Weissfeld's work on policy issues, particularly those affecting practice standards and reimbursement, has had an extraordinary impact on the profession of clinical microbiology. She served on several key federal committees that developed national policies for documentation and claims processing required for reimbursing laboratory services, and she has been an advisor and reviewer for the National Committee on Clinical and Laboratory Standards.
Exemplary service to ASM is another hallmark of Weissfeld's achievements. Since 1995, she has chaired ASM's Professional Affairs Committee, which monitors practice standards for microbiologists and comments on proposed laws and regulations. She also served on the Laboratory Practices for Microbiology Committee, which reviews legislation affecting the science and technology of microbiology laboratory practice. Weissfeld has been especially active in working with committees of the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM), a component of the American Academy of Microbiology that certifies microbiologists seeking to direct public health or clinical microbiology laboratories.
Weissfeld received a B.A. in biology from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in microbiology from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. In addition to leading Microbiology Specialists Incorporated, a clinical and environmental microbiology reference laboratory that she cofounded in 1984, Weissfeld is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. She is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and an ABMM Diplomate.
The bioMérieux Sonnenwirth Award for Leadership in Clinical Microbiology will be presented at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), May 23–27, 2004, in New Orleans, Louisiana. ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 42,000 scientists, teachers, physicians, and health professionals. Its mission is to promote research and training in the microbiological sciences and to assist communication between scientists, policymakers, and the public to improve health, economic well-being, and the environment.