Events on 27 September 2023

Quality control in serology laboratory presentation, given at the IBMS London Branch Virology Discussion Group on 4th June 2019

The IBMS Biopod is a monthly podcast for members. Each episode will feature experts from the field discussing their research and talking about the latest developments.

Phadia Academy is an online learning platform by Thermo Fisher Scientific aimed at Lab staff primarily BMSes in Immunology Labs. It includes courses for autoimmune diseases, allergy, and our instruments. We would like to have it as a link on the IBMS webpage, as it was in previous years.

Allocated as Lecture/Study: 2h 15m
Allocated as Practical Element: 1h 00m
Allocated as Q&A/Discussion: 1h 15m

IBMS Congress 2023 is an important forum for progressing your professional skills and knowledge, supporting career development and promoting the profession.

Full Hands-on Practical Microtomy Training course.

Microtomy is a skill that requires training and practice. The course is practical and hands-on for anyone who desire to work in histopathology department.

25-27th September 2023
2- 4th October 2023
9-11th October 2023
18-20th October 2023

Develop an understanding of the required equipment used in a modern Mohs laboratory
Understand how to embrace design and automation in a modern Mohs laboratory.
Understand the required skills while they are using automated and advanced equipment in Mohs laboratory.
To be aware how automated and advanced equipment will provide enhanced and more accurate results and improve quality performance.

Delegates will:

Gain an appreciation of the diversity and range of tumour types that can be assessed using Mohs.
Comprehend the complexity of technical requirements to ensure cases are dealt with effectively.
Recognise unusual findings and be able to adjust the investigative procedures in a 'live' setting
Appreciate tumour pattern recognition in Mohs cases

Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) techniques provide the gold standard diagnostic tests for a number of autoimmune immunobullous diseases, including pemphigus and pemphigoid and have clinical utility in other autoantibody-mediated disorders. They are typically performed on unfixed, frozen skin, mucosal and renal biopsies. For optimal diagnostic value, material for DIF requires careful preparation and a number of factors contribute to the quality of the assessed tissue sections. In particular, weak specific fluorescence intensity and high non-specific background fluorescence can hinder accurate interpretation.

This presentation will provide a brief overview of best practice for optimising DIF performance, with a focus on skin and mucosal biopsies. Troubleshooting and helpful tips will be provided covering areas including specimen preparation and the importance of using an appropriate transport medium, rinsing considerations prior to block preparation, factors influencing embedding and cryotomy, protocols for optimising fluorescence and appropriate use of conjugates, imaging considerations for digital pathology solutions, storage of material prior to reporting and best practice strategies for maintaining internal and external quality control, with reference to the NEQAS CPT DIF EQA scheme.

Electron microscopy is essential for the diagnosis of a range of medical renal disorders, and its use is detecting immune deposits and basement membranes changes in native kideny biopsies will be familiar to many biomedical scientists and pathologists. EM is also used in the assessment of renal transplant biopsies.

In cases of recurrent disease the features are similar to those seen in native kidneys, but there are also specific features only seen in the transplant setting. This talk will focus on the utility of EM in renal transplant biopsies, demonstrating examples from relevant cases.