30th Annual Summer Update July 15-19, 2013

Overview

This 24.25 hour review and update in the areas of clinical immunology, microbiology, and infectious diseases is intended to improve knowledge about the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of infectious diseases, immunological mechanisms of disease and disease prevention, appropriate approaches to the diagnosis of infections and immunologic disorders, and utilization of the clinical microbiology and immunology laboratory including selection and interpretation of results.

This course will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas dealing with microbial infections as well as immunity to infectious diseases and immunologic disorders. Faculty consists of clinicians involved in patient care, pathologists, and clinical laboratory scientists. Discussion of timely topics by faculty and participants assures that this course will be informative, interesting, and relevant.

On completion of the course, attendees should be able to:
  • Identify new emerging pathogens, infectious syndromes, and immunologic diseases including clinical presentations
  • Critically analyze current practice and laboratory procedures in diagnosing infectious and immunologic disorders as well as result reporting.
  • Update the current knowledge of the epidemiology and mechanisms of transmission of infectious disorders.
  • Assess new therapeutic modalities, which are being developed or utilized in treating infectious and immunologic diseases.
  • Discuss genetics and molecular diagnosis of infections and immunologic disorders.

Who Should Attend

Pathologists, clinical pathologists, laboratory scientists, pediatric, medicine and family medicine clinicians, infectious disease specialists, clinical immunologists and allergists, microbiologists, residents and postdoctoral fellows. Medical technologists, laboratory managers, nurse practitioners, hospital epidemiologists, research and development technologists, and pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry personnel will also find the course of great value (suggested background: professional degrees or medical technologist degrees in pathology, microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases.)

Special Topics

  • The Staphylococcus - Clinical Aspects
  • The Neutrophil - Protector or Slayer
  • Update on Detection of Bacteremia
  • Laboratory Test Accountability: A 7th Competency
  • Update on Parasitology
  • Group A Strep update
  • C difficile Update
  • Free Light Chain Testing in Monoclonal Gammopathies
  • Personalized Approach to Monitor Response Failure to Anti-TNF-a Bbiotherapies
  • The Mass Spectrometry Revolution in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory
  • MRSA Laboratory Testing
  • Respiratory Viral Diagnostics
  • Update 2013: Advances in TB Drug Resistance Testing
  • Wilderness Medicine for the Microbiologist
  • Chronic Granulomatous Disease
  • The Innate Immune System: Toll Receptors
  • Bordetella pertussis: The Continuing Medical Challenge
  • Direct Acting Antivirals for Hepatitis C: A Giant Leap Forward
  • Primary Antibody Deficiencies
  • Genetic Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases
  • Detection of Antibodies to IgA in Deficiency
  • IFN-beta/gamma Neutralizing Antibodies
  • Update in Medical Education
  • Syphilis - Then and Now (Ethics & Medical Research
  • Case Presentations
  • Obama Care
  • New Laboratory Guidelines for HIV Testing
  • Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) by Quantifying T -Cell Receptor Excision Circles
  • Sample-to-Answer Syndromic Panels for Molecular Infectious Disease at the Point of Impact
  • Efficient Polymerase Chain Reaction in Less than 1 Minute