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4th Annual LifeLabs Healthcare Providers Conference - BC

Thursday, 08 September, 2022
5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection. 13475 Central Ave, Surrey, BC V3T 0L8

Our Goal

To improve the care of our patients by fostering ongoing collaborative relationship with the lab that allow for better utilization and interpretation of laboratory tests.

As life slowly returns to normal, the laboratory physicians and scientists at Lifelabs are looking forward to a return to our in-person educational evenings designed for our health care providers.

For this session, our lab physician experts will present case-based topics that include:

  1. Hyponatremia: More common than you think
  2. Infectious Diarrhea Diagnosis: A move to syndromic diagnosis in BC
  3. STIs: What’s new including Mycoplasma genitalium
  4. Lymphocytosis:
  5. Immunodeficiency: What workup can I do in primary care?

Who Should Attend

The conference is designed with primary care providers in mind – general practitioners, nurse practitioners and naturopaths will likely benefit most from the content.  However, other physicians or allied health professionals who regularly order or interpret laboratory tests may also fi nd the conference useful.

Topics and Speakers

Our PhD and MD laboratory medicine staff includes specialists in Biochemistry/Toxicology, Hematology, Microbiology/Infectious Diseases and Genetics. They will share their expertise through formal presentations and also be available for informal discussion before and after the sessions.

Presentations will use a case-based format to address clinically-oriented topics in laboratory test selection and interpretation. 

Conference Agenda

Time 

Duration 

Topic 

Speaker 

5:30pm – 6:00pm  

30 minutes 

Registration (Please sign in and collect name badge) 

Meet your LifeLabs Medical Staff and ask questions 

Dinner (Buffet) 

6:05pm – 6:10pm 

5 minutes 

Introduction 

Opening Remarks and Welcome 

Emcee: Dr. Graham Segal 

BC Medical Director: Dr. Romina Reyes 

6:10pm – 6:30pm 

20 minutes 

Hyponatremia in primary care – more common  than you think! –  Diagnosis and management 

Dr. Graham Segal MD ABP CCFP 

Clinical Pathologist, Lifelabs BC 

Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC 

6:30pm – 6:50pm 

20 minutes 

Updates in infectious diseases testing: (i) Mycoplasma genitalium (ii) the new BC infectious diarrhea testing guidelines. 

Dr. Diana Whellams MD FRCPC 

Dr. Miguel Imperial MD FRCPC 

Medical Microbiologist, Lifelabs BC 

Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC 

6:50pm – 7:10pm 

20 minutes 

Panorama-updates on SNP based NIPS. 

Dawn Siciliano BSc MSc CCGC 

Genetic Counsellor, Lifelabs BC 

Clinical Instructor, UBC 

7:10pm – 7:25pm 

15 minutes 

Stretch and Refresh Break  

 

7:25pm – 7:45pm 

20 minutes 

Immunodeficiency workup in primary care 

Dr. Peter van den Elzen MD FRCPC 

Clinical Associate Professor, UBC 

Clinical Pathologist, Lifelabs BC 

7:45pm – 8:05pm 

20 minutes 

Lymphocytosis: what does it mean and what to do? 

Dr. Ayesha Vawda MD FRCPC 

Clinical Associate Professor, UBC 

Clinical Director, Hematology, Lifelabs BC 

8:05pm-8:25pm 

20 minutes 

Q&A – Common Clinical Pathology Questions and Consultations 

Panel 

8:25pm- 8:30pm 

5 minutes 

Closing Remarks 

Emcee: Dr. Graham Segal 

8:30pm – 9:00pm  

35 Minutes 

Meet and Mingle – Meet your LifeLabs Medical Staff and ask questions 

 

Registration

Registration is free! Sign up now to secure your spot – space is limited.  This educational event may qualify for up to two hours of unaccredited group learning activity.  Conference registration includes a free gourmet buffet dinner and non-alcoholic beverages.

Meet the Team

Healthcare Providers Conference Steering Committee – Meet the Team

Dr. Michael T. Kelly MD, PhD, FRCPC
Medical Microbiologist – Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics 

Dr Kelly has MD/PhD with specialty certification in medical microbiology from the Royal College in Canada and the American Board of Pathology in the US. Prior to joining LifeLabs, Dr. Kelly was a professor at University of Texas.  He is currently a clinical professor at UBC. He has been with LifeLabs for 31 years as Clinical Director of Microbiology and/or BC Medical Director at LifeLabs.

Other Highlights:

  • 100+ publications, 5 patents and 1 trademark.
  • Started molecular diagnostics in BC LifeLabs nearly 20 years ago that grew to be one of the largest volume molecular diagnostics labs doing clinical testing in Canada.
  • Medical Director of Microbiology at St. Joseph’s Peace Health Medical Centre, Bellingham.

 

Dr. Miguel Imperial MSc, MD, FRCPC
Medical Microbiologist – BC Clinical Director

Dr. Imperial is a graduate of UBC, having completed his BSc, MHSc, MD and specialty training in Medical Microbiology there. He did additional training in Tropical Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to coming to LifeLabs, Dr. Imperial worked as a Medical Microbiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control and at BC Biomedical Labs. He also worked as a Hospitalist in Eagle Ridge Hospital. He continues to be involved in tropical and travel medicine clinical consultations and in teaching at the UBC medical school. He is committed to improving the interface between clinical infectious diseases and the diagnostic microbiology laboratory..

 

Dr. William Schreiber  MD
BC Clinical Director Chemistry

Dr. William E. Schreiber is the Clinical Director for Chemistry, BC.  In this role, he provides medical oversight for all chemistry testing in British Columbia.  Before joining LifeLabs, he worked in the Division of Clinical Chemistry at Vancouver General Hospital.  He also served as medical director of the Provincial Toxicology Center, which provides both forensic and clinical toxicology services for the entire province.

Other Highlights

  • UBC: committed a large part of his career to the education of medical students, residents and colleagues; directed medical biochemistry residency program for ten years and served as associate dean for undergraduate education from 1999-2002.
  • 2016: President of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
  • Served on the editorial board of Lab Tests Online (labtestsonline.org) and continues to review for the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

 

Dr. Diana Whellams MPH, MD, FRCPC
Medical Microbiologist

Dr. Whellams completed a Master’s degree in Public Health at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in 2009.  She subsequently pursued her MD and residency training in medical microbiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Whellams joined LifeLabs in the summer of 2017. She has interests in quality assurance and education.

 

Sangeeta Hussain 
Administrative/Event Coordinator

Sangeeta Hussain joined LifeLabs in April of 2017.  Prior to joining LifeLabs, her career included Executive Assistant to Leader of Opposition at Parliament of Fiji, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, BC Cancer Agency, Office Manager at Sydney, Australia Nursing Home and Administrative Support during the initial implementation of Agency for Pathology of Medicine.

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LifeLabs Healthcare Providers Conference Registration Form


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    LifeLabs will use the information provided in this form to register you for the event. Your contact information will also be used to provide you information on the upcoming events and conferences. You can email us at AnnualConference@lifelabs.com should you wish LifeLabs to not contact you for future events and conferences”.

    Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection, 13475 Central Ave, Surrey, BC, V3T 0L8

    The Conference will take place in the Grand Ballroom.

    Accommodation

    The hotel offers a special group rate of $209.00 CAD for the night of 8th September 2022. Deadline for this rate is 18 August 2022.
    Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection
    13475 Central Ave, Surrey, BC V3T 0L8
    If you have any additional questions regarding this event please contact:
    Sangeeta Hussain
    Conference Administrator annualconference@lifelabs.com
    

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