AACC's Go-To Conclave for Networking, Research, Technology

The 71st AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo offers something for everyone in clinical laboratory medicine, showcasing the latest in precision medicine, novel biomarker research, the opioid epidemic and journals hot topics, plus a host of networking events and technology game-changers at the Expo.

Janetta Bryksin, PhD, DABCC, co-director of clinical chemistry and director of special chemistry at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, is among the many enthusiastic AACC members who plan to attend this year’s meeting in Anaheim, California. “If there is one conference to go to each year, it’ll be the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting for me,” Bryksin told CLN Stat. “It offers many learning and networking opportunities through scientific sessions, Expo presenters, and local section and division meetings, as well as informal mixer meetings.”

Joshua Akin, clinical laboratory scientist at UC San Diego Health System Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine, is another AACC member gearing up for the ASM. “It’s a great opportunity to brush up on recent research and new technology, as well as current trends and emerging issues in clinical labs,” Akin said.

Bryksin and Akin neatly sum up the top five reasons for attending this yearly conclave:

• 5 Plenary Sessions: Clinical genomics, biomarker discoveries, and extreme molecular diagnostics are among the cutting-edge topics being presented by world-class researchers. Another fascinating session will explore translating gene-disease associations to brain circuitry.
  
  
• 4(0)+ Special Events and Socials: Participants have 40 events to choose from, including education on shared interest topics and mixers hosted by AACC groups and divisions. For the last few years, the Society for Young Clinical Laboratorians (SYCL) workshops have been the highlight of Bryksin’s Annual Scientific Meeting experience. “SYCL workshops are always very engaging, educational, and fun! I’m looking forward to learning about the impact of technology utilization in laboratory medicine at the SYCL workshop this year,” she said.
  
  Workshops and networking events create long-lasting memories for attendees. Akin fondly recalls a local AACC section networking event at the 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego. Participants met at Petco Park and “ate hot dogs, caught up with old colleagues, and watched the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates,” he recalled.
  
  
• 3 Days of the Clinical Lab Expo: There’s no better resource for cutting-edge laboratory technology than the Clinical Lab Expo. With more than 850 exhibiting companies and 200 new product introductions, this event rightly claims the title as the world’s largest exposition for clinical laboratory products and services. Visiting the Expo for the first time, “it was so vastly, overwhelmingly huge with thousands of people all discussing the latest technologies, I didn’t know where to start!” said Alec Saitman, PhD, DABCC (CC, TC), director of toxicology and special chemistry at Providence Regional Laboratories in Portland, Oregon. Saitman not only will be attending this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting but also actively participating, as a SYCL workshop instructor and as a member of the CLN Daily editorial board, covering the meeting for the event’s official publication.
  
  
• 2(0,000) Lab Medicine Attendees: There’s no better place for a clinical lab professional to make connections with more than 20,000 expected for this year’s meeting. “I always enjoy chatting with vendors and laboratory professionals from all different walks of laboratory medicine,” said Akin.
  
  
• 1 Disruptive Tech Award Winner: AACC’s Disruptive Technology Award recognizes innovative testing solutions that improve patient care through diagnostic performance or access to high-quality testing. Developers of precision and personalized medicine diagnostics headline this year’s award. Three finalist teams will present data on their technologies and one team will walk away with a cash prize.
  
  

The 71st AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo takes place on August 4–8 in Anaheim, California. AACC members receive a discount on registration. Come join the conclave in sunny Southern California to network and learn about the latest breakthroughs in laboratory scientists from world-renowned speakers.