Emerging technologies and improvements in global health headline this year’s exciting lineup of invited oral abstract presentations at the 69th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo.

“The diversity of topics that will be presented highlights the broad base of AACC Annual Scientific Meeting participants. I look forward to learning about advances in laboratory medicine in all of the sessions,” Christina Lockwood, PhD, DABCC, DABMGG, an assistant professor and associate director of the genetics and solid tumors laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle and a member of AACC’s Annual Meeting Organizing Committee (AMOC) told CLN Stat. Lockwood coordinated this year’s abstracts along with Paul Yip, PhD, FCACB, DABCC, a clinical biochemist at the University Health Network and an assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto.

The ever-popular oral abstracts are known for showcasing the latest scientific developments in laboratory medicine. This year’s list began with more than 200 accepted abstracts with high scores, Yip told CLN Stat. “These came from the abstract reviewers who are largely scientific members from the AACC community. Over 90 people generously gave their time to review and we are very grateful for their time,” he said.

To select abstracts for the six presentation sessions, AMOC used three primary metrics: scientific quality, originality/novelty, and quality of writing. At least three AMOC members did an independent review of each abstract initially selected for oral presentation. “We had a wealth of exceptional abstracts that made our decisions very challenging,” said Lockwood.

Members of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC), which holds its annual meeting in collaboration with AACC every fourth year, will moderate five of the six oral abstract sessions. “This joint meeting of AACC and CSCC will be one of the best ever,” Yip said.

The 2017 oral abstracts lineup is as follows:

July 31:

Improving Patient Outcomes (32108)
Moderator: Edward Randell, PhD, DCC, FCACB, associate professor of laboratory medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Emerging Technologies (32222)
Moderator: Dana Bailey, PhD, FCACB, laboratory director for Dynacare, London, Ontario

Aug. 1:

Precision Medicine and Therapeutics (33104)
Moderator: Mathew Estey, PhD, FCACB, clinical biochemist at DynaLIFEDx, Edmonton, Alberta

Hot Topics in Lab Medicine (33218)
Moderator: Anna Fuezery, PhD, regional clinical chemist, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta

Aug. 2:

Point-of-Care Testing (34107)
Moderator: Martha Lyon, PhD, clinical biochemist at Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Global Health (34218)
Moderator: Timothy Amukele, PhD, assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

“Our goal for the six themes was to create sessions that integrate multiple areas of medicine to reflect the increasingly diversified nature of clinical laboratory medicine,” Lockwood explained. Abstracts for precision medicine and therapeutics, for example, will focus on molecular pathology, cardiac markers, infectious diseases, and biomarkers for chronic alcohol consumption.

Yip added, “We also wanted the topics to appeal to broad audiences. The aim was to mix traditional areas of focus in ways that could introduce attendees to content they might not have otherwise considered.”

His hope is the oral abstracts will make it easier for attendees to navigate the poster sessions, which can be overwhelming due to the sheer number of presentations.

“Sometimes, the oral abstracts are hard to reach at the meeting, which can discourage attendees from visiting the posters. I hope the oral abstracts bridge that gap, especially for those want to hear about excellent work among our scientific community without having to search too hard,” Yip said. All of the presentations should be engaging, but he advised that attendees visit the Hot Topics session if they don’t know where to start.

Each speaker will give a 15-minute talk, followed by a 5-minute Q&A. Attendees can earn 1.5 CE hours by attending an oral abstract presentation.

Don’t miss out on any of these presentations: Register today for the for the 69th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in San Diego July 30–Aug. 3.