Recent Activities - 2016

June 2016: Report on the Canadian Animal Health Laboratorians Network Annual Meeting

NRL’s mission is to promote the quality of tests and testing for infectious diseases globally.  To this end, Liza Cabuang was invited to attend the 15th annual meeting of the Canadian Animal Health Laboratorians Network (CAHLN) in Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada between 5 and 8 June 2016. The meeting was held at the Atlantic Veterinary College and had an overall theme: “Collaboration in Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics and Animal Health”.  NRL’s role was to illustrate the importance of External Quality Assessment Schemes (EQAS) and Quality Control (QC) in human diagnostics and to provide insight into how EQAS providers, laboratories and assay manufacturers can successfully collaborate in the resolution of unusual results.

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Liza also ran a workshop on the design considerations and tools for analysis in Quality Assurance.  The workshop was designed to explore the differences between EQAS and QC.  It also demonstrated how the data from EQAS and QC could be used to improve assay design, staff training and quality of results.  The meeting was also a great opportunity to see infectious disease as much larger than the human condition, especially with respect to new and re-emerging infectious diseases.  NRL was privileged to be a part of this meeting and hopes to foster future collaborations within veterinary and animal health.