ACS remembers and celebrates the life and career of Sandy Smith – Obituary by Bill Sewell

Sandy Smith died on 9 February 2024 at age 49 after a long illness. Sandy was an exceptionally knowledgeable flow cytometrist. He had a tremendous willingness to undertake new challenges and a brilliant approach to problem-solving. He was dedicated to the pursuit of high standards and was appreciated for his meticulous attention to detail. His qualifications were in biological science, and he had an excellent understanding of the biomedical aspects of flow cytometry. He also had a solid grasp of the engineering features of flow cytometers. Sandy was both well-liked and respected not only by the teams that he supervised but also by the various departments he liaised with to provide diagnostic information. He was excellent in his own work and very willing to share his expertise with other flow users, and contributed to mentoring many scientists in diagnostic flow cytometry.
 
Sandy started working in flow cytometry early in his professional career. In 2003, he was appointed Supervising Scientist of the clinical flow service at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney where he worked until 2017. He then moved to Westmead Hospital as Flow Cytometry Manager. Soon after his arrival at St Vincent’s, he set about upgrading the flow system from 3 to 4 colours, and a few years later he drove the transition to 8 colour flow. His was one of the first clinical laboratories in Australia to upgrade to 8 colours, and he provided extensive advice about multi-colour flow to other cytometrists. In recent years, despite his illness, he was captivated by the prospect of introducing spectral cytometry into the clinical laboratory.
 
Sandy was active on AFCG and ACS Committees for many years and was President on two separate occasions. In 2010, he was AFCG President and chaired the Organizing Committee that ran the 2010 Annual Conference in Sydney. He then helped guide the transition of the AFCG into the ACS, which involved creating the Executive Committee as a separate entity from the Conference Organising Committee. Sandy became ACS President in 2017-18, and played a key role in guiding the participation of the ACS in the 2017 CYTO Asia conference in Singapore. This large and successful conference was a joint venture of the ACS, the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry, and the Singapore Society for Immunology.
 
Sandy was a regular contributor at AFCG and ACS meetings, chairing and presenting on very many occasions, cementing his role as a national leader. Sandy served on several of the ACS Clinical Guidelines Committees, and he chaired ACS Roadshows. He also gave presentations at local Sydney educational events held by SydFlow. His efforts over many years have contributed to the current healthy state of the ACS. Sandy also made significant contributions to research that often involved collaboration between hospital scientists, pathologists and treating physicians. His research contribution is shown by his numerous publications in the international literature. He also received international recognition when he was one of the first Australian clinical cytometrists to obtain the Certification in Cytometry, offered jointly by ICCS and ISAC.
 
Sandy was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009. Fortunately he had a very long remission and was able to see his three sons reach their teenage years. He was a valued member of the flow cytometry community nationwide and beyond. His work had a major role in the development of the field and few were able to keep up with him. His contributions to flow cytometry made him a deserving recipient of the Career Recognition Award of the Australasian Cytometry Society.
 
Bill Sewell
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney