As a student at Grand Valley State University studying health professions and biology, Jamie Pert thought she was on a physician assistant career path. However, she took a detour when she volunteered to assist a histology professor with a research project. Once she learned how to process tissues by hand, there was no looking back.
“I really enjoyed learning it,” she said. “I enjoyed seeing all the different steps that it took and my professor told me that there are people who do this for a career.”
Jamie is a lab manager with experience from the bench and teaching side as Program Director. and she couldn’t be happier about where the histology road has taken her. She especially loves the diversity of our profession, and how histologists can find a good fit somewhere—whether they’re interested in working in the clinical, research, or commercial areas.
This passion, along with her hard work and talent, is why she’s being recognized with NSH’s 2026 Histotechnologist of the Year award—an honor she is proud to receive, even though she wasn’t expecting it.
“It’s definitely a great honor that I still can’t believe I have this year,” Jamie said. “It means a lot to me. I feel like I’ve done a lot of things to try to help people, but I try to stay behind the scenes because I’m more of an introvert—as most of us are probably.”
However, being an introvert hasn’t stopped Jamie from making impressive contributions to histology that led to winning this award. When reflecting on her career, she credits her deep involvement in the work she loves for getting NSH’s attention.
“I would say one of the biggest decisions that contributed to that was the decision to go into the education portion of this field. That, along with volunteering and getting involved with NSH, has really helped me get to this point of my career,” she said. “My goal when I started as a histotech was to eventually become a director because I wanted to help people get into the field. I wanted to be able to give back and help people learn about the career and give them an opportunity.”
High-Quality Work Under High Pressure
One way that Jamie helps people learn is by advising her team members on how to work gracefully and accurately under pressure. As someone in a high-volume lab that is understaffed, she understands the importance of encouraging her team to keep their eyes on the bigger picture, rather than focusing on the amount of the day-to-day workload.
“I always remind my team that the most important thing to remember is to not look ahead of all the tasks that you have to complete and just focus on completing the task at hand, and completing it the best that we can because there is a patient behind it,” explained Jamie. “We’ve all been there. We’ve either been the patient or had a family or friend who was, so it’s important to just focus on what we’re doing so it’s done correctly. And if something is done wrong, let’s find a solution and work to move forward for that patient that’s waiting.”
One solution that Jamie has found to contribute to the lab’s high quality is to adopt digital pathology. Since her lab performs all of the histology for the entire eight-hospital system, going digital has made the diagnostic process more efficient, thus increasing the quality of patient care.
“We now scan all of the offsite slides so that our pathologists can look at those and make a diagnosis sooner for our patients,” Jamie said. “We don’t have to wait on the delivery of slides. We can scan and get those slides to the pathologist immediately. That has helped decrease our turnaround time.”
Supporting the Future of Histology
Although Jamie has been a histologist for over 15 years, her excitement about the work has not waned and she looks forward to what the future holds, especially when it comes to the evolving technology. And she plans to continue doing her part in guiding the next generation of professionals—something she suggests that all histologists do.
“I definitely try to make myself as available as I can for anyone that has interest in getting certified as a histotechnologist. We have people that come to our lab who have the experience and are ready to get certified, and I’m always happy to help provide them with materials—some references, study guides, and tools to kind of help them take that next step in certification,” she said. “I also like to make time for my team, or any former students who want to grow in the field, and I have discussions with them to learn what would be their best fit. I definitely feel all of us experienced professionals should work together with everyone on the team to help make sure that we’re growing the field. We do know that there’s a shortage, so we just need to help get the word out and pass on tips and tricks to grow our own teams.”
But in order to grow your team, you also need to grow—no matter how long you’ve been in the lab. Jamie suggests always looking for opportunities to learn because new and helpful information can come from unexpected places.
“I love to learn new things and to learn about what’s out there to help the lab become more efficient,” said Jamie. “I would advise always listening and keeping an open mind. Everyone that you encounter can teach you something, and it’s up to you then to take those bits of advice and learn and grow.” Want to take Jamie's advice and keep learning? Register for the 2026 NSH Histotechnology Convention and tell her congratulations in person.
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