS for 25 years with their five children. She enjoys reading, gardening, playing with their golden retrievers, and trips to the beach. Carrie and her husband have lived in Lawrence, KS for 25 years with their five children. She enjoys reading, gardening, playing with their golden retrievers, and trips to the beach.
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Kathryn Harrsion (Vice President)
Kathryn Harrison graduated from Wichita State University with her
degree in Medical Technology. She started her MT career working for
Midwest Transplant Network for 10 years. She then worked for the American
Red Cross for 16 years as a an IRL technologist and then as the IRL Manager in
Wichita, Kansas. She currently works for WellSky as a Clinical
Consultant, a position that provides implementation support for hospitals that
purchased WellSky Transfusion software. In her free time, she
enjoys spending time with her family and friends boating and camping. She
also loves traveling to almost anywhere.
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Gabe Metzler (Secretary)Gabe Metzler received an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the
University of Kansas in 2008, followed by an undergraduate degree in Clinical
Laboratory Science from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 2010.
He performed his clinical rotations at Children’s Mercy Hospital and was hired on
full time upon completion of the program. Gabe worked 3 years as a
generalist on night shift before moving to day shift blood bank full
time. He completed the UTMB online SBB program in 2016 and was briefly
promoted to Blood Bank Senior Technologist prior to being promoted again to
Blood Bank Supervisor, which is the role he is currently serving. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his dog, traveling, reading, watching
sports and movies, and his newest hobby is homebrewing beer (under the guidance
of Brew Master Brian Easley!)
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Brian Easley (Treasurer)Brian Easley received an
undergraduate degree in Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of
Kansas Medical Center in 2008. He performed his clinical rotations at
Heartland Regional Medical Center (now mosaic) in St. Joseph Missouri and was hired
on full time upon completion of the program. Brian worked 1 year as a
generalist on evening shift before moving to Kansas City where he was hired
full time at Saint Luke’s Northland on the night shift, but continued PRN at
Heartland for many years. While working nights at Saint Luke’s, Brian completed
his Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) from Park University. Wanting a
change of pace he then accepted a position on nights at Children’s Mercy
Hospital for 3 years before becoming the coordinator of the Broadway laboratory
for Children’s Mercy Clinics. Missing Blood Bank, Brian accepted the Blood Bank
Supervisor position at Truman Medical Center for 2 years before returning to
Saint Luke’s Health System as the Blood Bank Manager at the Plaza. He completed
the UTMB online SBB program in 2021 after being in awe of his staff’s
knowledge. Brian has been with his wife since they were teenagers, they
have been married for 14 years and enjoy traveling and reading Harry Potter
with their twin 8 year old daughters. In his free time Brian likes to homebrew
beer, and is always accepting new students!
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Randi Anderson (Member at Large)Randi Anderson received her undergraduate degree in Medical Laboratory
Sciences in 2017 from Wichita State University. She began her career as an MLS
at Denver Health Hospital as a night shift generalist, and the next year
accepted a day position with St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, CO. She spent
three years here working as a generalist and expanding into the roles of
Chemistry Lead and, later, Blood Bank Lead before accepting a position as the
Laboratory Supervisor at a sister hospital, St. Anthony North in Westminster,
CO. She completed her MBA online with Wichita State University in March of 2021
and in March of 2022 moved back home to Wichita, KS after accepting a position
as Blood Bank Lead to help stand up an in-house Blood Bank department at Kansas
Heart Hospital, where she still currently works. In her free time, Randi enjoys
spending time with her husband, daughter (soon to be two daughters!), and dog
at the lake or reading a good book on her back deck.
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Michelle Burgin (Member at Large) Michelle
Burgin received her certification as a MLT from Michigan Paraprofessional
Training institute from Romulus Michigan in 1986. She was a certified MLT through AMT for about
3 years. After which she was eligible to
test for her MT certification. In
January of 1991 she decided to return to school to work towards her Bachelor’s
degree. She received a Bachelor’s degree
in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from University of Central Missouri in
Warrensburg Missouri in May 1997. She
has worked at Bothwell Regional Health Center since December 1986 except for 3
years from May 1997-July 2000 where she worked at Capital Region Medical
Center. She returned to Bothwell in July
of 2000. She took the Specialist in
Blood Banking (SBB) course through Gulf Coast School of Blood Bank Technology
sponsored by Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston TX in 2008. She has been certified as a SBB since August
of 2009. She has served on the board of
HAABB since 2010 holding various positions including Secretary,
Member-at-Large, Vice President and President.
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Natalie Malvik (Member at Large)Natalie Malvik, MD, MPH completed medical school at Southern
Illinois School of Medicine, and completed both her Clinical Pathology
residency and Transfusion Medicine/Blood Banking fellowship at the University
of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She is currently the medical director of
Transfusion Medicine Services and the Blood Bank for SSM Health Saint Louis
University Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, as
well as teaching in the Department of Pathology at Saint Louis University
School of Medicine. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her
family, as well as traveling and sewing.
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Marvin Twenter (Member at Large)
Marvin's path to becoming a medical laboratory scientist was somewhat circuitous. After living and working in Oklahoma and Texas as a manager/district manager for a lumber company, he and his wife decided to move back home to central Missouri to be near family. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a minor in chemistry, as well as a bachelor’s in Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of Missouri in Columbia. He received 10 plus years of great experience in transfusion medicine and coagulation studies working with wonderful people at University Hospital and Women’s and Children’s Hospital, employed first as an American Red Cross employee and then a University of Missouri employee. Two years ago, he “moved across the street” where he serves our veteran’s as the supervisor of transfusion services and the immunology laboratory at the Truman VA Medical Center. He also oversees the surgical pathology report process at that institution as well as working with Clinical Laboratory Science students. He and his wife, Sharon, enjoy spending time with their five children, but even more so with their grandchildren. Marvin is an active member of his parish, as well as the Knights of Columbus where he is a 4th Degree member and serves in the Honor Guard. He enjoys golf, woodworking and helping family, friends and neighbors with their construction projects.
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Max VanKirk (Member at Large)Max VanKirk received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Kansas State University. After college, he moved back to Kansas City and worked for several years as a veterinary technician at a local animal shelter before enrolling in the Saint Luke's CLS program in 2015. He spent one year on night shift at Saint Lukes before moving to his current full time blood bank position in 2017. Outside of work, when not being abused by their two cats, he enjoys spending time with his wife, lots of reading, watching baseball, and fencing. He is also etremely passionate about paleontology and has participated in amateur dinosaur digs in North Dakota for several years.
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Dr. Zhan Ye (Member at Large)
Zhan Ye, MD PhD completed medical school at Zhengzhou University Medical College in China. He received his PhD and pathology residency training at the University of Kentucky. He joined Department of Pathology of the University of Kansas in 2017 after finished fellowship training in Transfusion Medicine at University of Pittsburg Medical Center. He is currently Medical Director of KU Health System and associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of KUMC. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, gardening, fencing and classic music.
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David Harsh (Vendor Representative)
David started with Community Blood Center in January of 2015 in the PTL/PCL lab. He then transferred to the Component Lab where he worked as a Component Lab Tech and later became a Component Lab Supervisor. From there, David transferred to Quality Systems as a Training Specialist where he trained in both the Component Lab and Distribution. Currently, David serves as the Manager of the Distribution/Hospital Services department overseeing 14 staff on 3 shifts. David has had the opportunity to serve on many projects at CBC with the most recent being, working with Air Ambulance services to perform transfusion in flight. In his spare time, David enjoys kayaking, sporting clays, watching football, especially the Chiefs, and spending time with his wife and kids. .
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Craig Jackson (Vendor Representative)Craig Jackson received his bachelor’s degree from Southeast Missouri State University and has been involved in Blood Banking since 2010. Craig’s first role with the Red Cross was in Donor Recruitment, where he was in charge of the University of Missouri Homecoming blood drive. This is one of the largest blood drives in the United States collecting over 4000 units at each drive. In his current role with the Red Cross, he is a Senior Account Manager working with hospital across the state or Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with family and friends, golf and traveling.
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Jennifer Jung (Webmaster)
Jennifer Jung graduated from St. Louis University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. While earning her degree, she did her blood bank clinical rotation at the American Red Cross Immunohematology Reference Laboratory (IRL) where she fell love with blood bank. After graduation, she returned to the Red Cross and began her blood bank career as a medical technologist on the evening shift. She has worked her way through the ranks to her current position as IRL Supervisor. She enjoys the variety of work and interesting cases that the IRL allows her to experience on a daily basis.
Jennifer was asked to join the HAABB Board of Directors in 2002. She has served on the board since then and has had the pleasure of serving in every role of the board except vendor representative at least once.
In her spare time she enjoys watching the many sports played by her only son, BBQing with her hubby, baking cookies, traveling and capturing moments in pictures.
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