Dr. Astion is currently a clinical pathologist who is a Professor and Director of Reference Laboratory Services in the University of Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine.  He was an undergraduate at Cornell University and received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania under the auspices of the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program.   He has been on the faculty at the University of Washington since 1993. He has authored 20 educational software titles and more than 40 peer-reviewed papers. The software titles serve as the basis of a university-sponsored company and learning system known as Medical Training Solutions.  He is a frequent speaker at professional meetings where he lectures on issues related to laboratory test interpretation, medical errors, medical informatics, and competency assessment.

For his contributions to patient safety, Dr. Astion was awarded the 2006 AACC Annual Award for Outstanding Clinical Laboratory Contributions to Patient Safety. In 2007, he was awarded the Annual Canadian Traveling Lectureship from the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists.   In 2008, he is the recipient of the AACC Management Science Division Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to Laboratory Management.