2025-2026 Education Roundtable Series
For non-CSCC members:
1Save today! Club members are entitled to join any or all of the Roundtables. Register once only and automatically receive an invitation for each Roundtable and access to the slides and recordings of past roundtables for the current year.
- Registration is by pre-payment only using the online registration form.
- Each registration is restricted to one (1) phone line; you may have as many participants using that line as you wish. You are welcome to sign up more than one (1) phone line but each line must be a separate registration and payment.
- Participants will be sent a link to the zoom session.
2025/2026 Roundtable Series Dates:
2025
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presenter(s) | Topic | |
| 1 | September 18 | 14:00-15:00 | Jiajia Liu | Monoclonal Gammopathy of Clinical Significance (MGCS) |
| 2 | October 2 | 14:00-15:00 | Amir Karin | Strategies for Elucidating Unexplained Elevation in Troponin Results |
| 3 | October 16 | 11:30-12:30 | Michelle Parker | Optimizing IgE Allergy Test Utilization in Alberta |
| 4 | October 30 | 11:30-12:30 | Ping Wang | A Novel Xylazine Rapid Test Strip for Clinical Urine Screening |
| 5 | November 13 | 11:30-12:30 | (1) Mathew Estey; (2) Ruben Luo | (1) A Provincial Testing Program for Hemoglobinopathies; (2) High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Identification of Hemoglobin Variants |
| 6 | November 27 | 14:00-15:00 | Eleonora Petryayeva | Mass-spec method development |
| 7 | December 11 | 11:30-12:30 | Archive Committee Talk |
2026
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presenter(s) | Topic | |
| 8 | January 22 | 11:30-12:30 | Michael Reid / Angela Rutledge | Estradiol Testing / Copeptin Testing |
| 9 | February 5 | 11:30-12:30 | Albert Tsui / Heather Paul | POCT high sensitivity troponin algorithm development and implementation in rural and POCT |
| 10 | February 19 | 11:30-12:30 | TBA | |
| 11 | March 5 | 11:30-12:30 | TBA | |
| 12 | March 19 | 14:00-15:00 | TBA | |
| 13 | April 2 | 11:30-12:30 | Yu Chen | Kidney stone analysis: analytical, clinical, NB data and utilization |
| 14 | April 16 | 14:00-15:00 | TBA | |
| 15 | April 30 | 11:30-12:30 | TBA | |
| 16 | May 14 | 11:30-12:30 | TBA | |
| 17 | May 28 | 14:00-15:00 | Fellows in Training Talks |
| 1. Sept 18, 2025 | Monoclonal Gammopathy of Clinical Significance (MGCS) |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jiajia Liu is a hematologist at Trillium Health Partners in the Carlo Fidani Peel Regional Centre with a practice focused on hematological cancers including myeloma. Dr. Liu did a malignant Hematology fellowship at the Odette Cancer Centre/Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Hematology subspecialty residence and Internal Medicine residency at the University of Toronto, following medical school at McGill University. |
| Overview: | This presentation will review monoclonal gammopathies of clinical significance (MGCS). The presentation will define MGCS, discuss most common presentations, review the workup and treatment of different MGCS, and emphasize the role laboratory medicine plays in the diagnosis and follow-up of MGCS. |
| Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Define what constitutes a monoclonal gammopathy of clinical significance; 2) Recognize the importance of sensitive laboratory medicine tests for the diagnosis and assessment of response to treatment in MGCS. |
| 2. October 2, 2025 | Strategies for Elucidating Unexplained Elevation in Troponin Results |
| Speaker: | Amir Karin earned his PhD in Chemistry and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Chemistry, both at the University of Toronto. Over the past five years, he has served as a clinical biochemist at Vancouver General Hospital and as a Clinical Assistant Professor in UBC’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He is actively involved in clinical research and participates in teaching for residents and medical students. In his current role at VGH, he provides medical oversight for neuroendocrine tumour marker analysis using mass spectrometry, regional point-of-care testing programs, and some areas of routine chemistry including cardiac biomarkers. His professional interests centre on leveraging data analytics and informatics to drive laboratory quality improvement. |
| Overview: | The presentation will go over the relatively common causes of discordant high sensitivity troponin I and troponin T results that may lead to confusion among clinicians and possibly subject patients to overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Approaches and practical lab methods for investigation of such results will be reviewed. |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Describe the more common causes of interference in high sensitivity troponin assays 2) Describe the available approaches for investigation of potential troponin interferences 3) Devise a practical laboratory pathway to address a question of clinically discordant troponin |
| 3. October 16, 2025 | Optimizing IgE Allergy Test Utilization in Alberta |
| Speaker: | Dr. Michelle Parker is a Clinical Chemist at Alberta Precision Labs and an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta. She completed her PhD at the University of Victoria with a focus on structural biology, followed by postdoctoral training in Clinical Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Since 2018, she has been part of the APL Edmonton Base Lab team, where she currently oversees the electrophoresis testing area. Dr. Parker has a special interest in the optimization and standardization of lab testing and reporting algorithms, leading projects in this area for all electrophoresis tests at Edmonton Base Lab. She enjoys teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the UofA, and she is a strong advocate of good resource stewardship and appropriate lab test utilization. |
| Overview: | Inappropriate utilization of IgE allergy testing can lead to inaccurate or missed diagnosis of allergic disease, with negative consequences for patient health and resource stewardship. This presentation will cover the appropriate utilization of IgE allergy testing, an assessment of the IgE allergy testing previously available in Alberta, and the phased approach to improve utilization rolled out across the province in 2022. A detailed assessment of the outcomes from the implemented initiatives over the following two years will also be discussed. |
| Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Define the role of lgE allergy testing in the investigation of allergic disease 2) Describe the risks of inappropriate utilization of lgE allergy testing 3) Appraise data to evaluate the effectiveness of lgE allergy testing utilization initiatives in Alberta |
| 4. October 30, 2025 | A Novel Xylazine Rapid Test Strip for Clinical Urine Screening |
| Speaker: | Dr. Ping Wang PhD, D(ABCC), FADLM is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at University of Pennsylvania and is Chief of Clinical Chemistry and Director of Core Laboratory at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She has 20 years of experience practicing in the clinical diagnostics field. Dr. Wang is also a translational researcher focusing on developing highly innovative diagnostic technologies. Her research has been continuously funded by federal agencies and Industry. She is the author/co-author of many peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters, and inventor of diagnostics patents. She has served as chartered member of NIH study sections and member of the FDA Medical Devices Advisory Committee. |
| Overview: | This lecture will describe the research, development and validation of a novel rapid test strip for detection of xylazine in clinical urine samples. The goals, methods and results for this novel diagnostic method will be presented. Clinical implications and future directions will also be discussed. |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Describe the need for xylazine testing 2) Describe the mechanism of the novel xylazine test strip 3) Describe the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the novel xylazine test strip |
| 5. November 13, 2025 | (1) A Provincial Testing Program for Hemoglobinopathies; (2) High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Identification of Hemoglobin Variants |
| Speakers: | (1) Dr. Mathew Estey is a Clinical Chemist and the Clinical Biochemistry Medical Lead at Alberta Precision Labs North Hub Lab in Edmonton, Alberta, where he has worked since 2013. During this time, he has developed a keen interest in hemoglobinopathies, markers of glycemic control, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and laboratory utilization. Dr. Estey is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta and also teaches hemoglobinopathies to residents/fellows at the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto. In 2023, he received the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Alberta Society of Clinical Chemists, in recognition of significant contributions to the practice of Clinical Chemistry in Alberta through research, leadership and education.
(2) Ruben Y. Luo, PhD, DABCC is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Stanford University and an Associate Director of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at Stanford Health Care. He received PhD in chemistry from Stanford University, worked in the clinical diagnostic industry for several years, and then completed clinical chemistry fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Luo is dedicated to innovations in translational laboratory medicine. His research focuses on (1) discovering the clinical diagnostic value of molecular characteristics of protein biomarkers, and (2) developing high-resolution mass spectrometry and label-free optical sensing technologies for accurate measurement of biomarkers. He stays as an active participant and conference speaker in major academic organizations, including the Association for Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM; formerly AACC), the Mass Spectrometry & Advances in Clinical Lab (MSACL), the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), and the American Chemical Society (ACS). His work has been recognized with prestigious academic awards such as the 2025 MSACL Michael S. Bereman Award for Clinical Science Innovation, the 2022 AACC George Grannis Award for Excellence in Research and Scientific Publication, and the 2020 American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) “40 Under Forty” Honoree. |
| Overviews: | (1) This lecture will describe Alberta Precision Labs’ provincial testing program for hemoglobinopathies, which was implemented in 2023. This program is a collaborative endeavor between Clinical Biochemistry, Hematopathology and Genetics & Genomics that encompasses both initial screening and confirmatory testing. Data-driven recommendations for optimizing confirmatory testing criteria will be discussed.
(2) This lecture will introduce the novel top-down high-resolution mass spectrometry methodology and describe an assay for hemoglobin variant identification based on the methodology. The assay provides high specificity and relatively low cost to pinpoint the exact hemoglobin variants in clinical cases. |
| Learning Objectives: | (1) At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: -Identify the various types of mutations that can occur within the globin genes -Describe the key laboratory components of a hemoglobinopathy investigation (2) At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: |