2026-27 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.
***Please note that session titles may change***
2026/2027 Roundtable Series Dates:
2026
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presenter(s) | Topic | |
| 1 | September 17 | 14:00-15:00 | Jessica Boyd | Lead: An Ongoing Public Health Issue |
| 2 | October 1 | 14:00-15:00 | Jessica Miller | Beyond Self Report: Development of a Phosphatidylethanol assay by LC-MS/MS for Liver Transplant Evaluation |
| 3 | October 15 | 11:30-12:30 | Nguyen N. Nguyen | Drug Screen for Pre-Employment |
| 4 | October 29 | 11:30-12:30 | (1) Dennis Orton; (2) Casey Williamson | CSCC Abstract Awards Presentations: (1) Predicting Low Free and Bioavailable Testosterone Using Total Testosterone: Development of a Reflex Model using Logistic Regression (2) Evaluation of the Diazyme Serum Free Light Chain Assay on the Abbott Alinity c Platform: Comparison with Freelite Assay and Reference Interval Concordance |
| 5 | November 12 | 11:30-12:30 | William Phipps | From Stains to Assays: Mass Spectrometry for Clinical Tissue Protein Testing |
| 6 | November 26 | 14:00-15:00 | Dennis Orton | Result Interpretation in Skewed Populations- Are Common Reference Intervals Inadequate? |
| 7 | December 10 | 11:30-12:30 | Cheryl Tomalty | Archive Committee Presentation |
2027
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Presenter(s) | Topic | |
| 8 | January 21 | 11:30-12:30 | Mari DeMarco / Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich | ADLM/CSCC Clinical Laboratory Guidance Document on Alzheimer Disease Biofluid Biomarkers |
| 9 | February 4 | 11:30-12:30 | Daniel Choi | TBC |
| 10 | February 18 | 11:30-12:30 | Josko Ivica | Urine HVA, VMA and 5-HIAA assay on LC-MS/MS – how our lab implemented it and how it improved our lab’s workflow and clinician satisfaction |
| 11 | March 4 | 11:30-12:30 | Lei Fu | TBC |
| 12 | March 18 | 14:00-15:00 | TBC | TBC |
| 13 | April 1 | 11:30-12:30 | Cody Lewis | Uncovering Variability in Transcutaneous Bilirubin Measurement Devices |
| 14 | April 15 | 14:00-15:00 | Sally Ezra | Adventures in Determining an Evidence-Based Ferritin RI |
| 15 | April 29 | 11:30-12:30 | TBC | TBC |
| 16 | May 13 | 11:30-12:30 | TBC | Fellows in Training Talks |
| 17 | May 27 | 14:00-15:00 | Janet Zhou | Lithium Monitoring in Practice: Coupling Analytical Performance with Observed Patient Data |
| #1. Sept 17, 2026 | Lead: An Ongoing Public Health Issue |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jessica Boyd is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is also medical director of Clinical Toxicology and Trace and Toxic Elements at ARUP Laboratories. She completed her PhD at the University of Alberta followed by Clinical Biochemistry Fellowship training at the University of Calgary/Calgary Laboratory Services. She is board certified by the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and the American Board of Clinical Chemistry in Toxicological Chemistry. |
| Overview: | It is now recognized that there is no safe level of lead exposure. However, lead remains an important public health concern despite significant efforts to reduce its presence in food, water, and consumer products. The clinical laboratory plays a critical role in both screening for lead exposure and monitoring individuals who have been exposed. This presentation will review common routes of lead exposure, public health recommendations for lead screening and follow-up, and key analytical considerations for lead testing. |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: (1) Describe common exposure sources and health risks associated with lead (2) Understand public health guidance for lead (3) Discuss laboratory considerations and challenges associated with lead testing |
| #2. Oct 1, 2026 | Beyond Self Report: Development of a Phosphatidylethanol assay by LC-MS/MS for Liver Transplant Evaluation |
| Speaker: | Jessica Miller completed her PhD in Chemistry at Simon Fraser University in 2020 and subsequently started the Clinical Chemistry fellowship at the University of Toronto. Upon completion in 2022, she started as a Clinical Biochemist at Dynacare, working on method development, validation, and clinical implementation of tests by mass spectrometry. She currently works as a Clinical Biochemist at the University Health Network, overseeing the operation of the clinical mass spectrometry lab in addition to other areas. Her areas of interest include toxicology and therapeutic drug monitoring. |
| Overview: | This presentation will highlight the clinical utility of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a highly sensitive and specific biomarker of alcohol use. The clinical role of PEth in the evaluation and monitoring of liver transplant candidates will be discussed, including its advantages over traditional biomarkers and self-reported measures of alcohol consumption. In an effort to provide a timely, objective assessment of alcohol use to support clinical decision-making throughout the liver transplant pathway, we have developed an in-house LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of PEth. The method development and validation will be discussed in this presentation. |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to:
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| #3. Oct 15, 2026 | Drug Screen for Pre-Employment |
| Speaker: | Nguyen Nguyen, PhD, DABCC, is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of Chemistry and Toxicology at Baylor Scott & White Health in Temple, Texas. He is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and has extensive experience in clinical chemistry, toxicology, mass spectrometry, laboratory operations, and assay development. Dr. Nguyen leads clinical laboratory programs involving LC-MS/MS testing, therapeutic drug monitoring, toxicology, method development and validation, quality management, and regulatory compliance. His work has focused on expanding the use of mass spectrometry in routine clinical practice, including drug testing, endocrine testing, measured glomerular filtration rate, and antimicrobial therapeutic drug monitoring. He also serves as Program Director for the ComACC-accredited Clinical Chemistry Fellowship Program at Baylor Scott & White Health, where he is involved in graduate medical education and training future clinical chemists. His academic and professional interests include improving analytical performance, developing practical laboratory workflows, and evaluating how emerging technologies can improve diagnostic testing and patient care. Dr. Nguyen received his PhD in Chemistry and completed formal fellowship training in clinical chemistry. |
| Overview: | Pre-employment drug testing is widely used, yet conventional workflows continue to rely heavily on immunoassay screening followed by confirmatory mass spectrometry. This roundtable reviews the strengths and limitations of that approach and examines whether direct LC-MS/MS can provide a more effective alternative when mass spectrometry infrastructure and expertise already exist. Using Baylor Scott & White Health’s experience implementing a 21-analyte direct LC-MS/MS panel, the session will discuss assay selection, drug menus and cutoffs, specimen validity testing, cost and workflow considerations, result interpretation, and MRO adjudication. Participants will also discuss unresolved questions including cannabis, fentanyl, thebaine, appropriate detection thresholds, and what a positive urine drug result should mean in the employment setting. The current BSWH panel was implemented in September 2024. |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Compare immunoassay-based and direct LC-MS/MS strategies for pre-employment drug testing. 2) Evaluate drug menu selection and cutoff concentrations based on analytical, regulatory, and operational considerations. 3) Interpret drug-testing results within an occupational-health workflow, including specimen validity and MRO adjudication. |
| #4. Oct 29, 2026 | (1) Predicting Low Free and Bioavailable Testosterone Using Total Testosterone: Development of a Reflex Model using Logistic Regression (2) Evaluation of the Diazyme Serum Free Light Chain Assay on the Abbott Alinity c Platform: Comparison with Freelite Assay and Reference Interval Concordance |
| Speakers: | (1) Dennis Orton is a Clinical Biochemist with the BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Prior to that, Dennis worked as a Clinical Biochemist in Calgary, Alberta for Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) who provide testosterone testing for the province. Dennis is the co-chair of the Analytics in Clinical Laboratories Special Interest group of the CSCC and is actively involved in education of clinical biochemists, post-doctoral fellows, residents, and lab staff on the basics of data science and provide evidence where the use of data may drive better patient care and improve clinical laboratory workflows. (2) Casey Williamson is a second-year Clinical Chemistry fellow at the University of Toronto. Getting her to this field, she first completed her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Biology with a minor in Biochemistry at Laurentian University. At that time, she completed a thesis relating to the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system and fetal programming of hypertension. She then completed a Master of Science at Laurentian University on the regulation of catecholamine biosynthesis. Following this project, she completed a PhD at the University of Guelph that primarily focused on podocyte injury mechanisms in diabetic nephropathy and the role of nephrin signaling in pancreatic islets. Currently, her postdoctoral experience in the Clinical Chemistry program at the University of Toronto has included rotations at Mount Sinai Hospital, University Health Network (UHN), and The Hospital for Sick Children. Research topics of interest within this time have included hemoglobin A1c methodologies, pediatric reference intervals, and markers of acute kidney injury. Today, she joins us to present work from UHN on the comparison between Diazyme and Freelite assays for free light chain quantitation. |
| Overview: | (1) This talk will present an investigation into the diagnostic efficacy of total testosterone to predict low free or bioavailable testosterone on a large outpatient cohort using logistic regression analysis. The end goal is improving diagnostic yield of subsequent free and bioavailable testosterone testing for diagnosis of hypogonadism. (2) This presentation will describe the benefits and challenges of serum free light chain (sFLC) measurement in clinical testing. The presentation will first highlight the limitations of clinical guidelines that reference sFLC values, and it will emphasize how new sFLC reference intervals (RIs) aim to improve their interpretation. Additionally, method comparisons for κ, λ, and κ/λ ratio will be presented for Diazyme assay on the Alinity c platform and Freelite assay on the Optilite platform. Overall concordance between methods will be assessed using manufacturer or iSTOPMM cutoffs. |
| Learning Objectives: | (1) At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: -Understand the differences between calculated free and bioavailable testosterone compared with measured values. -Describe a reflex strategy using total testosterone to predict low free or bioavailable testosterone. -Consider the implementation of a reflex strategy for free and bioavailable testosterone to improve utilization of these tests. (2) At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: -Compare κ, λ, and κ/λ ratio quantitation between Diazyme and Freelite assays -Assess the impact of manufacturer and iSTOPMM reference intervals on result classification -Evaluate how concordance and discordance between sFLC methods can impact clinical interpretation |
| #5. Nov 12, 2026 | Mass Spectrometry for Clinical Tissue Protein Testing |
| Speaker: | |
| Overview: | Clinical immunohistochemistry is indispensable, but antibody dependence, preanalytic variability, and visual interpretation can make protein testing difficult to standardize. This talk explores tissue mass spectrometry as an orthogonal, complementary approach. I will trace our amyloid-typing service from routine data-dependent acquisition (DDA) testing to a data-independent acquisition (DIA) assay, showing how peptide measurements become diagnostic calls. I will then turn to the development of a tissue assay for Hirschsprung disease. Throughout, the emphasis is on making complex assays reproducible and transferable through scripted workflows, transparent validation, open-access software, and detailed standard operating procedures |
| Learning Objectives: | At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Explain the clinical rationale for tissue mass spectrometry and the progression from DDA to DIA amyloid typing. 2) Describe how scripted analysis, validation, and shared protocols support reproducible, transferable amyloid testing. 3) Describe the rationale and approach for developing a mass spectrometry assay for Hirschsprung disease. |