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Erna Lenters-Westra: 2018 Westgard Award Winner
At the Quality in the Spotlight Meeting in Antwerp, Erna Lenters-Westra was the receipient of the 2018 Westgard Award. Her impressive accomplishments in the field of HbA1c evaluation and assessment make this award well-deserved.
Winner of the 2018 Westgard Award: Erna Lenters-Westra
James O. Westgard, PhD
April 2018
It is with great satisfaction that I presented Dr. Erna Lenters-Westra with the 2018 Westgard Award in Antwerp, at the Quality in the Spotlight Meeting. Many years ago, I was pleased to be one of her doctoral advisors. I saw her receive her Ph.D. I also watched her make great advances in the evaluation and assessment of HbA1c quality. She has shown leadership, humility, dedication, and a scrupulous commitment to quality. I know of no one who is as selfless when it comes to evaluating methods for quality.
Here, the award is in Erna's left hand, flowers in her right hand, and a picture of her Ph.D. ceremony on the screen behind her.
Erna, giving her award lecture. Starting out with the paper that brought the spotlight to her work. This seminal paper pointed out the gap between our assumptions of instrument quality and the actual performance being observed. A majority of HbA1c POC devices she assessed were quite poor. Many of them were so poor that this paper effectively and significantly diminished their commercial success. It was a warning shot to the industry that poor quality assays would no longer get a free pass.
Since that time, many manufacturers have approached her for evaluation and assessment of their new methods. She takes no honorariums for this work, but donates all to her institute. She has each manufacturer agree to a contract that spells out her assessment procedures and their (lack of) influence on the results she writes up. But she does present them with a choice at the end of the assessment, whether the assay looks good or bad - either she gets to publish the results, or they go back and improve their method. She is eager to help manufacturers improve, but if they fail to meet her standards (and those of the IFCC standardization committee), she is unyielding.
In this way, Erna is truly changing the industry for the better. If HbA1c is one of the shining success stories of our profession, Erna is one of the stars of that success.
Here's a short list of the many significant papers she has published in a very short period of time:
- Independent evaluation using fresh patient samples under real clinical conditions is vital for confirming the suitability and marketability of any new HbA1c assay. An example.
Lenters-Westra E. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2018 Jan 9. pii: /j/cclm.ahead-of-print/cclm-2017-0930/cclm-2017-0930.xml. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2017-0930. PMID:29315076 - Evaluating new HbA1c methods for adoption by the IFCC and NGSP reference networks using international quality targets. Lenters-Westra E, English E. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2017 Aug 28;55(9):1426-1434. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2017-0109. PMID: 28432844
- Understanding the Use of Sigma Metrics in Hemoglobin A1c Analysis. Lenters-Westra E, English E. Clin Lab Med. 2017 Mar;37(1):57-71. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2016.09.006. Epub 2016 Dec 14. Review. PMID: 28153370
- Can the Afinion HbA1c Point-of-Care instrument be an alternative method for the Tosoh G8 in the case of Hb-Tacoma? Lenters-Westra E, Strunk A, Campbell P, Slingerland RJ. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2017 Feb;77(1):2-7. Epub 2016 May 18. PMID: 27191339
- Whole Blood Donation Affects the Interpretation of Hemoglobin A1c. Dijkstra A, Lenters-Westra E, de Kort W, Bokhorst AG, Bilo HJ, Slingerland RJ, Vos MJ. PLoS One. 2017 Jan 24;12(1):e0170802. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170802. eCollection 2017. PMID: 28118412
- Common Hb-variants show no longer interference on the Tosoh G8 after an update of the software. Lenters-Westra E. Clin Chim Acta. 2016 Dec 1;463:73-74. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2016.10.014. Epub 2016 Oct 13. PMID: 27743909
- Investigation of 2 models to set and evaluate quality targets for hb a1c: biological variation and sigma-metrics. Weykamp C, John G, Gillery P, English E, Ji L, Lenters-Westra E, Little RR, Roglic G, Sacks DB, Takei I; IFCC Task Force on Implementation of HbA1c Standardization. Clin Chem. 2015 May;61(5):752-9. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2014.235333. PMID: 25737535
- Multicentre evaluation of the Premier Hb9210 HbA1c analyser. John WG, Little R, Sacks DB, Weykamp C, Lenters-Westra E, Hornsby T, Zhao Z, Siebelder C, Tennill A, English E. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2015 Feb;53(2):319-27. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2014-0589. PMID: 25274956
- Biological variation of hemoglobin A1c: consequences for diagnosing diabetes mellitus. Lenters-Westra E, Røraas T, Schindhelm RK, Slingerland RJ, Sandberg S. Clin Chem. 2014 Dec;60(12):1570-2. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2014.227983. Epub 2014 Sep 23. No abstract available. PMID: 25248570
- Differences in interpretation of haemoglobin A1c values among diabetes care professionals. Lenters-Westra E, Schindhelm RK, Bilo HJ, Groenier KH, Slingerland RJ. Neth J Med. 2014 Nov;72(9):462-6. PMID: 25431391
- Three of 7 hemoglobin A1c point-of-care instruments do not meet generally accepted analytical performance criteria. Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. Clin Chem. 2014 Aug;60(8):1062-72. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2014.224311. PMID: 24865164
- Haemoglobin A1c: Historical overview and current concepts. Lenters-Westra E, Schindhelm RK, Bilo HJ, Slingerland RJ. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2013 Feb;99(2):75-84. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2012.10.007. PMID: 23176805
- [HbA1c]. Vos MJ, Lenters-Westra E, Bilo HJ. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2012;156(41):A4554. Dutch. PMID: 23062253
- Point-of-care assays for hemoglobin A(1c): is performance adequate? Little RR, Lenters-Westra E, Rohlfing CL, Slingerland R. Clin Chem. 2011 Sep;57(9):1333-4. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2011.165019. PMID: 21712548
- Evaluation of the Menarini/ARKRAY ADAMS A1c HA-8180V analyser for HbA1c. Weykamp C, Lenters-Westra E, van der Vuurst H, Slingerland R, Siebelder C, Visser-Dekkers W. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2011 Apr;49(4):647-51. doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2011.096.PMID: 21323625
- One in five laboratories using various hemoglobin A1c methods do not meet the criteria for optimal diabetes care management. Lenters-Westra E, Weykamp C, Schindhelm RK, Siebelder C, Bilo HJ, Slingerland RJ. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2011 Apr;13(4):429-33. doi: 10.1089/dia.2010.0148. PMID: 21355726
- Glycated haemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c) ) in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus: don't forget the performance of the HbA(1c) assay. Schindhelm RK, Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. Diabet Med. 2010 Oct;27(10):1214-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03088.x. PMID: 20854391
- Evaluation of the Quo-Test hemoglobin A1c point-of-care instrument: second chance. Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. Clin Chem. 2010 Jul;56(7):1191-3. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2010.143149. Epub 2010 Apr 29. PMID: 20431053
- Six of eight hemoglobin A1c point-of-care instruments do not meet the general accepted analytical performance criteria. Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. Clin Chem. 2010 Jan;56(1):44-52. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2009.130641. PMID: 19926777
- Hemoglobin A1c point-of-care assays; a new world with a lot of consequences! Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2009 May 1;3(3):418-23. PMID: 20144277
- Hemoglobin A1c determination in the A1C-Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study. Lenters-Westra E, Slingerland RJ. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2008;46(11):1617-23. doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2008.322. PMID: 1901252
Congratulations again to Erna Lenters-Westra, and to the Quality in the Spotlight Meeting for allowing us to honor her.