Perry Scanlan, MLS (ASCP) CM & Ginger

My name is Perry Scanlan and I am a Professor and Program Director of the Phlebotomy and Medical Laboratory Science program at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN.

I completed the Clinical Laboratory Science program at the University of Wisconsin- Madison where I worked with wonderful faculty (you know who you are, you all are so appreciated) and Dr. J. Westgard. I am an ASCP certified MLS. As you may know my program had to close to make room for programs within the medical school despite is size and full classes. I have been a laboratory professional for over 20 years working, teaching, and researching in areas like microbiology, parasitology, and virology areas. A special shout out to the Mayo Clinic that gave me lots of opportunities in my young career.

The wonderful people I met in the laboratory are still my friends today. Some are still there, some are university faculty, and some are working in biotechnology! One even participated in a Mars demonstration project in the Utah desert. My work eventually led me to a PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago where I worked with another group of amazing scientists on Herpes Simplex Virus Entry. If there is one thing I have learned its to enjoy each stop in life the victories and the defeats because you don’t know how long you will be there or how much time you will get with your friends and colleagues.

There are lots of interesting things about me. I am a Green Bay Packer fan so this is about the time of year I get a gut punch (fortunately I am already over this year’s loss). I am a husband and father to a fantastic wife and children. My wife is a nurse so we often have lots of conversations including a few that we have to agree to disagree. All this being said I think I have converted her to a laboratory supporter! My children are growing up too fast and are now fantastic students and athletes (soccer and basketball).  I love all things microbiology and immunology, so COVID-19 has been equal parts interesting and tragic as we work to protect our students, professionals, faculty, staff.

As a mildly disabled (I hesitate to even use that term) laboratory professional I have overcome some physical issues in my life. I was a premature baby (under 3 pounds), at the time about 2 pounds was the limit for babies to survive so I was one of the lucky ones. I still have some balance and issues with walking normally but I have adapted well. Fortunately I had a loving family, great friends growing up, and athletics to help be live a normal life. It wasn’t always easy, other young kids generally do not understand how to relate and respect those with hardships. This does help me relate to patients that depend on us for proper diagnosis and treatment. I also relate to those professionals that struggle through bias whether that is intentional (they do not believe you can perform the work) or unintentional through unconscious bias. I can say that throughout my career it’s been difficult at times when you are not disabled enough for people to consider you disabled, yet it is obvious enough that there is an unconscious bias. All of these things considered, I have achieved so much through determination, great colleagues, and the support of numerous professional organizations and societies. I would encourage everyone to support professional societies and some of our organizations specializing in lab humor. We all need a few minutes to laugh with those that get the inside jokes. 

Some of the funniest times as a professional were when we would open a stool sample for parasitology within our laboratory or in the biological safety cabinet and it would clear out the entire lab. In fact our newer professionals were instructed to open the stool container in the biological safety cabinet away from the sash.  Unfortunately it was almost a rite of passage that professionals would forget to point it away and the gas build up within the container would cause an explosion upon opening the top. A change of lab coat/clothing only had to happen one time before you never did that again! Another funny example, as an educator was when I played lab Jeopardy! with my students. In order to buzz in student teams had to hit me with an eraser. Students loved taking out their frustration with the erasers but unfortunately I discontinued this practice after I was hit in sensitive areas one too many times!

My dog Ginger is an 11 year old Shar-pei, and she is a special dog. How could anyone not want to take this cute bundle of joy home from our friend’s house when they had puppies! This is an excellent picture of her with all those wrinkles.

When we brought her home she fit in the palm of our hand. This might be a good time to mention that Shar-Pei are endangered so keeping these wonderful dogs in our lives is important. 

While not super social with other people or animals she takes great care of her family. She is always on alert for a guest at our door, a package delivery, or the occasional squirrel or deer eating the acorns from our big oak tree in the front yard. As many of you know, Shar-Pei have wrinkles and loose skin and can be couch potatoes. She has been a great companion and is always up for snuggles or catching some sun in our window. 

A few years ago Ginger was throwing up and very sick. We took her to the vet where we noticed her liver enzymes were elevated. She was not doing well so we performed an ultrasound and determined that there was a mass on her liver. We decided to approve exploratory surgery to save her life. During the surgery it was discovered that she has a hemangioma/hemangiosarcoma. That day they removed the tumor, a lobe of her liver, and her spleen. We didn’t know if she would make it. This is Ginger after her surgery.  After IDEXX received the biopsy material that fell apart during extraction, it was inconclusive on whether it was benign or malignant.

Today we are lucky, several years later Ginger’s liver enzymes are normal, she is healthy, and we are enjoying our extra time with her. She greets us every day when we come home at the top of our stairs with tail wags so big her entire rear end is moving from side to side. She is happy to give you as many kisses as you can tolerate.