Events during September 2023

Globally, arthropod-borne viral diseases represent one the of greatest threats to public and animal health. Vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and midges transmit a vast range of viruses. For the UK, historically free of many arthropod-borne pathogens, events in mainland Europe have had a profound impact on the risk of disease emergence and this trend will continue. Mosquito-borne viruses provide an example of this process where the introduction of exotic species, such as the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) across much of Europe, has increased the risk of emergence of human pathogens such as dengue and chikungunya fever. This mosquito species has also been detected in southern England.

In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in the distribution of zoonotic viruses such as West Nile and Usutu in mainland Europe that are making the introduction of these pathogens through short distance bird migration increasingly likely. This has been realised with the repeated detection of Usutu virus in Central London during the late summer months since 2020. In the absence of vaccines against many of these viruses, early detection linked to public awareness campaigns offer the best options for mitigating the impact of these threats.

Eco-epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis virus in the UK

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is the most widely distributed hard tick-borne disease in the world.

Different factors, such as a better knowledge of the disease, but also trade, modifications of the migratory bird routes and, probably, the climate change are favouring its increase.

The example of the emergence in Spain will be reviewed.

Leadership wellbeing is about cultivating an environment of care, for others around you but also importantly for yourself.

Taking an active approach on wellbeing leads to better communication, efficiency and ultimately higher performance. It has a huge impact on staff retention, allowing staff to feel seen and understood, and giving them the opportunity to explore their creativity. Wellbeing starts with self-reflection to understand individual obstacles. Creating a space to identify these, allows the member to respond appropriately, thereby not reacting immediately.

Discussing some helpful tips and taking part in a few activities, we hope that members will take some of these useful tools to their own areas to use.

Transplant Assessment and Relative Opportunity Tool (TAROT) for Renal Transplantation: Improving the chance of transplant for immunologically complex patients

This presentation will introduce basic sleep physiology related to the pathophysiological mechanisms Narcolepsy is a rare but debilitating neurological sleep disorder, with a worldwide prevalence of 25-50 per 100,000 people. Onset is most common during the adolescent years, though a diagnostic delay of around 10 years is common. There is currently no cure, though symptoms can be managed using pharmacotherapy. Biochemistry services provide an important role in confirming a diagnosis of narcolepsy in line with current international guidelines such as the International Classification of Sleep Disorders 3rd edition (ICSD-3).

The aims of this talk are to:

1. Introduce basic sleep physiology related to the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning narcolepsy.

2. To describe the signs and symptoms of narcolepsy and their impact on patients.

3. To review the diagnosis of narcolepsy including the role of biomarkers such as HLA type and CSF hypocretin.

4. To summarise treatment options for narcolepsy.

Controlled human infection models (CHIMs) allow researchers to deliberately infect volunteers with a carefully pre-defined viral inoculum and perform detailed investigations. These can examine both pre-existing immune responses and allow longitudinal sampling of multiple immunological compartments following infection. The unique nature of these CHIMs avoid the multiple confounding factors, which tend to limit conventional observational studies of naturally acquired viral infections in patients.

We have successfully established challenge models of influenza (H1N1 and H3N2), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV2, and used a variety of tools (such as multi-parameter flow cytometry, ELISpot, multiplex cytokine and chemokine arrays and transcriptomics) to characterise populations of low-frequency virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in both peripheral blood and cells in the upper and lower airways from challenge participants. We have also been able to extend our infection models into vulnerable populations, such as older adults, and use these techniques to investigate fundamental questions about the kinetics, specificities, and functionality of the cell-mediated response in these clinically relevant populations.

Challenge models allow us to probe the immune response to respiratory viral infections in a uniquely detailed manner. These advantages also make challenge models an attractive approach to testing the efficacy of novel vaccines and vaccine platforms, potentially leading to new vaccines and therapeutics, able to generate robust anti-viral immunity, while avoiding the significant risks and costs associated with traditional Phase II/III vaccine trials.

Complement testing

Complement genetic testing

The IBMS Specialist Diploma is an important part of the development of Biomedical Scientists and is used as a mechanism to allow progress from band 5 to band 6 (or equivalent) by most laboratories. In recent years, various factors have impacted the ability of laboratories to support Specialist Portfolio training, resulting in recruitment challenges at the specialist level.

To address this, Pathology Practice Educators in London took a collaborative approach to deliver specialist training, covering the knowledge aspects of the Clinical Biochemistry Specialist Portfolio in a series of webinars. To support the webinar series and host resources we created a centralised online learning resource on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform.

The successful pilot project has been used as a blueprint, taking this initiative across all UK Pathology networks, and covering 6 major disciplines. Learn about the journey of this pioneering specialist training programme for Biomedical Scientists and our exciting plans to expand the learning resources and widen the scope to other IBMS qualifications.

Following the presentation you are invited by the speaker to complete this online form