By Merih Tesfazghi
October 27th, 2020
Race categorization is a controversial topic. One famous example that partially illustrates this complex issue is the race of President Barack Obama. His parents are biracial, a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya. While he grew up feeling completely at home in neither race, he now officially identifies himself as African American.
By Roa Harb
August 31, 2020
On August 25, 2020, Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus – a milestone in a journey that was launched in 1996 with the late South African president Nelson Mandela’s call to “kick polio out of Africa.” This public health achievement is fantastic news in these troubled times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read MoreBy Saswati Das
June 10, 2020
This post, by guest author Dr. Saswati Das, describes some of the challenges and opportunities for clinical labs during the response to COVID 19. Dr. Das is a Specialist in Biochemistry at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Central Government Health Services, India, and writes from her real-life experience.
Read MoreBy Sarah Riley
May 3, 2020
The novel coronavirus outbreak has posed a challenge to diagnostic laboratory medicine, and that is to develop and validate testing for this new pathogen from scratch. There are many time-consuming steps involved in developing a method to ensure that the results are always accurate and meaningful. Supply and demand of reagents and testing consumables confound the situation.
Read MoreBy Tim Amukele
April 28, 2020
COVID-19 is revealing the strengths and weaknesses in laboratory systems throughout sub-Saharan Africa. But it is also showing us a range of innovative approaches to scale up laboratory capacity.
Read MoreBy Merih Tesfazghi
March 20, 2020
The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease is now a pandemic. The virus is highly contagious and has already infected and killed thousands of individuals across the globe. Unless contained and controlled swiftly, millions could die in a matter of a few months. Clinical laboratories play a crucial role in controlling the pandemic by facilitating early detection through widespread testing.
Read MoreBy Tim Amukele
March 9, 2020
Testing needs in poor countries are not just restricted to HIV, TB, malaria, and other usual suspects. The tests and services that are available in the West are needed just as urgently in low-resourced countries (LRC). If we choose to help, we must help in a way that honors this need for broad testing.
Read MoreBy Merih Tesfazghi
February 25, 2020
Prion diseases are a group of rare, infectious, neurodegenerative disorders. The most common variant in humans is sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). The annual incidence of sCJD is 1 to 2 cases per million worldwide, and about 360 cases are reported annually in the United States. The median age of disease onset is 63 years, with a dismal survival rate of 4 to 6 months after symptom manifestation.
Read MoreBy Sarah Riley
February 5, 2020
One Health is the idea that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment. There is probably a place for laboratorians in One Health initiatives. One Health is something we should all consider when we think of Global Health.
Read MoreBy Roa Harb
January 23, 2020
HbA1c has long been used to monitor glycemic control in patients previously diagnosed with diabetes. Since its foundation in 1996, NGSP has been critical in the improvement of HbA1c measurement accuracy and precision. This has allowed influential clinical organizations and regulatory bodies to recommend the use of HbA1c for the initial diagnosis of diabetes. Despite significant reductions in variability, there is room for improvement as performance limits continue to tighten.
Read MoreBy Emily Glynn
January 10, 2020
There is perennial debate in global health over the merits of vertical vs. horizontal programs. As someone who is interested in building high-quality, sustainable pathology and laboratory capacity, I have always been one of those vertical program skeptics.
Read MoreBy Tim Amukele
December 24, 2019
In Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PALM) we often work behind the scenes and for many of us this suits our personalities. However, there are times when we need to fight the urge to remain hidden or use email, and pursue a face-to-face interaction.
Read MoreBy Roa Harb
December 10, 2019
Does quality improvement always improve quality in healthcare?
Read MoreBy Sarah Riley
November 7, 2019
A recent study from the Data and Demographics Committee of the World Federation of Hemophilia found that the prevalence of hemophilia is 3 times more prevalent than previously believed. In order to better understand the true prevalence of hemophilia, more information from middle and low income countries is needed.
Read MoreBy Emily Glynn
October 1, 2019
Volunteers practicing beyond their knowledge and/or training is not only useless, but can also cause harm.
Read MoreBy Merih Tesfazghi
September 12, 2019
Is Ebola Virus Disease curable? Not yet. However, a multi-drug study for the treatment of EVD launched in November 2018 just a few months after Ebola outbreak in DRC shows promising efficacy.
Read MoreBy Tim Amukele
July 31, 2019
I am reading ‘Bad Blood’, the book about Theranos: one of the biggest frauds that was ever foisted on the financial community and the world.
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