Free Webinar | Laboratory Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2: Review of Testing Methodologies
June 2, 2020 | 1:00-2:00 pm EDT
Chairperson: Mike Loeffelholz, PhD, D(ABMM), Senior Director, Medical Affairs, Cepheid
1:00 Laboratory Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2: An Update
Mike Loeffelholz, PhD, D(ABMM), Senior Director, Medical Affairs, Cepheid
Laboratory methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 include nucleic acid amplification tests, serological tests, and antigen detection methods. A number of new tests for SARS-CoV-2 have been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. New information about factors that impact the performance of laboratory tests is coming to light, as are challenges faced by laboratorians performing these tests. This presentation will review the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic landscape, with a focus on performance characteristics.
1:20 Handling a Pandemic – the Pros and Cons of Different COVID-19 Testing Methodologies
Gregory J. Berry, PhD, D(ABMM), Director, Molecular Diagnostics, Northwell Health System
SARS-CoV-2, the novel human coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been a major challenge for the worldwide healthcare system. An integral part of this response has been patient testing to determine a patient’s infection status and implement proper infection control measures. This talk is meant to cover the different types of tests that are being used for SARS-CoV-2 testing and discuss some of the main points for each method.
1:40 Q&A
Speaker Biographies
Mike Loeffelholz, PhD, D(ABMM)
Senior Director, Medical Affairs, Cepheid
Michael J. Loeffelholz, PhD, D(ABMM) is Senior Director, Medical Affairs at Cepheid, and Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston. He received a PhD in microbiology from Ohio University, Athens, OH in 1987. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in medical and public health microbiology at the University of Rochester in 1990, he was a Senior Scientist at Roche Molecular Systems from 1990-1995. From 1995-2008 Dr. Loeffelholz held leadership positions in public health laboratories and private reference laboratories. From 2008-2018 he held the rank of Associate Professor, then Full Professor, with tenure, in the Department of Pathology at University of Texas Medical Branch, and Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. Dr. Loeffelholz joined Cepheid in 2018. He is an editor of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. He currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology and is a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Infectious Diseases. He previously served on the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Board of Directors. Dr. Loeffelholz has authored nearly 100 research and review papers and book chapters.
Gregory J. Berry, PhD, D(ABMM)
Director, Molecular Diagnostics, Northwell Health System
Dr. Berry received his undergraduate degree in Biology from East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He also completed a fellowship in Medical Microbiology and Public Health at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Berry is the Director of Molecular Diagnostics and an Assistant Director of Infectious Disease Diagnostics at Northwell Health Laboratories and is also the Director of Microbiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology and an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. His interests include the optimization of current methodologies and the development of new technologies for patient-centered clinical testing.
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