Golden LEAF Helps ECU Grow Pipeline Of Clinical Laboratory Scientists

• Nearly $1M inGolden LEAF funding supports expansion of ECU’s clinical laboratory science program.
• This program helps address a workforceneed in North Carolina, where vacant laboratory positions are high.

Clinical laboratory scientists can be described as “behind the scenes” healthcare professionals, yet are essential to patient care.

“Think about every time you go to the doctor and get your blood drawn, or you give a sample for anything, somebody looks at that,” said East Carolina University senior Aubrey Cagle, a Pinehurst native majoring in clinical laboratory science. “When you check your patient portal and there’s all kinds of results in it, a clinical laboratory scientist or somebody in the lab looked at it and is the reason why you get all that information. Doctors, without us, can’t guide a diagnosis.”

A $2.9M award from the Golden LEAF Foundation to ECU, approved Oct. 1 by the Golden LEAF Board of Directors, includes nearly $1M for the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science. Funds will be used to expand and enhance the program’s current lab spaces and resources, creating a new, professional simulation laboratory experience for students.

Funding also will enable the College of Health and Human Sciences to increase enrollment in each clinical laboratory science cohort from 16 up to 24 students.

“We will essentially replicate the types of equipment that our students will encounter in a clinical setting,” said Dr. Guyla Evans, chair of the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science.

Golden LEAF’s total funding to ECU in 2025 and 2026 now equals $3,947,346 to support the new Center for Medical Education and for Brody School of Medicine and related programs, like clinical laboratory science, to expand medical education and healthcare workforce training efforts.

“There is a workforce need for these professionals in eastern North Carolina, and we have more students who want to study clinical laboratory science than we can accommodate,” said Dr. Nicole Bromfield, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. “Golden LEAF’s support will help us accept more of these students into the CLS program. We are grateful for this partnership.”

The 2024 American Society for Clinical Pathology Vacancy Survey revealed the South Central Atlantic region, which includes North Carolina, had the highest percentage of vacant laboratory positions, at 19.8%.

Most years, ECU graduates in clinical laboratory science who seek employment have a 100% job placement rate. Many of them secure employment before graduation.

“Increasing the number of our graduates will have a significant impact on the laboratory workforce here in North Carolina,” Evans said.

Clinical laboratory science students can build on their strong foundation in biology and chemistry. Graduates are eligible to take nationally recognized certification examinations.

While developing the skills needed to succeed professionally, students envision the impact they can make in local and rural communities.

“It is a very unseen, overlooked career base, which gives me the motivation to get out there and to help this program grow,” said Gabrielle Rinaldi, a dual degree student in biology and clinical laboratory science. “Whether you’re in a hospital or a lab, it all wraps back around to patient-centered care. That’s really the motivation, to help people every single day. You can go so many ways, because there’s research and patient care and other ways to go with it, but amid it all, we are all helping and leading to the proper diagnosis to help any single patient.”