Michelle Burgin (President)
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. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting and spending time with her 9 grandchildren.
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Gina Gramlich (President Elect)
Gina Gramlich received her Bachelor of Science -Medical Technology degree from the University of Missouri Columbia in 1989. She completed her clinical year at Research Medical Center School of Medical Technology in Kansas City, Missouri. Gina has primarily worked as a Blood Bank Lead during her 36 years as an MLS. Gina’s first job from 1989 to 2004 was with the American Red Cross centralized transfusion service primarily working with the University Hospital in Columbia. During this time, she also served for 5 years as the Special Coagulation Supervisor under the ARC umbrella. In 2004, Gina started working for St Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City, Missouri as the Lead Blood Bank MLS as well as working as a generalist in all departments. Gina left St Mary’s in 2020 to work at Capital Region Medical Center as laboratory supervisor and returned to St Mary’s in 2022. During her time at CRMC she coordinated the implementation of COVID19 testing and training for all employees. Her current role at St Mary’s is the Education and Safety Lead/Officer. She is responsible for all safety compliance and concerns. Gina also coordinates training of new employees and oversees the clinical rotations and in person labs for any Medical Laboratory Technology school students at St Mary’s hospital.
Gina has previously served on the HAABB board for many years as the Member at Large, Webmaster, Secretary and Treasurer.
Gina enjoys traveling, especially to national parks and other outdoor related events; attending concerts and theater; enjoying her many pets (cat, dogs, gecko, and snake currently); gardening; reading; and spending time with her family and friends (especially her new granddaughter!).
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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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Gabe Metzler (Vice President)
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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Diana Moroney (Treasurer)
Diana Moroney has served with the American Red Cross for more than 36 years. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and is certified as a Medical Technologist (ASCP) as well as a Specialist in Blood Banking (SBB).
Over the course of her career, Diana has held roles across multiple areas of the organization, including several years in clinical laboratory leadership overseeing transfusion service, coagulation, and transplant laboratories. She later served as Manufacturing Director for the American Red Cross St. Louis site for 15 years before advancing to Vice President of Manufacturing, with responsibility for operations across 10 facilities.
Diana has previously served the HAABB in multiple leadership capacities and looks forward to returning to the board.
Outside of work, Diana enjoys boating at Pomme De Terre Lake, spending time with friends, and working on puzzles.
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Megan Dupont grew up on a commercial hog farm in central Missouri. A daughter of a farmer and Critical Care nurse, Megan knew she would choose a career which would allow for her to work with her hands and care for people, even if that meant not providing direct patient care!
Megan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and graduated from North Kansas City Hospital’s School of Clinical Laboratory Science in 2010. In 2015, she attended Indiana Blood Center’s Transfusion Medicine Education program and completed her certification as a Specialist in Blood Banking in 2016. Megan joined the team at the Community Blood Center of Kansas City in 2017 where she enjoys her role as a Lead Technologist in the Immunohematology Reference Laboratory. Megan has a passion for learning and sharing all things Blood Bank!
In her time away from the lab, Megan enjoys being a wife and stepmother, being active in church and picking up hobbies that keep her hands and mind busy! Currently in her free time, you will find Megan painting, hiking outside, and learning to play the drums.
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Brian Easley (Member at Large)
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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Cindy Ingold (Member at Large)
Cindy Ingold received her Bachelor of Science – Medical Technology from
Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. She completed her
clinical year at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital located in Belleville, Illinois and
obtained her MT (ASCP) certification. Cindy worked as a generalist at
both St. Elizabeth’s and Memorial Hospitals in Belleville, Illinois before the
jump across the Mississippi River to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis
Missouri. Cindy Ingold has over 35 years of experience in the blood
industry. The American Red Cross offered her the ability to gain experience via
the Missouri/Illinois Region Reference Laboratory located in St. Louis, MO.
It was there she earned her Specialist in Blood Bank certification and
continued in her drive to learn Blood Center operations. Cindy advanced to
various management roles, serving as Quality Assurance Director at ARC’s
National Testing Laboratory and later overseeing the Missouri/Illinois and Greater
Ozark Arkansas Regions. She also served as Director of Collections across a
five state area: Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Southern Indiana and Kentucky.
In 2020, Cindy returned to her hospital roots as the Laboratory Manager of
Transfusion Medicine including HLA and Cellular Therapy Labs at Barnes Jewish
Hospital in which she serves today.
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Cassie Lokken (Member at Large)
Cassandra (Cassie) Lokken graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Science from the KU CLS program in 2016. She took her first job at Community Blood Center in the Immunohematology Reference Laboratory. In 2020, she earned a Specialist in Blood Banking (SBB) certification through The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In 2023, she started working at The University of Kansas Health System in the blood bank and now serves as a Blood Bank Technical Specialist. In 2024, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Kansas. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games and crewing ultramarathons.
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Andrea Pointer (Member at Large)
Andrea Pointer received her Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Laboratory Science from Missouri State University after completing the North Kansas City Hospital School of Medical Laboratory Science in 2011. She has worked in transplant genetics/immunology, Point of Care, General Lab Supervision/Pre-analytics, Oncology Genomics, and currently serves as Transfusion Services Supervisor at University Health Truman and Lakewood Medical Centers. She has supported laboratory education by serving as faculty with NKCH’s and TMC’s MLS programs, educating physicians through TMC’s Pathology Resident Program, by volunteering with Heart-to-Heart JayDoc clinic, and now, working with HAABB! Her professional passions include focusing on quality patient outcomes, PERFECT documentation practices, and ensuring all transfer pipettes are stored bulb-up, tip-down (if you know, you know!). In her personal life, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, outdoor recreation, meme culture, vibing to heavy metal, and kinship with every cat in the world.
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Nancy Quaney (Member at Large)Nancy Quaney graduated with a degree in Medical Technology from
Wichita State University. After
graduating, she worked as a generalist in both small and medium size hospitals before
beginning her blood bank career at American Red Cross. She is an IRL technologist at American Red
Cross in Wichita. Nancy enjoys spending
time with her family, hiking and reading.
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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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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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