ADLM honors Senator Shelley Moore Capito for her commitment to improving pediatric medical testing

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) is pleased to announce that Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is the recipient of ADLM's Outstanding Legislator Award for the 119^th Congress. This award recognizes Sen. Capito for her tireless efforts to improve children's healthcare by advancing the development of pediatric reference intervals.

To correctly interpret pediatric lab test results, providers must evaluate results within the context of reference intervals, which are the range of normal test values appropriate for the age, stage of development, ethnicity, gender, and geographical location of a child. The accuracy of these reference intervals is crucial to children's long-term health, and laboratory professionals have played a vital role in the creation of existing pediatric reference intervals. However, limited access to samples from healthy children has significantly hindered the establishment of precise reference intervals for most pediatric laboratory tests. ADLM has long advocated for Congress to grant funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so that the agency can leverage its existing infrastructure to develop better pediatric reference intervals, enabling children to get the right diagnoses and medical care.

Sen. Capito has played an integral role in this initiative by championing the issue of pediatric reference intervals with Senate appropriators. Her leadership and persistence were critical in building legislative support for action in this area and resulted in the inclusion of report language supporting the improvement of pediatric reference intervals in both the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and FY2026 Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bills.

"ADLM expresses its deepest gratitude to Senator Capito for her commitment to improving quality of care for pediatric patients through the advancement of clinical laboratory testing," said ADLM President Dr. Paul J. Jannetto. "Improving pediatric reference intervals is critical to ensuring that the country's most vulnerable patient populations get accurate diagnoses and the care they need. We look forward to our ongoing partnership with Senator Capito and to continuing to work toward this goal in the future."

About the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)
Dedicated to achieving better health for all through laboratory medicine, ADLM unites more than 70,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from 110 countries around the world. Our community is at the forefront of laboratory medicine's diverse subdisciplines, including clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, clinical microbiology, and data science, and is comprised of individuals holding the spectrum of lab-related professional degrees, certifications, and credentials. Since 1948, ADLM has championed the advancement of laboratory medicine by fostering scientific collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the development of innovative solutions that enhance health outcomes. For more information, visit www.myadlm.org.

Christine DeLong
ADLM
Director, Editorial and Media Relations
(p) 202.835.8722
[email protected]

Bill Malone
ADLM
Senior Director, Strategic Communications
(p) 202.835.8756
[email protected]

SOURCE Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)