Teaching Faculty
The Clinical Laboratory Science Program at Mayo Clinic has a dedicated faculty who educate, supervise and mentor our laboratory science students as they rotate through our clinical laboratories.

Your instructors are trained as clinical laboratory scientists and are chosen for their commitment to teaching as well as their clinical laboratory expertise and academic backgrounds.

Program Faculty

Kevin F. Foley, Ph.D., MT (ASCP)
Kevin earned his undergraduate degree in history and political science in 1996 and his Medical Technology certification in 1998. He then spent four years at East Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville North Carolina earning his PhD in clinical pharmacology. After one year as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Vermont, Kevin was appointed assistant professor in the department of Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences. After teaching clinical chemistry and pharmacology for four and a half years, Kevin came to Mayo to help develop our new Clinical Laboratory Science program. Kevin teaches immunology, analytical instrumentation and clinical chemistry. His research interests are in the fields of lipids, therapeutic drug monitoring, gastrointestinal disease and psychoactive drugs.

Sue Lehman, MA, MT (ASCP) SM
Sue graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1983 with a B.S. in medical technology. In 1991, she completed her masters degree in psychology and counseling services from Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. She worked as a medical technologist at Mayo Clinic in the Division of Clinical Microbiology for 10 years. Subsequent to this she became involved in education at the medical and allied health level and led the establishment of academic programs in clinical laboratory science in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. She has 15 years of teaching experience and is Program Director and also course director for Clinical Microbiology I and II. Her areas of interest are in distance education and education methodology.

Joseph P. McConnell, Ph.D., MT (ASCP)
Dr. McConnell graduated with a BS degree in Biology from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1987 and received his Medical Technology certification in 1988 from Hurley Medical Center in Flint Michigan. He then went to Cleveland State University for graduate work, obtaining a masters degree in Chemistry in 1990 and subsequently a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Chemistry in 1993. Following a 2 year fellowship in Clinical Chemistry at Mayo Clinic, Dr. McConnell moved to Indiana University Medical Center in 1995, where he was an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program and Associate Director of the Special Coagulation Laboratory. In 1998, Dr. McConnell returned to Mayo Clinic and is currently the Laboratory Director of Cardiovascular Laboratory Medicine and the Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program. His research interests are focused on the assessment of novel risk markers for cardiovascular disease and events.

Kelly Nelson, BS, MT (ASCP)
Kelly graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science in 2000. Kelly worked as a generalist in a small reference lab before joining Mayo Clinic in 2004 as Education Specialist for the hematopathology morphology laboratory. Currently she teaches hematology and hemostasis in the program. Kelly is completing her masters degree in Clinical Laboratory Science through the University of North Dakota.

Julie Freidhoff, MS, MT (ASCP)
Julie graduated with a BS in Health Science from Grand Valley State University in 2001 and received her Medical Technology certification in 2002 from Marshfield Clinic.  After working in the areas of bacteriology, virology and urinalysis, she continued her education at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.  Upon completion of her graduate degree in 2005, Julie joined Mayo clinic in the Central Clinical Laboratory where she became a chemistry resource technologist.  Currently, Julie teaches Urinalysis, Virology and facilitates the Quality Assurance/ Quality Control course.  She is an active member of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science- Minnesota (ASCLS-MN) by serving as the Webmaster. 

Adjunct Faculty

Amy Groszbach, BS, MLT (ASCP), CLSp(MB)
Amy graduated from the Mayo School of Health Sciences and Rochester Community College with a Medical Laboratory Technician degree in 1988. In 1993, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Biochemistry. She came to the Molecular Genetics Laboratory in 1993 where she worked as a clinical technologist for five years and a development technologist for one year prior to her appointment as Education Specialist II. Amy is director of our molecular diagnostics course. She is completing her Master of Education degree in Adult Education from the University of Minnesota.

Ruth Jacobsen, MA, CLS, CLPlb (NCA), MT & PBT (ASCP)
Ruth Jacobsen is a Quality Coordinator for Mayo Reference Services. Ruth has a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Arts in Management from Saint Mary's University. Ruth is also an Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine for College of Medicine.

Ruth has many years of experience as a medical technologist and has a wide variety of experience which includes working in a rural hospital, both small city and metropolitan hospitals, and an independent laboratory. For 10 years, Ruth was responsible for coordinating the training of a wide range of disciplines in phlebotomy skills which includes an in-house phlebotomy training program for phlebotomy hires at Mayo-Rochester, as well as students from Mayo School of Health Sciences and the Mayo Medical School.

Ruth continues her involvement with the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA) as a second level cognitive writer and reviewer of questions for the Phlebotomy Exam Committee, a past chair of the NCA Phlebotomy exam committee (2000-2003), chaired the NCA Phlebotomy Job Analysis committee (2004-2005), and servers on the judicial review committee.

Ruth has designed and taught both a 5 credit and a 2 credit phlebotomy course for Rochester Community and Technical College.

Loren Simpson, BA, BS
Loren graduated in 1986 from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota with a degree in biology and secondary education. He received a BS degree in elementary education from the University of Minnesota in 1991. He taught at both the elementary and high school level in Cannon Falls, MN for nine years. Loren began his career at Mayo Clinic in 2001 in the Molecular Genetics Laboratory. He is currently education specialist and teaches molecular diagnostics. Most of his time is devoted to training new clinical technologists and teaching allied health students, residents, and fellows.

Elaine Staley, BS, MT (ASCP)
Elaine graduated from Ferris State University with a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science in 1996. After graduation, Elaine became a Resource Coordinator for the Clinical Laboratory at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL until she was recruited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to work as a Senior Technical Specialist in the Surveys Department. While at CAP she served as the staff liaison for the Hematology/Clinical Microscopy Resource Committee, Reproductive Biology Resource Committee and Standards and Instrumentation Resource Committee. After five years, Elaine came to the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville and currently serves as the Laboratory Education Program Coordinator for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. Elaine is completing her master’s degree in Clinical Laboratory Science through Michigan State University. She has two years of education experience and is the adjunct faculty for the Renal Analysis curriculum. Her current projects include the CAP Color Atlas of Clinical Microscopy and GP31-P Laboratory Instrument Evaluation, Verification, and Maintenance. Elaine remains active with the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) by serving as the P.A.C.E. Coordinator for the Florida Society for Clinical Laboratory Science and is President Elect in 2009.

Transfusion Medicine, Education Resource Team (ERT)

Jeanne Derby, MA, BA
Jeanne's professional career has been focused on Transfusion Medicine. Her experience includes both technical and management positions in the field of blood banking. She started at Mayo Clinic as a medical laboratory technician, went on to become a medical technologist, and received a master's degree in Management in 2000. She has been working as an educator in Transfusion Medicine since 2005.

Melissa Gillis, BA, BB (ASCP)
Melissa graduated from Northwestern College (Iowa) in 1995 with a degree in Biology Health Professions and a chemistry minor. She has worked in Transfusion Medicine at Mayo since 1997, first as a transfusion service technologist, then as a lab trainer. Melissa joined ERT in 2006. She is currently working toward a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science.

Jennifer Talmo, BS, MT (ASCP)
Jennifer graduated from St. Cloud State University in 1983 with a B.S. in medical technology. Jennifer joined Mayo Clinic in 1983 and worked as a Reference Laboratory technologist in Transfusion Medicine before moving into a management position for Transfusion Laboratory. Jennifer is currently a member of the Education Resource Team for Transfusion Medicine and has been in an education role for Transfusion Medicine for the last five years.

Jody Wayne MS, MT (ASCP)
Jody graduated from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse in 2002 with a B.S. degree in Medical Laboratory Science. She graduated from the University of North Dakota in December 2007 with a M.S. degree in Clinical Laboratory Science. Jody has worked in various labs in the division of Transfusion Medicine since 2001. She became a member of the Transfusion Medicine Education Resource Team in 2007.

Clinical Faculty
Each of our clinical laboratories has dedicated education specialists that participate in the education of our students during their clinical internship. Our educators are typically board certified clinical laboratory scientists and have a wealth of "on-the-job" related experience in their specialty area.

Mayo Clinic Professors/Lecturers
A hallmark of higher education excellence is the breadth and depth of information and experience provided to students by the faculty and Mayo Clinic consulting staff. Many prominent professors at Mayo Clinic lecture on their areas of medical and scientific expertise each year. As a student of Mayo School of Health Sciences, you are encouraged to attend all conferences, lectures and seminars prepared for students, residents, fellows and consulting staff.