Microbiome-Directed Therapies for Undernutrition, Big Data for Precision Medicine, Health Equity, and More to Be Explored at 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo

ANAHEIM, Calif., July 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, laboratory experts will present cutting-edge research and technology that is shaping the future of clinical testing and patient care. From July 23-27 in Anaheim, California, the meeting's 250-plus sessions will deliver insights on a broad range of timely healthcare topics. Highlights include discussions about addressing childhood undernutrition using microbiome-directed therapies, harnessing the power of big data to practice precision medicine, creating more equitable healthcare systems, improving cardiovascular care for women, and using genomic-modification strategies to treat sickle cell disease.

Microbiome-Directed Therapies for Childhood Undernutrition. Scientists are exploring whether disruptions to the normal development of the human gut microbiome—a collection of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract—could play a role in causing childhood undernutrition. In the meeting's opening plenary, Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon discusses the possibility of developing microbiome-directed therapies to address this devastating global health problem. Dr. Gordon is the 2023 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Awardee and founding director of The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Practicing Precision Medicine from 700 Trillion Data Points. Over the past decade, researchers and clinicians have measured trillions of points of molecular, clinical, and epidemiological data that could be harnessed to improve disease diagnostics and therapeutics. In this plenary session, Dr. Atul Butte, chief data scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, highlights his center's recent work on integrating electronic health records data from over 8 million patients and discusses how such big data could help providers to practice more precise medicine.

Choosing Equity in Healthcare. The 2020 reckoning with racism in America had an intersectional impact on health, healthcare delivery, and medical education. Dr. Thea James, vice president of mission, associate chief medical officer, and co-executive director of the Health Equity Accelerator at Boston Medical Center, will share how one academic healthcare system approached an enterprise-wide transformation toward organizational equity.

Addressing Cardiovascular Disease in Women. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for U.S. women, yet the underrepresentation of women in medical research has led to pervasive sex-based gaps in knowledge and care delivery. In this plenary session, Dr. Nanette K. Wenger, professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine, calls for a cultural shift toward equity, including awareness campaigns that identify cardiovascular disease as the major health threat for women.

Advances in Curative Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease. In the meeting's closing plenary, Dr. Mark C. Walters, chief of the hematology division and professor of pediatrics/hematology at the University of California, San Francisco, will discuss diverse new approaches for addressing sickle cell disease that apply genomic modifications to patients' cells to elicit a therapeutic effect. He will present examples of both promising results and pitfalls, while also exploring how to ensure equitable access to these new therapies.

Additionally, at the Clinical Lab Expo, more than 900 exhibitors will display innovative technologies that are just coming to market in every clinical lab discipline.

"The 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting program showcases the versatility of laboratory medicine professionals and the enormous impact they have on improving health and healthcare," said AACC CEO Mark J. Golden. "From investigating promising therapies to translating data into better medicine to advancing equity in healthcare systems, our plenary speakers exemplify the pioneering vision and collaborative nature of the clinical laboratory community."

Session Information

AACC Annual Scientific Meeting registration is free for members of the media. Reporters can register online here: https://www.xpressreg.net/register/aacc0723/media/landing.asp

Microbiome-Directed Therapies for Childhood Undernutrition
11001 Developing Microbiome-Directed Therapeutics for Treating Childhood Undernutrition
Sunday, July 23
5:00-6:30 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time

Practicing Precision Medicine from 700 Trillion Data Points
12001 Precisely Practicing Medicine from 700 Trillion Points of Data
Monday, July 24
8:45-10:15 a.m., U.S. Pacific Time

Choosing Equity in Healthcare
13001 Choosing Equity in Healthcare: An Organizational Transformation
Tuesday, July 25
8:45-10:15 a.m., U.S. Pacific Time

Addressing Cardiovascular Disease in Women
14001 Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Epidemiology, Awareness, Access, and Delivery of Equitable Health Care
Wednesday, July 26
8:45-10:15 a.m., U.S. Pacific Time

Advances in Curative Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease
15001 Advances in Curative Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease
Thursday, July 27
8:45-10:15 a.m., U.S. Pacific Time

About the 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo
The 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting offers 5 days packed with opportunities to learn about exciting science from July 23-27 in Anaheim, California. Plenary sessions will explore microbiome-directed therapies for undernutrition, big data for practicing precision medicine, healthcare equity, cardiovascular disease in women, and promising sickle cell disease treatments.

At the Clinical Lab Expo, more than 900 exhibitors will fill the show floor of the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, with displays of the latest diagnostic technology, including but not limited to COVID-19 testing, artificial intelligence, point-of-care, and automation.

About the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)
Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, ADLM (formerly AACC) brings together more than 70,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, ADLM has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.myadlm.org.

Contact:
Bill Malone
AACC
Director, Communications & News Publications
(p) 202.835.8756
[email protected]

Molly Polen
AACC
Senior Director, Communications & PR
(p) 202.420.7612
(c) 703.598.0472
[email protected] 

SOURCE ADLM