Reports from CSCC Special Interest Groups
Monoclonal Gammopathy Special Interest Group
Submitted by Dr. Tracy Morrison, Chair
The Monoclonal Gammopathy Special Interest Group (MG-SIG) has been active over the past year with a strong focus on education. With ongoing and exciting advances in the field, maintaining competency that parallels our clinical colleagues has been a well-received initiative by MG-SIG members. With bi-monthly Teams meetings, members have viewed the most updated content in the field from the International Myeloma Society (IMS). Topics included developments in disease definition, treatment advances, and updated guidelines, all of which involve the core tests routinely used across clinical laboratories across Canada, as well as new ones.
The in-person MG-SIG meeting at the 2026 CSCC annual meeting in Halifax was well attended. Members had the opportunity to give their feedback on the direction of the group and the focus for the upcoming academic year. Members also supported each other with information sharing on laboratory specific activities. The session ended with an interesting case on the effect of bi-specific antibody therapy on serum free light chain (sFLC) testing.
The MG-SIG can look forward to new initiatives this September with continued focus on education, as well as the development of projects, and emphasis on case-based learning.
Point of Care Testing (POCT) Special Interest Group
Submitted by Dr. Julie Shaw, Chair
The POCT SIG held an in-person meeting in Halifax. The meeting started with updates from the various SIG sub-group leads. These included updates from the following subgroups:
- Fetal scalp lactate – led by Dr. Angela Fung
- Use of continuous glucose monitors in hospital – led by Dr. Julie Shaw
- Guidance for POCT glucose use in neonates – led by Dr. Julie Shaw
- POCT quality indicators – co-led by Dr. Julie Shaw and Dr. Vincent De Guire (QI SIG)
- Choosing Wisely for POCT – led by Dr. Allison Venner
- POCT use outside hospitals – led by Dr. Andre Mattman (Pharmacy), Dr. Sukhbir Kaur (Long-term care)
- Benchmarking POCT resource requirements – led by Dr. Felix Leung
The group discussed ideas for future SIG initiatives. There was agreement to focus on four priority areas, which include:
- Development of a POCT scope document
- Partnering with the Utilization SIG on the use of POCT when there are laboratory reagent shortages
- POCT ethanol testing
- Calculating uncertainty of measurement for POCT methods.
Utilization Management Special Interest Group
Submitted by Dr. Mohamed Abouelhassan, Chair
The Utilization Management Special Interest Group met at the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemistry conference in Halifax. The SIG chair reviewed last year’s presentations on test‑utilization initiatives and associated challenges. Thanks to Dr. Manal Elnenaei and Dr. Ihssan Bouhtiauy for their interesting presentations on “Guiding Fancy Testing the Evidence‑Based Way” (Oct 2025) and “Vitalité Health Authority Approach to Implement Lab Utilization Strategies” (Jan 2026). Attendees proposed engaging topics for next year’s educational sessions (e.g. glucometer test utilization, alcohol ordering practices, and urine microscopy) and volunteers are already in place. These sessions will continue to raise awareness of national test‑utilization initiatives and help connect Canadian clinical chemists to standardize practices where feasible.
Additionally, the group reviewed progress from the CSCC Resource‑Scarcity working group. The chair presented a draft of the proposed position statement outlining strategies to reduce tube consumption during supply shortages. The group reviewed the current content and proposed additional sections to add. The group also proposed forming new working groups on (1) Laboratory Sustainability & Carbon Footprint, (2) updating the CADTH MRI list, (3) allergy‑test utilization, and (4) test underutilization. All attendees expressed interest in joining one or more of the new working groups. The chair will coordinate with the SIG members to launch these initiatives.
Anyone interested in joining any of these Special Interest Groups, please contact Head Office – info@cscc-sccc.ca