FACT International Headquarters Grows Along with its Accredited Organizations
A testament of FACT leadership’s dedication to its accredited organizations and volunteer inspectors is the strong infrastructure provided at the FACT accreditation office in Omaha, Nebraska. FACT staff members provide executive guidance, implementation strategies, committee support, and, most importantly, guidance to organizations and inspectors. All of these activities are directed by and accomplished for volunteer committees of experts, who are deserving of support that matches their contributions.
FACT-accredited organizations continue to grow by number, geography, and complexity. To maintain and build upon the support provided by FACT since its inception 20 years ago, the office has welcomed four talented individuals to the accreditation office.
Suzanne Clabaugh joins FACT as an Accreditation Coordinator. In her previous employment, she managed an academic research laboratory for UNMC and Wright State University focused on T-Cell homeostasis and Interleukin 2. Suzanne has proven to be quite productive, and is responsive to her organizations’ and inspectors’ needs, “I enjoy my work as a coordinator because it gives me the opportunity to interact with many different people in locations around the world, and it challenges me.” She encourages organizations to make good use of their coordinators’ services. “We are here to help in any way we can, and everything runs more smoothly when we have an open and easy, interactive relationship.”
Cassie Kennedy, a recent graduate from the University of Iowa, is a FACT Accreditation Coordinator. While enrolled in the Biomedical Engineering program, she worked with pulmonary clinical research studies. She is helpful by nature, and enjoys guiding the applicant through the accreditation process. “I learn something new and interesting every day,” says Cassie. Her advice to applicants is to use the field on the Compliance Application that is available for entering applicable document names and page numbers as evidence of compliance. “This field is optional, but including relevant SOPs and page numbers is helpful to both the applicant and the inspector.”
Another new FACT Accreditation Coordinator, Dina Becirovic, previously worked at Creighton University’s Department of Preventive Medicine – Hereditary Cancer Research Center and was responsible for maintaining the integrity and viability of over 50,000 biological specimens. Dina is a forward-thinking individual, and what she likes about her current role, and FACT in general, is the interdisciplinary collaborative effort and process improvement to promote patient safety and provide quality patient care. “Additionally, I appreciate the knowledge and fairness of current leadership and the futuristic outlook on reaching more organizations to ensure patient safety.” She suggests applicants and inspectors build and capitalize on working relationships with their FACT Accreditation Coordinators.
Mikaela VanMoorleghem, FACT’s Education and Training Coordinator, is responsible for developing and administering the growing educational program for FACT inspectors and applicants. Her entire career has been dedicated to education, formerly in the secondary and collegiate environments. “The medical education field has proven to be a very welcome challenge for me. I am learning so much and I find that each day is completely different.” Mikaela has risen to the challenge, increasing FACT’s offerings for training and expanding collaborations with other societies. “I also enjoy traveling for FACT and meeting so many talented people throughout the world. I encourage inspectors to take advantage of opportunities to perform inspections and learn from each other, understand different perspectives, and enjoy different cultures around the world.”
A common thread throughout the perspectives of all of FACT’s new employees is the enjoyment they get from working with the FACT community – at applicant programs and with the inspectorate. FACT staff admires everyone who has contributed to the mission of quality cellular therapy and is proud to work with you.
