August Good News

We have good news to share!
 

Our Clinical Chemistry team has been very busy!  Drs. Ibrahim Choucair, Robert Maynard and Hind Malaeb each participated significantly in the recent 2025 Association for Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)) Annual Scientific Meeting at the end of July.  The conference focuses on advancing laboratory medicine through education, innovation, and collaboration.  It features the world’s largest exhibit hall showcasing cutting edge technologies in laboratory medicine.  See below for their efforts.  Congratulations to all of you!

Ibrahim Choucair, PhD, presented a round table titled “Beyond urine: Unveiling toxicological enigmas and interpreting complex toxicology cases in different matrices”.  In addition, he was co-author on two poster presentations.  The first was with Dr. Jessica Wolford titled “Evaluation of Ethylene Glycol Stability in Blood and Serum: Impact of Pre-Analytical Conditions and Performance Comparison of an Automated Enzymatic Assay vs. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry in Clinical Toxicology” and the second was with Dr. Hind Malaeb titled “As Xylazine Use Declines, Is Mitragynine Becoming the New Trend in Illicit Drug Use?”

Robert Maynard, PhD, was a speaker for a Half-Day University Course titled “Putting some PEP in your step: A hands-on guide and best practices for everyday protein electrophoresis and immunotyping interpretation.”  In addition, Dr. Maynard wrote three articles for the CLN Daily, the official publication of the ADLM Annual Meeting.  The articles are titled:  “From data to diagnosis:  The global push to advance genomic medicine” which can be found here:  Cover Mon; “From facepalms to fixes:  Tackling lab compliance together” which can be found here:  Practices;  and “A winning strategy:  Laboratory stewardship in action” which can be found here:  Stewardship.

Hind Malaeb, PhD, presented a roundtable titled “Reduced Hemolysis and Outliers in High Sensitivity Troponin Testing” and a poster titled “As Xylazine Use Declines, Is Mitragynine Becoming the New Trend in Illicit Drug Use?”

Derek Allison, MD, is first author on a recently published article in the journal Cancer Cytopathology titled “Diagnostic Challenges in Urinary Cytology: Practical Insights From The Paris System”.  This was a collaboration with Dr. VandenBussche at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and was recently featured as a “Practice Essential” by the journal.  Congratulations Dr. Allison!

Drs. Derek Allison and Mohamed Hussein co-authored a 2025 TICP-A: Genetic Syndromes - Digital Slide Program for Touch Imprint/Crush Preparations titled “FH-Deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma”.  The article can be found here:  2025 TICP-A: Touch Imprint/Crush Preparation Program | College of American Pathologists.  As a side note, Dr. Hussein was the only trainee involved in this program.  Great work both of you!

Peter Nelson, MD, PhD, and Wangxia Wang, PhD, have been very busy!  Both were recently listed in a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier as being amongst the top 2% of the world’s most-cited researchers!  You can read more in the UKNow article here: https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-scientists-and-scholars-among-top-2-most-cited-researchers-world   In addition, Drs. Wang and Nelson are corresponding authors on a recent publication in the journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications titled “Immunoelectron microscopy and biochemical studies using three anti-tau antibodies in human brains: associations between pTau and ribosomes.”  You can read the study here:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-025-02072-2  Congratulations to both of you!

Shulin Zhang, MD, PhD, is co-author on a recent publication in the journal Genetics in Medicine titled “Venous thromboembolism laboratory testing (factor V Leiden and factor II c.∗97G>A), 2025 revision: A technical standard of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)”.  The article is a collaboration with clinicians from multiple universities and genomics centers.  You can read the publication here:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40616445/.  Great work Dr. Zhang!

Three of our very own have artwork displayed throughout UK HealthCare!  Below are their locations.  Congratulations to Leanna Brignola, Hayley Hereford, and Dr. Julie Ribes!

KY Clinic, 1^st floor Wing D:

*Hayley Hereford: In the Garden

*Julie A. Ribes:  Autumn Leaves

Pavilion H (hallway leading to VA):

*Leanna Brignola: Change on the Horizon