'Toward Standardization'

The long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening, diagnostics, and care, as well as on the severity and occurrence of other viruses like RSV, remains unknown. 

“At the tail end of 2022, when COVID-19 restrictions were eased, we found ourselves amid a new RSV outbreak, which quickly overwhelmed our healthcare system with increased hospitalizations and outpatient admissions,” writes Pallavi Upadhyay, PhD, in our infectious disease feature. Upadhyay delves into the “tripledemic” and the history of RSV, as well as advances in RSV diagnostics, treatment, and prevention. 

When it comes to cancer diagnostics, pathologists continue to rely on immunohistochemistry (IHC) as the gold standard, despite challenges regarding standardization. But can IHC be standardized? In our pathology feature, Today’s Clinical Lab editor and writer Zahraa Chorghay, PhD, speaks with Matthias Szabolcs, MD, director of the IHC laboratory at the Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Centre in New York about how new synthetic IHC reference standards could help standardize tumor analysis.

Similarly, as the shortage of pathologists becomes increasingly dire, more labs are turning to AI-based solutions. However, due to the complex nature of lesions in breast cancer, progress has been slow. I highlight recent efforts to develop and implement an AI-based QC algorithm to review and validate the classification of breast cancer biopsies in a real-world pathology lab. 

In a Q&A, Chorghay also speaks with Abigail Kelliher, associate marketing director for clinical solutions and companion diagnostics at BD, about automating and standardizing flow cytometry workflows to reduce variability and increase efficiency across labs. 

Moreover, in our new Scientist Spotlight, Today’s Clinical Lab speaks with Robert Andrew Kozak, PhD, a clinical microbiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, about what it takes to be a clinical microbiologist during a pandemic, as well as the innovative tools his lab uses to keep up with the next major pathogens.

Tiffany Gill, MA, MLS(ASCP)^CM, shares how students can leverage social media to land their first job, while Kathryn Golab, MLS(ASCP)^CM, outlines a step-by-step guide to successful succession planning. Read our compliance feature for updates on the recent changes to the ISO 15189 standards for clinical labs.

I’m also happy to announce that Today’s Clinical Lab will be hosting a live in-person Clinical Roundtable at the Lab Manager Leadership Summit in College Park, MD, this April. We hope you’ll join us, your host Dr. Rodney Rohde, and our panel of experts to discuss current challenges facing laboratory medicine.

Cheers!