Novel Insights on COVID-19 Vaccines and Virus Evolution, Artificial Intelligence in the Clinic, Miniaturization of Diagnostic Platforms, and Much More to Be Explored at the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo

ATLANTA, Sept. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, laboratory medicine experts will present the cutting-edge research and technology that is revolutionizing clinical testing and patient care. From September 26-30 in Atlanta, Georgia, the meeting's 200-plus sessions will deliver insights on a broad range of timely healthcare topics. Highlights of these include discussions exploring COVID-19 vaccines and virus evolution, research lessons learned from the pandemic, artificial intelligence in the clinic, clinical translation of engineered microsystems, and improvements to treatments for cystic fibrosis.

COVID-19 Vaccines and Virus Evolution. SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus that easily mutates, and mutants that are not suppressed by the immune responses generated from prior infection or vaccination can then become dominant strains. In this plenary session, Dr. Margaret Liu, CEO of PAX Therapeutics and Chairman of the Board of the International Society for Vaccines, will shed light on whether the vaccines to fight this virus need to be able to neutralize newly arising strains, or if SARS-CoV-2 vaccines need to be remade annually like the flu vaccine to try to correspond to the current clinical circulating strains.

COVID-19 Research: Lessons Learned. The COVID-19 pandemic led to enormous scientific progress in a short time, and the development of the vaccines and the understanding of the virus happened at unprecedented rates and with great success. However, the effects of the pandemic have been dramatic on the scientific workforce, on the speed with which publishing has occurred, and on the ability to build public trust in science. In this plenary session, Holden Thorp, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Science Family of Journals, will address the need for the scientific community to come together to face the enormous challenges posed by the need for greater trust in science in the public in the U.S. and beyond.

Artificial Intelligence in the Clinic. In the meeting's opening keynote, Dr. Regina Barzilay, School of Engineering Distinguished Professor for AI and Health at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will explore the fact that, by nature, many traditional clinical tasks such as risk assessment, prediction of treatment efficacy, and forecasting patient trajectory can be thought of as prediction problems. Given sufficient amounts of patient data with outcomes, a machine learning model can make predictions which often exceed human experts in accuracy. However, to make these tools more applicable in the clinical setting, there is a need to augment artificial intelligence models with the ability to explain their decisions to humans, and assess their uncertainty.

Changing Lives of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis. Over the past 30 years, there has been a remarkable expansion in understanding of the genetic basis, molecular biology, and pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis resulting from loss of cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein function. The most extraordinary accomplishment has been the international effort of patients, families, clinicians, scientists, and non-profit foundations to translate this scientific knowledge into approved therapies, known as CFTR modulators, that are transforming the lives of individuals with cystic fibrosis. This plenary session will include two perspectives: that of Bonnie Ramsey, MD, Endowed Chair in Cystic Fibrosis Research at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who participated in the clinical development of this class of drugs, and that of Caley Mauch, a person living with cystic fibrosis, who will describe the impact of this therapy on daily life.

Miniaturization of Diagnostic Platforms. In this, the meeting's closing keynote, Dr. Wilbur A. Lam, W. Paul Bowers Research Chair and Chief Innovation Officer, Pediatric Technology Center at Emory University/Georgia Institute of Technology, will discuss microsystems-based COVID-19 diagnostics and his own lab's recent advances in miniaturization of diagnostic platforms, with a focus on hematology and hemostasis/thrombosis.

Additionally, at the Clinical Lab Expo, more than 400 exhibitors will display innovative technologies that are just coming to market in every clinical lab discipline.

"If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is laboratory medicine's capacity to adapt to changing healthcare circumstances and use the field's scientific insights to improve quality of life. This capacity is constantly growing, with cutting-edge diagnostic technologies emerging every day in areas as diverse as SARS-CoV-2, artificial intelligence, cystic fibrosis, and miniaturization," said AACC CEO Mark J. Golden. "The 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting will spotlight the trailblazers in laboratory medicine who are mobilizing these innovations to enhance patient care."

Session Information

AACC Annual Scientific Meeting registration is free for members of the media. Reporters can register online here: https://www.xpressreg.net/register/aacc0921/media/landing.asp

COVID-19 Vaccines and Virus Evolution

Session 12001 COVID-19: Vaccines and the Tango of Viral Evolution and Host Immune Responses 
Monday, September 27
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Georgia Ballroom

COVID-19 Research: Lessons Learned

Session 14001 Curating and Documenting Research During Chaos: Lessons from COVID-19 and Beyond 
Wednesday, September 29
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Georgia Ballroom

Artificial Intelligence in the Clinic

Session 11001 Artificial Intelligence in the Clinic: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities
Sunday, September 26
5 – 6:30 p.m.
Georgia Ballroom

Changing Lives of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis

Session 13001 The Remarkable Journey from Bench to Bedside: Changing Lives of Individuals with Cystic Fibrosis
Tuesday, September 28
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Georgia Ballroom

Miniaturization of Diagnostic Platforms

Session 15001 Clinical Translation of Engineered Microsystems: From COVID-19 to Hematology and Hemostasis
Thursday, September 30
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Georgia Ballroom

About the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo
The AACC Annual Scientific Meeting offers 5 days packed with opportunities to learn about exciting science from September 26-30. Plenary sessions explore COVID-19 vaccines and virus evolution, research lessons learned from the pandemic, artificial intelligence in the clinic, miniaturization of diagnostic platforms, and improvements to treatments for cystic fibrosis.

At the AACC Clinical Lab Expo, more than 400 exhibitors will fill the show floor of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta with displays of the latest diagnostic technology, including but not limited to COVID-19 testing, artificial intelligence, mobile health, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, point-of-care, and automation.

About AACC
Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, AACC brings together more than 50,000 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, AACC 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.aacc.org.

Christine DeLong
AACC
Senior Manager, Communications & PR
(p) 202.835.8722
[email protected]

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

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