UKMedLab2023 conference - A celebration of 70 years of the ACB.

UKMedLab23, hosted by the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB), was held at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, between the 10th and 12th June 2023. This year the conference celebrated 70 years of the ACB. With this in mind, and to celebrate the work and contribution of all members, each region was invited to host a parallel session at the National Meeting. All nine ACB regions accepted the invitation with enthusiasm and vigour and planned sessions showcasing the varied specialisms across the UK and Republic of Ireland. There was also a parallel session focused on the current challenges in POCT, on the top of the highly popular interactive case sessions, the Medal Award presentations and the Impact, Foundation and International plenary lectures, a special 70th anniversary President’s address and a number of industry-sponsored workshops. The sun shone and the conversation flowed, with 341 delegates, there was a real buzz about the conference venue as colleagues caught up with peers and discussed the latest advances in the field. Following the success of last year, an ACBMicrobiology training day was again held alongside the Biochemistry training day. The morning was a shared programme on management topics and scenarios and in the afternoon split discipline-specific sessions were held. The training day attracted 34 microbiology delegates and 119 biochemistry delegates, which was an increase for both cohorts from the previous year. It was wonderful to see so many colleagues in training coming together and building their networks. The meeting was opened by Bernie Croal, before the programme commenced with the International Lecture. This was presented byMaria Fitzgibbon on lessons in Chemistry, with a focus on the use and evidence for biomarkers of inflammation in cardiovascular and other diseases. This was a great example of how research can be fostered and flourished in a supportive environment with a group of collaborating scientists. A number of high-quality submissions were received for the Impact Award, and this year’s worthy winner was Tim MacDonald for the work that he and his team completed on the development of a national home finger-prick blood laboratory testing service for clinicians of Paediatric Highly Specialist Services for Complex Conditions. This inspiring talk gave the audience an idea of what is possible when teams work together to improve patient outcome and the future possibilities of home blood sampling. Following a successful change to the nomination process for the Foundation Award, more nominations were received than ever before, and it was a really difficult decision for the judging panel. This year’s winner was Paul Collinson, who gave a detailed insight into the evolution of cardiac biomarkers from the first ECGs and the use of WBC, ESR and CRP to the measurement of troponin T and I today and the potential uses for the future. He also gave an interesting reminder about the small changes that it is now possible to detect; equal to detecting a sugar cube being dropped into Loch Ness! Bernie Croal, outgoing President, and Kath Hayden, incoming President, gave a President’s address to celebrate