Workshop announcement: 21st NRL Workshop on Serology!

The 21st National Serology Reference Laboratory Workshop on Serology will be held in Melbourne in August 2004. Since its inception the workshop has grown to become the premier event for scientists, regulators and manufacturers and distributors of diagnostic kits and reagents, to discuss advances and difficulties with serology and nucleic acid testing.

The 2004 Workshop will build on the strengths developed in previous conferences. The poster/oral presentations format and breakout sessions will once again provide a relaxed but informative environment for exchanging information and ideas. Participants can expect to be part of a vibrant learning and networking experience, through interactive sessions promoting discussion and debate on the issues that surround in vitro diagnostics. There will be interaction between clinicians, scientists, laboratory managers, blood transfusion specialists, regulators, quality assurers, pathologists, and manufacturers and distributors.

The Workshop will again feature prominent international speakers.

This year discussion on unusual diseases, difficult test interpretations, and situations where laboratory diagnoses are problematic are actively encouraged.

There remains some confusion surrounding the interpretation of HTLV and HIV-2 results. Participants are invited to submit abstracts relating to the diagnosis and management of these infections. They are particularly encouraged to discuss the clinical significance of immunoblot indeterminate reactivity.

The early diagnosis of infection continues to present problems for serologists and clinicians, and the presentation of posters on this subject is encouraged. Appropriate topics would include case studies relating to the confirmation of recent infections, and techniques for early diagnosis. Testing strategies and the interpretation of their results will also be of great interest.

Topics of interest include molecular testing including genotyping, the development and standardisation of assembled assays, and the analysis of quality control results from these assays.

The pathology industry is currently addressing the requirement to estimate the uncertainty of measurement for all quantitative tests. Discussion of this topic will be keenly sought and will help Workshop participants to expand their knowledge in this area.

Conference details

21st NRL Workshop on Serology
17-20 August 2004
Hilton on the Park
Melbourne Victoria

Workshop Secretariat

Linda Tracey
National Serology Reference Laboratory, Australia
4th Floor, Healy Building, 41 Victoria Parade
FITZROY VIC 3065, AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 3 9418 1117
Facsimile: +61 3 9418 1155
Email: linda@nrl.gov.au
Website: www.nrl.gov.au

Further information and registration forms are available on the NRL website at: www.nrl.gov.au

This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence, Volume 28 No 2, June 2004.