Face Time With The Future

In their day-to-day work, clinical laboratorians often are intensely focused on the present moment: meeting turnaround time goals, calling clinicians with critical values, or troubleshooting instrument problems to make sure patients get the best care possible.

But in a broader sense, laboratory medicine always has been focused on the future. Laboratorians are known for being dissatisfied with the status quo and for continuously searching for ways to improve quality, refine measurements, or discover fresh answers to tough healthcare problems.

This dual citizenship in the present and the future explains why more than 20,000 people from all over the world gather every year at the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo. Laboratorians crave new insights and meaningful connections that will nourish their natural curiosity—and professional zeal—to explore the field’s latest science and technology.

Importantly, the meeting means a lot more than just a place to process information. In an age when screen time seems ever more pervasive, a face-to-face conference offers authentic connections and an opportunity unlike any other for inspiration, refreshment, and discovery.

Here are a few ways to boost your in-person time with world-renowned experts and like-minded colleagues whom you won’t meet anywhere else.

1: POSTER WALKS

Those who have attended the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting before know that often the best way to meet colleagues and collaborators is during the poster sessions. But with nearly 1,000 posters, no one can see them all. One of the best ways to get a focused experience during the poster sessions is by attending a poster walk. Led by experts from one of AACC’s 20 scientific divisions, attendees tour posters by topic areas and participate in engaging discussions of study findings and methods. Check CLN Daily on-site for details.

2: ORAL ABSTRACT PRESENTATIONS

Each year, the Annual Meeting Organizing Committee hand-picks a series of outstanding abstracts for special oral presentations. Presenters will also be available at their posters during the poster sessions. There are six topics this year.

Monday, July 30
Global Health
Clinical Applications

Tuesday, July 31
Mass Spectrometry
Molecular Diagnostics and Genomics

Wednesday, August 1
Emerging Biomarkers and Technologies
Hot Topics in Lab Medicine

3: MEET THE EXPERTS

With attendance limited to 75 attendees, expect intensive, interactive discussions with plenary speakers Monday-Thursday of the conference. Show up early to these morning sessions and be ready with questions. Plenary speakers include:

Sunday, July 29
Brian Druker, MD: Imatinib as a Paradigm of Targeted Cancer Therapies

Monday, July 30
Kenneth Setchell, PhD: Genetic Defects in Bile Acid Synthesis—Translational Medicine from Mass Spectrometry Discovery to the Bedside

Tuesday, July 31
Denise Galloway, PhD: HPV Associated Cancers and the HPV Vaccine

Wednesday, August 1
James Collins, PhD: Nucleic Acid Detection Using CRISPR-Dx

Thursday, August 2
Timothy Amukele, MD, PhD, and Lee Schroeder, MD, PhD: Essential Diagnostics—Meeting the Needs of a Global Population

4: NEW FOR 2018: EXPLORE TOPIC TRACKS

Eight topic tracks provide paths through different areas of laboratory medicine and include both large symposia as well as more intimate brown bag sessions. Talking with fellow attendees after a symposium or during a brown bag session is a great way to gain real-world insights into the content.

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