July 2009 - Posts

AACC Unveils New Lab Tests Online Web site
July 29, 2009 3:12 PM by Caitlin Maloney

The AACC, a professional society dedicated to improving healthcare though laboratory medicine, has unveiled a rebranded and resigned Lab Tests Online Web site. After 9 years and more than 200 million page views, the AACC finally revealed the change at Read More...

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NSA Opens New Facility
July 29, 2009 3:10 PM by Caitlin Maloney

NeuroScience Associates Inc. (NSA), Knoxville, TN, a neurohistology services company, announced the opening of a new facility to keep up with the growing demand of pharmaceutical companies and research labs. The new lab is projected to quadruple the capacity Read More...

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LabCorp to Merge With Monogram Biosciences
July 29, 2009 2:02 PM by Caitlin Maloney

A LabCorp press release stated the company is set to strengthen it's leadership in infectious disease and oncology, and advance personalized medicine strategy by acquiring Monogram Biosciences Inc., a provider of diagnostic products. The merger will allow Read More...

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NIH and Wikipedia Team Up
July 29, 2009 1:36 PM by Amanda Koehler

Over a year ago, I wrote a blog about the validity of Wikipedia. In a world where people turn to the Internet for medical information, I believe Wikipedia should do a better job in policing what is written on their Web site. It seems I may be getting Read More...

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Cryo-Cell Announces Collaboration With Cryopraxix Cryobiology
July 28, 2009 3:33 PM by Caitlin Maloney

Cryo-Cell International Inc., Oldsmar, FL, a stem cell innovation company, announced a research and development collaboration agreement with Cryopraxix Cryobiology Ltd., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a global stem cell banking and research company. Through Read More...

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ASCLS: And the Winners Are ...
July 27, 2009 9:40 PM by Matthew T. Patton

Several awards were presented on Thursday, July 23 at the ASCLS 77th annual meeting. An awards presentation was held at the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Chicago Hotel. Here, we present the list of winners in its entirety. Congratulations to everyone Read More...

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New Accreditation Program for Labs in Africa
July 27, 2009 3:52 PM by Caitlin Maloney

The first push for accreditation of Africa's medical laboratories was recently launched by government health officials from 13 African countries, starting a process the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. government believe will strengthen health Read More...

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New Lab Test Helps Predict Kidney Damage
July 27, 2009 3:22 PM by Caitlin Maloney

A new laboratory test, urine neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL), will help predict if patients will develop acute kidney injury (AKI), a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) reported. Another study in JASN also Read More...

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New H1N1 Test Released
July 24, 2009 2:48 PM by Kerri Penno

The FDA announced it has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a another diagnostic test for H1N1, characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The EUA for the Focus Diagnostics Influenza H1N1 (2009) real-time reverse transcription Read More...

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Quality Control and Quality Management
July 24, 2009 11:03 AM by Matthew Patton

Precision and accuracy for quality control used to be a lot more simple said Elissa Passiment, executive director of ASCLS. She presented Friday morning on quality control management. CDC and CLSI have evaluated quality control systems and are examining Read More...

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MRSA MRSA Me
July 23, 2009 8:53 PM by Amanda Koehler

In his ASCLS session,“MRSA MRSA Me—Things Ain’t What They Used to Be!,” Richard B. (Tom) Thomson, Jr. PhD, D(ABMM), Evanston Hospital-Northshore University Health System, Chicago, encouraged attendees to define the MRSA problem in their facility. "In Read More...

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Who Is Going to Lead Your Laboratory in 2014?
July 23, 2009 3:25 PM by Matthew Patton

Approximately 20 percent of lab managers report planning to retire in the next 5 years, and a shortage of nearly 5,000 medical technologists is projected per year. On Thursday afternoon, Tara Kochis, executive vice president of Slone Partners, Miami Beach, Read More...

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The Educational Tool Box
July 22, 2009 3:45 PM by Matthew Patton

Brandy Greenhill, MS, MT(ASCP), assistant professor, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, spoke Wednesday afternoon at McCormick Place, providing tips on how to enhance educational activities for medical lab students. One idea she defined Read More...

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PERFAR and BD Make Progress in Africa
July 20, 2009 12:34 PM by Caitlin Maloney

The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PERFAR) and Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) have made progress in improving laboratory conditions and skills of lab personnel battling against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) in sub-Saharan Africa. Read More...

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Benjamin Nominated for Surgeon General
July 20, 2009 11:05 AM by Caitlin Maloney

President Obama has nominated Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, to be the next surgeon general of the U.S. Dr. Benjamin, a family physician form rural Bayou La Batre, AL was a member of COLA's board of directors in the mid 1990s. Dr. Benjamin was the first African Read More...

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Ramping Up Vaccine Production
July 17, 2009 10:58 AM by Kerri Penno

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the department will commit $884 million to purchase additional ingredients for H1N1 vaccines to further prepare the nation for a potential resurgence of the 2009 H1N1 virus. The funds will be used to place additional Read More...

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AACC Appoints Executive Editor
July 16, 2009 10:22 AM by Kerri Penno

In response to the growing number of Lab Tests Online Web sites worldwide, AACC announced D. Robert Dufour, MD, has been named to the newly created position of executive editor for the global network. Dr. Dufour is a 9-year veteran of Lab Tests Online, Read More...

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New Info for xTAG RVP Package Insert
July 14, 2009 3:45 PM by Caitlin Maloney

Luminex Corp., leader in multiplexed solutions, announced the FDA has cleared labeling updates for the company's xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) to include data about the performance of the test in humans infected with H1N1 or swine flu. The package Read More...

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CellSearch Helps MBC
July 14, 2009 2:24 PM by Caitlin Maloney

A study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology , highlights the benefits of measuring the change in circulating tumor cell (CTC) count in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to accurately predict their disease progression, prognosis and Read More...

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Stop Testing for H1N1?
July 8, 2009 11:49 AM by Amanda Koehler

An article I found on the United Press International's Web site said the WHO is getting ready to tell countries to stop testing for the H1N1 virus. Because these tests are flooding labs and making it hard for laboratorians to keep up, healthcare professionals Read More...

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