Program

NOTE: Times are based on Sydney time, AEDT (UTC +11)

Tuesday 27 October

1045-1100

Virtual Exhibition - Meet our Sponsors & Exhibitors
Gold Sponsor Showcase

1100-1105

Welcome to the AACB Virtual Conference - Mr Steven Weier

1105-1135

Plenary 1: Genetic testing in children with neurodevelopmental disorders - Prof David Amor
Chair: Mr Steven Weier

Over the last decade genomic technologies have revolutionised the diagnosis of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and led to the delineation of many new genetic syndromes. Using genomics, it is not possible to make a specific diagnosis in more than half of children with severe intellectual disability, with a lower diagnostic yield observed in autism and cerebral palsy. This presentation will provide an overview of current diagnostic practices in this patient group and likely future directions.

1137-1200

QAP Clinical Cases
Chair: Mr Steven Weier
Ms Helen Martin

QAP Update
Chair: Mr Robert Flatman

myQAP Update - Mr Derek Holzhauser
Chemical Pathology QAP Update - Mr Wilson Punyalack
AACB RCPA Advisory Committees: together we make a difference - Mr Peter Graham

1200-1210

Coffee Break & Speed Networking - Grab a coffee and network with other delegates
Speed Networking - Join a networking conversation sharing audio and video. You can join another conversation as soon as your first one has finished.

1210-1245

Concurrent Sessions - Submitted Orals
Session 1 - Chair: Ms Jodie Nicolson Session 2 - Chair: Mr Steven Weier
Submitted Oral 1
QC FAILURE: WHEN DO WE REPEAT PATIENT SAMPLES?
Mr Mc Murphy Albeos Submitted Oral 3
COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR CALCULATED LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL TO DIRECT ASSAY IN PATIENTS WITH HYPOTHYROIDISM
Dr Shrimanjunath Sankanagoudar
Submitted Oral 2
AN AUTOMATED ALGORITHM TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF UNNECESSARY CRITICAL HYPONATREMIA NOTIFICATIONS
Mr Matthew Knight Submitted Oral 4
TDM METHOD VALIDATION; 5 AZOLES IN 3 MINUTES VIA LC-MS/MS
Dr Chester Vera

1245-1330

Lunch Break & Meet the Exhibitors (incl. AACB AGM at 12.55pm)
Grab some lunch and connect with our exhibitors.

1255-1325

AACB AGM

1330-1350

ePoster Session
This session is interactive where authors will be available to discuss their poster with delegates.

1350-1400

Networking Break
Grab a refreshment, stretch your legs and hurry back to join a conversation

1400-1430

Plenary 2: The environmental footprint of a laboratory - Dr Tony Badrick
Chair: Mr Steven Weier

Although we are currently focussed on COVID-19, the environmental impact of medical laboratories will not go away. In fact, the amount of collection material waste being generated by the pandemic will be enormous. Healthcare contributes significantly to environmental footprint and to the future problems of toxic and non-recyclable waste. Medical laboratories produce medical waste and import most of their consumables from overseas, adding to most waste streams. However, there is not a high level of knowledge amongst the laboratory community of this ongoing cost to future generations. There are fewer who are doing anything to try and mitigate this impact. The aim of this presentation to raise awareness of the problem and provide solutions to the problem. Many are quite simple and will have an impact. We all have a personal stake in our environment, we need to translate that into action to save it!

1435-1440

Close of Day 1

Wednesday 28 October

1045-1100

Networking Session & Meeting Hub
Touch base with friends and colleagues via our networking session or click into the Meeting Hub to connect with colleagues

1100-1105

Welcome to Day 2

1105-1135

QAP Plenary 3: HbA1c or its alternatives: When should we use them? - A/Prof Paul Williams
Chair: Dr Kobus Ungerer

Glycated haemoglobin (specifically HbA1c) has been the mainstay for monitoring glycaemic control in clinical practice for more than 20 years. It has had significant advantages over random glucose measurements and can now be used to identify patients with diabetes. However, there are drawbacks for its use when red cell lifespan is reduced such as kidney disease and anaemia; in the presence of some haemoglobinopathies and when an estimate of glucose control over shorter time span than the usual 3 months. Not all commercial HbA1c assays provided valid results when measured under these conditions.
To read more register to attend! (The full abstract will be available in the online portal)

1137-1200

ePoster Session
This session is interactive where authors will be available to discuss their poster with delegates.

1200-1220

Lunch Break & Virtual Exhibition

1220-1240

Concurrent Industry Sessions

DiaSorin Industry Symposium
Chair: Dr Kevin Carpenter
Why and how should laboratories switch to
1 - 84 PTH assays? - Prof Etienne Cavalier

Roche Industry Symposium
Chair: Mr Ben Smith
A Randomized Trial of a 1-hour Troponin T Protocol in Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome: The RAPID TnT - Dr Cynthia Papendick

1245-1310

NPAAC Session: How the Covid 19 pandemic changed pathology testing for good - A/Prof Beverley Rowbotham
Chair: Dr Kevin Carpenter

Australian pathology services are changed utterly by the Covid 19 pandemic - from drive through collections to sms results -and will never return to their old ways . The pandemic has exposed the dependency of healthcare on pathology testing and made clear that the client seeks a new relationship with pathology testing and with their results. What happens next will be determined by the willingness of all parties – standard setters, requesters and clients - to defend the successes and deal with the risks of the new order of things.

1310-1320

Networking & Virtual Exhibition Break
Network with colleagues or visit the Virtual Exhibition and chat one-on-one with exhibitors

1320-1355

Concurrent Sessions - Submitted Orals

Session 3 - Chair: Mr Steven Weier	Session 4 - Chair: Ms Sandra Klingberg
Submitted Oral 5 BLUE LIGHT THERAPY FOR ICTERIC SAMPLES - A BRIGHT IDEA? A/Prof Graham Jones	Submitted Oral 7 IGG BOUND TROPONIN COMPLEXES IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PATIENTS WITH ALINITY HIGH SENSITIVITY CARDIAC TROPONIN I ASSAY Prof Hans Schneider
Submitted Oral 6 CLINICAL DECISION LIMITS FOR GLOBULIN FRACTIONS ON SERUM PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS Ms Catherine Lynch	Submitted Oral 8 A STUDY ON PRO AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE LEVELS IN TYPE-2 DIABETES MELLITUS Ms Smriti Suri

1355-1400

Stretch and Refresh before the last session

1400-1430

Plenary 4: Supporting optimal pathology requesting - A/Prof Ken Sikaris
Chair: Mr Robert Flatman

Over the years, analytical quality has improved, and plateaued. The post-analytical phase of reporting and reference limit refinement has also reached a (hopefully) final frontier of harmonisation. Even, pre-analytical processes that reduce sample variation have been receiving their appropriate attention as determinants of testing quality. Despite all this improvement, the value of pathology testing continues attract controversy. Not as much because the results are unreliable, but because the clinical benefit of testing is debated. The recent national review of pathology rebates targeted numerous tests as being over-utilised and explored the mechanisms by which pathology requesting could be improved. Formal review of the evidence for the many strategies to improve testing shows that electronic clinical decision support is the most effective strategy.
To read more register to attend! (The full abstract will be available in the online portal)

1435-1445

Close of Virtual Conference