Laboratory scientist is the first Black person in Illinois to hold a doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science

Dr. RoDina Williams always loved the laboratory portion of her science courses. Now, she is the first Black person in Illinois to hold a doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science.

When she found out that there was a profession for laboratory medicine, she decided to go through the program and fell in love with it. Williams received a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Illinois State University in 2002 and worked in the field for about five years. The career wasn’t feeding what she wanted to do, so she looked at the curriculum of different programs, and she fell upon medical laboratory sciences. She did her research, applied to the program and was accepted.

“I had no idea that there was a doctorate for what I love to do, and again, I applied and got in,” Williams said.

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Clinical Laboratory Science or Medical Laboratory Science includes analyzing the materials that doctors, and health care workers send to the lab, it can be anything from glucose, blood cells, or figuring out the source of an infection. Williams said that getting a doctorate in clinical laboratory science meant she could come from outside of the lab and participate in patient healthcare; speaking with the patients to explain their lab results, why lab tests were ordered and how the specimens would be collected, was exciting to her. She wanted to be able to speak directly to the patients and explain to them what is going on in ways that they can understand.

 She said that to be able to bring it to Malcolm X College, which is situated in the Medical District, it is a great thing. It is also a way for Williams to give back to her community, as someone who grew up in North Lawndale and graduated from Whitney Young High School.