Posted: February 2023

News

The World Health Organization has set ambitious global targets for the control of a range of infectious diseases, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections, human papillomavirus, tuberculosis, and others. These global targets can only be attained if people at risk have access to accurate testing. However, for many communities at risk of these infections, timely testing is unavailable or difficult to access because it requires centralised, sophisticated laboratories.

The recent advances in point-of-care testing have the potential to be transformative by decentralising accurate diagnostic testing in community settings, but in many contexts this potential remains unrealised.

To accelerate access to new point-of-care technology, we need research in all these areas to provide the most effective implementation pathways. To respond to this evolving challenge, ASHM and the RAPID Point of Care Research Consortium for infectious disease in the Asia Pacific made the decision to run this two-day conference. The conference will collaborate with leading scientists, clinicians, and other stakeholders to develop a program on the ever-evolving landscape of point-of-care testing for infectious diseases and provide time to discuss challenges and solutions to scaling up point-of-care testing in this setting.

NRL in collaboration with our partners are at the forefront of Point of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases.

We are not only exhibiting at POC23, but also have two expert staff presenting. Please see below for details.

The full conference program and further details can be found here.

Our POC23 Presenters

  • Wayne Dimech

    Wayne Dimech is NRL’s Executive Manager, Scientific and Business Relations. He obtained a B.App. Sci; an MBA and is a Fellow at the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists and the Faculty of Science (Research) of the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia.

    Having worked in private and public pathology laboratories and specialised in infectious disease serology, Wayne’s research interests include the control and standardisation of assays that detect and monitor infectious diseases.  He is an advisor for numerous national and international working groups, including European Commission expert panels in the field of medical devices; ISO TC/212 WG5 Biorisk and BioSafety; Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory Medicine (JCTLM) – Nucleic Acid Testing and consultancies under the auspice of WHO, International Health Regulations, and UNDP.

    Wayne has authored or co-authored about 50 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and contributed to three book chapters.

    At POC23, Wayne will be presenting on: Implementation of a fit-for-purpose point of care quality assurance program.

    Liza Cabuang

    Liza is a Senior Scientist within NRL’s Research and Development team and is spearheading NRL’s Point of Care Testing projects.

    She is a Medical Scientist with experience in both medical research and diagnostic pathology. Having started as a generalist in microbiology, she then specialised in Hepatitis viruses. Liza’s experiences have allowed her to look at healthcare on a holistic level: from assay design to clinical outcome.

    At POC23, Liza will be presenting on: Designing quality assurance samples suitable for point of care testing.