FEATURE ARTICLES

The countdown is on, with the 2025 IBMS Congress set to open its doors on 22 September. Here IBMS Vice President Sarah May presents a roundup of the key features of this year’s event.

The third in Stephen MacDonald’s latest series of articles focuses this month on the use of risk-based approaches and the application of methods such as FMEA, FTA, RCA and Process Mapping.

Stephen MacDonald continues his new series on the management of risk in the pathology laboratory environment with a look at three practical approaches, process mapping, failure mode and effects analysis, and fault tree analysis.

The recent spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the domestic and wild bird population has once again caused thoughts to turn to ongoing pandemic preparedness both in animals and humans. Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation reviews a selection of current interest in this virus in the scientific literature.

Following on from his recent article on Escherichia coli, Dr Neil Bentley looks at Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), considering the multiple challenges posed by this pathogen and recent diagnostic advances.

Integrating artificial intelligence into flow cytometry workflows offers huge potential benefits both in research and clinical diagnostics. Here, Shahnawaz Memon looks at current and future applications.

The Royal College of General Practitioners’ Research and Surveillance Centre plays a key role in the UK’s disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness. Dominic Dunn explains how the role has developed in recent years and its plans for future growth and to involve more laboratories.

Werfen UK recently hosted its first Acute Care User Group Meeting, hearing from a knowledgeable line up of speakers as well as launching a groundbreaking update for its GEM range of blood gas analysers.

On Thursday 15 May 2025, the BSMT will celebrate its 40th Anniversary Microbiology Conference. Renowned for the quality of its presentations and speakers, the event will once again offer a cutting edge programme not to be missed.

While most strains of Escherichia coli are harmless and can even be beneficial, others are extensively pathogenic and pose serious health risks. Dr Neil Bentley examines the role of E. coli in human health and disease, looking at how the global health challenges it presents can be tackled.

Recently The Royal College of Pathologists’ virtual conference on antimicrobial resistance brought together leading experts from around the world to discuss the urgent need for solutions to this global health crisis. Here, Carmel Aldridge presents key takeaways from the conference, shedding light on the essential roles of accurate diagnostics and effective antimicrobial stewardship.

In this article, Lauraline Winter delves into the profound significance of tissue archiving within histopathology; shedding light on its pivotal role in advancing medical science.

Implementing a digital pathology workflow comes at a considerable cost; and measuring the return on investment is a difficult and multi-faceted task. Here, the pathology team at Vestfold Hospital Trust in Norway share their experience of going digital and evaluating the benefits.

As recent research illustrates, platelet function and platelet counting have wider application than simply their role in the study of haemostasis. Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation compiles a selection of current interest in the medical literature.

Stephen MacDonald returns with the first in a new series of articles. Here, he begins with an introduction to the subject of management of risk in the pathology laboratory environment.

The Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) scheme has recently published its Annual Report, collecting and analysing information on serious adverse events in blood transfusion within the UK. SHOT Laboratory Incident Specialist Victoria Tuckley presents a summary of its key points.

This year’s British Society for Microbial Technology Annual Microbiology Conference will be held on 15 May at the RAF Museum in Hendon, north London, and will cover a range of different topics. Here, Pathology in Practice provides the first of two previews of the programme.

With digital equipment and workflows now proliferating in pathology laboratories, the next technological leap is the introduction of artificial intelligence. Here, Dr Kayla Hackman MD, Benjamin Dyer and Hallie Rane look at the roles for AI in clinical and diagnostic workflows.

Clinisys’ second big customer summit of 2024 saw more than 150 people gather at The Belfry to hear about the roadmap for its order communications and results reporting system, innovative use-cases, and why it all matters. Matthew Fouracre reports.

Adoption of digital pathology has the potential to transform histopathology services within the NHS, but a cohesive strategy is required to realise the full benefits nationwide. Source LDPath looks at digital adoption so far and previews key recommendations from a forthcoming white paper from a National Working Group for Digital Pathology.