Ria C. Fyffe-Freil, PhD
Assistant Professor, UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Director, Clinical Chemistry
Ria C. Fyffe-Freil, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. She also serves as director of Clinical Chemistry.
Dr.Fyffe-Freil began her medical career during her undergraduate studies by obtaining an advanced emergency medical technician certification. She worked on ambulance, in an emergency department and as a 911/medevac helicopter dispatcher during graduate school.
Her graduate work focused on drugs of abuse and the cellular physiology of hypothermic ischemic liver injury in the setting of organ transplantation. Merging research and clinical interests culminated in a career in clinical chemistry.
She completed fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic in 2023 before joining UNMC.
- Fellowship (Clinical Chemistry), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 2023
- PhD, Physiology & Biophysics (concentration in Molecular Biology and Genetics), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA, 2020
- MS, International Program in Addiction Studies, VCU, Richmond, VA, 2015
- Post-baccalaureate, Pre-Health Graduate Certificate, VCU, Richmond, VA, 2013
- BA, Chemistry with Mathematics minor, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA, 2011
As is the field of clinical chemistry, my research interests are broad! I enjoy investigating the laboratory implications of patient specimen home-collection devices as well as the clinical importance of determining and implementing reference intervals for transgender and gender diverse patients on stable gender-affirming hormone therapy. I have a special interest in protein immunology, specifically addressing the limitations of current methods for isotyping monoclonal proteins in the setting of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies as they emerge as the standard of care for plasma cell proliferative disorders. Learning and applying techniques in informatics and machine learning to the laboratory is a new passion, developed during fellowship training. I utilize R/R Studio for most of my analyses. I am interested in toxicology, specifically the detection of drugs of abuse in the Emergency Department outside of the analytes currently available in rapid drug screens. I am also passionate about education and health equity, and hope to get involved in these strong initiatives at UNMC.
- Robert W. Ramsey Award for Most Outstanding Doctoral Student, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, VCU, 2020.
- Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists 57th Annual Meeting, 2022.
- Travel Award, Association of Medical Laboratory Immunology, 2023.
- Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists 58th Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Inaugural Recipient, Future Leaders in Medical Laboratory Immunology Award, 2023.
- American Chemical Society
- Association of Diagnostic & Laboratory Medicine
- Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists
- The Association of Medical Laboratory Immunologists
- The Association for Mass Spectrometry and Advances in the Clinical Lab