The College of Health Professions Department of Diagnostic and Health Sciences will host a webinar on Wednesday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. titled “The Role of Laboratory Testing in the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The webinar, which is free to the UTHSC community and the public, will feature a panel of experts in laboratory sciences, who will speak on the importance of dependable test results and other aspects of testing in this pandemic.
“Knowing who is infected, who is immune, and who is susceptible to COVID-19 are important keys to conquering the most-dangerous pandemic in a century,” said Hassan Aziz, PhD, FACSs, MLS(ASCP)cm, associate dean for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs in the College of Health Professions and interim chair of the Department of Diagnostic and Health Sciences.
Dr. Aziz said attendees of the webinar will learn general information about the coronavirus (CoV) family especially SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 (causative agent of COVID-19). The webinar will cover previous outbreaks, geographic parameters, and the morbidity/mortality of each. All aspects of testing, including specimen collection, methodologies and an overview of current FDA and Emergency Use Authorized (EUA) tests, will be covered. The webinar will also highlight how UTHSC responded to the health crisis.
Dr. Aziz will introduce the panel. The topics and speakers are:
- Update and Overview of COVID-19: Linda Williford Pifer, PhD, SM (ASCP), GS (ABB), UTHSC professor of Medical Laboratory Sciences
- Specimen Collection and Antigen versus Antibody Testing for SARS-CoV-2: Jacen Moore, PhD, MA, MT (ASCP), UTHSC assistant professor of Medical Laboratory Sciences
- Current Status of Diagnostic and Screening Tests for COVID-19: Anami Patel, PhD, vice president of Genomics Operations and Development for Poplar Healthcare
- Pathology and Lab Medicine and its role in a deadly pandemic: How the UTHSC Pathology Department responded to the Coronavirus crisis in the first 45 days: Mahul B. Amin, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Gerwin Endowed chair for Cancer Research, and director of Translational Research for the UTHSC Cancer Research Center
To join the webinar on Wednesday, go to: https://zoom.us/j/98647190687.