ARUP Research Highlighted at the Association for Molecular Pathology 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo

ARUP medical directors presented research and test advancements in key areas of molecular pathology, such as automated DNA extraction and the prediction of viral loads for cytomegalovirus, at the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo.

The conference, which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from November 19 to 23, 2024, focused on research, innovation, and education in molecular pathology.

Jay Patel, MD, MBA, vice president of PharmaDx and Clinical Trials at ARUP and a member of the AMP Economic Activity Committee, participated in a panel to provide updates from the committee on its legislative efforts.

Melanie Mallory, MS, ARUP lead bioinformatics scientist, presented a poster entitled, "Predicting Cytomegalovirus Viral Load from Next-Generation Sequencing Data: A Machine Learning Approach." Mallory addressed the challenges of obtaining high-quality sequencing data from samples with low viral loads and how machine learning algorithms can be used to predict viral loads and determine a viral load cutoff for repeat testing. She concluded that machine learning predictions of viral loads could help limit unnecessary repetition of next generation sequencing (NGS) testing.

Syd Werner, BS, MB(ASCP), associate scientist at ARUP, gave a presentation entitled, "Evaluation of an Automated DNA Extraction Platform." Werner discussed the increasing demand for molecular testing and the need for a high-quality, high-throughput extraction method, and then evaluated a genomic DNA (gDNA) extraction platform and made method-specific recommendations.

Marc Couturier, PhD, D(ABMM), ARUP head of clinical operations for Clinical Microbiology and Immunology and medical director of Parasitology/Fecal Testing, Infectious Disease Antigen Testing, and Emerging Public Health Crises, gave a presentation entitled, "Nucleic Acid Testing for Parasite Detection, Characterization, and Surveillance." Couturier provided an update on molecular diagnostic tests used for the detection of gastrointestinal parasites and discussed future applications for parasite detection.

Keith D. Tardif, a scientist in the Research and Development Infectious Disease group at ARUP, displayed a poster on validation of an assay for the detection of hepatitis delta virus. Tardif compared results from multiple assays to determine which would provide higher throughput and the best performance.

As a national academic reference laboratory, ARUP is home to medical directors and scientists who continually advance research and innovation in diagnostic medicine to improve patient care. Visit aruplab.com/newsroom to explore more of ARUP's industry updates.

Kellie Carrigan, [email protected]