Welcome
We are delighted to welcome you to the 46th ACBI annual conference in this the 60th anniversary year of the ACBI. The conference is taking place this year in the beautiful setting of the Hodson Bay hotel in Athlone, Co Roscommon. The theme of this year’s meeting is older age and the challenges of clinical management and diagnosis. The meeting has been approved by RCPath for 9 CPD credits.
This will be a fantastic opportunity to share your work through abstract submission from which we will select a number for oral presentation.
The conference dinner will be held on Friday 8th November in the hotel. This will be a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends. Tickets for the dinner are available to purchase separate to the conference ticket.
In line with the ACBI sustainability policy, all delegates are asked to consider the environment when attending the conference.
- The venue are participants in the greenhospitality.ie programme
- The conference handbook will be distributed electronically in advance of the event
- Delegates are encouraged to use public transport
- Delegates are encouraged to bring their own water bottles, reusable cups for their journey and stay
Abstract Submissions
Poster abstracts will be welcomed on any topic that is deemed, by the Conference Committee, to be relevant to the discipline of Clinical Biochemistry. Abstracts submitted are eligible for consideration as oral abstract presentations during the conference.
The ACBI is offering a 40euro rebate on registration fees to the lead authors of the first 10 abstracts submitted and subsequently accepted for presentation (oral or poster). Abstracts not complying with the submission guidelines (in particular the word count) will not be considered for rebate. Rebates will be issued after the conference.
The abstract submission deadline has been extended to 5pm Friday 6th September
Conference Speakers
Dr Elizabeth Brosnan
Elizabeth Brosnan is a graduate of UCC and obtained her higher training in Cork, Limerick and Dublin . After obtaining her Membership of The Royal College Of Physicians of Ireland , she specialised in Endocrinology and Diabetology . This was greatly influenced by her under and post graduate experience with a pioneer in Diabetes care in Munster the late Professor Denis O Sullivan and the late Professor B. Ferriss, Professors of Endocrinology and Medicine in U.C.C.
She continued her training under the guidance of Professor J. Devlin , of R.C.S.I and Beaumont Hospital. While working in the Beaumont unit she was the lead investigator in research in the use of Implantable Insulin Pumps in T1 D. M . At the time Beaumont was the only centre using this new technology in Ireland and the U. K. This work was presented in Ireland at I.E.S and in Austria at Diabetes Technology meeting.
She was the lead investigator of a study of the Effect of Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy in Adults with Hypopituitarism . This work was presented at I.E.S. and also in Sweden Endocrine Conference.
She later moved to Malaysia and established a Diabetes service at the largest charitable hospital in Malaysian’s second largest city. During a sabbatical at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN U.S.A. was worked in cellular research of the action of gene transfer on R.I.N.
Since returning to Ireland she has worked in Cork, Galway and M.U.H. She was the first Endocrinologist appointed to Mayo . The service has expanded and now has two Endocrinologist, ANP, CNS, dietetics.
Her interests are T2 DM , thyroid disorders.
Dr Maria Costello
Dr. Maria Costello is a Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine at University of Galway and Clinical Lead for the West Galway Integrated Care Team for Older Persons. Her work focuses on comprehensive geriatric assessments, bridging primary and hospital care.
She plays a key role in integrated care initiatives and promotes older adult representation in education and research at the university. Her PhD focused on caregiver involvement in lifestyle interventions in cognitive impairment and she is an active member of the neurovascular research group in University of Galway. She is actively involved in the undergraduate medical programme and holds a specific interest in simulation based education and interprofessional learning
Prof Eilís Dowd
Professor Eilís Dowd is originally from Carna in the Connemara Gaeltacht. She spent her childhood alternating between playing outdoors in the gorse, heather & rocks, and being confined to bed with severe asthma, struggling to breathe. Her interest in biology stemmed from a fascination with the profound impact of her anti-asthma medications. As an undergraduate student, Eilís first learned how her inhalers actually produced their biological effects, and this cemented her love of biochemistry and pharmacology which she retains to the present day. Eilís received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh, after which she completed post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, McGill University and Cardiff University. She now holds a Full Professorship in Pharmacology at the University of Galway where one of her primary interests is in the potential of biomaterials to enhance brain repair for Parkinson’s. Over the years, her research has been funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Wellcome Trust, the European Union, Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council. Her research was the subject of the Parkinson’s documentary “Feats of Modest Valour” which won the AAAS “Scientist Award” at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York. Her contributions have been recognised through leadership positions including the Presidencies of both NECTAR (the Network for European CNS Transplantation and Restoration) and Neuroscience Ireland (Ireland’s official neuroscience society). She has also served on the Governing Councils of both the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), and she holds editorial roles with the British Journal of Pharmacology, the European Journal of Neuroscience and Neuronal Signaling.
Prof. Snežana Jovičić
Dept for Medical Biochemistry
Faculty of Pharmacy
University of Belgrade
Belgrade, Serbia. Prof Jovicic is currently serving her second term as the secretary of the EFLM executive board.
Dr Caroline Joyce
Dr Caroline Joyce is a Principal Clinical Biochemist in Cork University Hospital and a member of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group in INFANT at University College Cork. She has over 30 years’ experience in laboratory medicine working in clinical biochemistry and human genetics and maintains a large research portfolio. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from University College Cork and a Masters in Science (MSc) from the University of Ulster. Caroline is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath, UK) and is registered as a European Specialist in Laboratory Medicine (EuSpLM). She is also certified by the European Board of Medical Genetics to practice as a European Clinical Laboratory Geneticist (ErCLG).
Caroline is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the National Maternity & Gynaecology Clinical Guideline Programme. She is also a member of the National Strategy for Accelerating Genetic and Genomic Medicine in Ireland Testing Guidance Working Group. She is a member of the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Steering Committee and co-author of the HSE National Clinical Guideline for the Diagnosis, Staging and Treatment of patients with Gestational Trophoblastic Disease.
Dr Joseph Kane
Dr Joseph Kane is a clinical lecturer at the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast and an honorary consultant in Psychiatry of Old Age for Belfast Health & Social Care. His main area of research and practice is in Lewy body dementia (LBD), the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementia. His research work to date has involved the clinical epidemiology of LBD and the use of cardiac scintigraphy imaging in LBD diagnosis, and optimising both detection and treatment in routine clinical care. He is currently developing projects aimed at further exploration of the role of peripheral neuropathology in LBD pathogenesis, and the use of metabolomic analysis in differentiating LBD from other disorders, as well developing assessment tools for use in LBD trials.
Prof Rose Anne Kenny
Rose Anne Kenny is Regius Professor of Physic (Medicine) and holds the Chair of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin. She is the founding Principal Investigator of The Irish LongituDinal study on Ageing (TILDA) and Director of the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) at St. James’s Hospital, where she is also director of a large national falls and syncope and autonomic function laboratory.
TILDA includes extensive research of physiological determinants of the ageing process as a measure of biological ageing.
She is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, London and Ireland, a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology, Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine Ireland, and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has received a number of international awards and has published widely, authoring over 600 publications including, her recently published book “Age Proof – The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life” which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2022. In 2020, she was elected President of the Irish Gerontological Society. In 2022 she was nominated 24th Regius Professor of Physic at TCD (1637), the first female nominee.
Dr Aoife Leahy
Dr Aoife Leahy obtained her medical degree in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She completed her BST in Beaumont Hospital and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. She completed her Higher Specialist Training in Geriatric Medicine and General Internal Medicine. She is currently a Consultant Geriatrician in Integrated Care for Older Persons in the UL Hospital Group and CHO3.
Her research interests include frailty at the front door and interface geriatrics. She is completing her doctorate assessing frailty screening and comprehensive geriatric assessment in the Emergency Department. She has published on the utility of frailty screening tools and comprehensive geriatric assessment in the acute setting.
Dr Dan McCartney
Dr. Dan McCartney BSc/Dip Diet, MSc, PhD, MINDI, SRD is an academic dietitian with postgraduate training in molecular medicine and public health nutrition. He has been Director of Human Nutrition & Dietetics at TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin since 2015, and is also a former columnist with The Irish Examiner and a former Public Relations Officer with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, the professional body for dietitians in Ireland. His research on the dietary management of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer has been nationally and internationally recognised, whilst his work in the area of nutrition in pregnancy has also been widely published. Recently, he has played a leading role with his colleagues in the Covit-D Consortium in investigating the role of vitamin D deficiency in the Covid-19 pandemic. He has sat on statutory expert committees for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and is a longstanding member of the Irish Heart Foundation’s Nutrition Council.
Prof Liam Plant
Graduated in Physiology (1982) and Medicine (1985), University College Cork.
General Professional Training in Medicine in Cork.
Higher Specialist Training in Nephrology in Edinburgh.
Consultant Renal Physician at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 1996-2001.
Honorary Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh University Medical School 1998-2001.
Consultant Renal Physician at Cork University Hospital 2001-24.
Clinical Professor in Renal Medicine at University College Cork Medical School
2017-24.
National Specialty Director for Nephrology Training in Ireland (2002-05).
Director South Intern Network (2019-23).
Council Member & Censor Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (2022-).
Chair of the Irish National Renal Strategy Review (2003-09).
National Clinical Director of the HSE National Renal Office (2009-18).
President of the Irish Nephrology Society (2018-24).
Author of over 75 publications in the medical literature
Prof Bernard Walsh
Clinical Professor, Dept of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College and St James’s Hospital Dublin
Hon Consultant, Bone Health & Osteoporosis Treatment Unit, Mercer’s Institute, St. James’s Hospital
Clinical Director, Medicine for the Elderly Directorate, St James’s Hospital Dublin,1992 –2001 and 2008 – 2011.
Lead Hospital Clinical Director and Medical Director of St James’s Hospital Dublin 2011 – 2014
Director of The Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing 2002-2018
Graduate of University College Cork
Trained in Cork and Mater Hospital in Dublin
Registrar in King’s College Hospital, London
Senior Registrar in Medicine for the Elderly, Royal Liverpool Hospital
Consultant Physician in Co Durham North East England 1981 -1984
Visiting Professor to the University of California, San Francisco 1982
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Member of the British Geriatrics Society
Past President of the Irish Gerontological Society 2011-2014
Member of the International Osteoporosis Society
Member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Member of the European Calcified Tissue Society
Medical Director of the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes 2000-2014
Board Member, Royal City of Dublin Hospital Trust, Baggot Street, Dublin
Founding member of the National Dementia Information and Development Centre SJH.
Past Treasurer and Chairman of the Consultants Committee Irish Medical Organisation.
Uachtarán ar Acadamh na Lianna (Academy of Irish Speaking Physicians) 2021- Present.
Author/Co-author of over 200 peer reviewed publications in the area of Vitamin D, Bone Health, Memory,Vascular Medicine, Infectious Diseases and General Medical Problems in the elderly.
Abstract Speakers
Eileen Byrne
Principal Clinical Biochemist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
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Event Programme
Friday 8th November 2024
- 09:00 - 09:30Arrival and Registration
- 09:30 - 09:40Opening RemarksDr Paula O'Shea, ACBI President and Chairperson, Conference Organising Committee
- SESSION 1Chair: Dr Tomás Griffin, Consultant Endocrinologist, Galway Univeeristy Hospitals.
- 09:40 - 10.20Nutrition and the Older personDr Daniel McCartney, Director of Human Nutrition & Dietetics at TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin
- 10:20 - 11:00Low Vitamin D in the Community - We Need a SolutionProf Bernard Walsh, Trinity College Dublin
- 11:00 - 11:45Tea/Coffee and poster viewing
- SESSION 2 Chair: Prof Maria Fitzgibbon, Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Mater Private Hospitals.
- 11:45 - 12:10Oral presentations from AbstractsKaren Heverin, Galway University Hospital. Proof of concept study assessing first trimester urinary total and glycated CD59 to predict Gestational Diabetes (GDM) in second trimester
- Wendy Groenendijk, St Vincent's University Hospital. A Case of Missing IgM
- 12:10 - 13:00Keynote Lecture: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier LifeProf Rose Anne Kenny, Regius Professor of Physic, Professor of Medical Gerontology Trinity College Dublin and Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, St James’s Hospital Dublin
- 13:00 - 14:10LUNCH
- SESSION 3Chair: Dr Caroline Joyce, Principal Clinical Biochemist, Cork University Hospital
- 14:10 - 14:50Atypical presentations & common endocrine disorders in older ageDr Elizabeth Brosnan, Consultant Physician/Endocrinologist, Mayo University Hospital
- 14:50 - 15:30Renal disease in older adults: how interpretation of biochemical data will inform Care PathwaysProf Liam Plant, Consultant Nephrologist, Cork University Hospital.
- 15:30 - 16:00Tea/Coffee and poster viewing
- SESSION 4Chair: Dr Graham Lee, Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
- 16:00 -16:40Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: Who, What, Where and Why?Dr Maria Costello, Clinical Lead for the West Galway Integrated Care Team for Older Persons
- 16:40 - 17:20SOLAR: Frailty Screening and CGA in the EDDr Aoife Leahy, Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine, University Hospital Limerick
- 17:20 - 17:45Oral presentations from abstractsConor Vaughan. Cork University Hospital. Coming Out of the Dark: A Comprehensive Study of Vitamin A and E Stability.
- Dr Micheál Mac Aogáin. St James' Hospital. The Genetic Landscape of Porphyria in Ireland: Insights from a National Clinical Laboratory Service.
- 17:45 - 17:50Day 1 CloseDr Paula O'Shea
Saturday 9th Novermber 2024
- SESSION 4Chair: Dr Séan Costelloe, Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Cork University Hospital.
- 09:30 - 10.10The loaded matrix: biomaterial-aided cellular brain repair for Parkinson’s diseaseProf Eilís Dowd, University of Galway
- 10:10 - 10:55Hot Topic - Monitoring hCG in pregnancy and beyondDr Caroline Joyce, Principal Clinical Biochemist, Cork University Hospital.
- 10:55 - 11:30Tea/Coffee and poster viewing
- SESSION 5Chair: Dr Jennifer Brady, Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Children's Health Ireland.
- 11:30 - 12:10Blood-based biomarkers in neurodegenerative dementiasDr Joseph Kane, Clinical lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast, Honorary Consultant in Psychiatry of Old Age, Belfast Health & Social Care
- 12:10 - 13:00EFLM Plenary Lecture: Digital transformation towards the clinical laboratory of the futureProf. Snežana Jovičič
- 13:00 - 13:25Oral presentations from abstractsEileen Byrne, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. To Err is Good?
- Niamh O'Connor. Mater Misericcordiae University Hospital. A Case of Discordant Pulse Oximetry and Co-oximetry Results in a Young Female Patient
- 13:25 - 13:30Awards PresentationDr Paula O'Shea, Conference Chairperson
- 13:30 - 13:40Closing Remarks
Venue
The address for the Hodson Bay hotel is Roscommon Road, Athlone, N37 XR82.
In the interests of sustainability we encourage delegates to use public transport where possible. Athlone is well served by bus and rail.
See www.irishrail.ie and www.buseireann.ie for further information.
Accomodation can be booked directly with the hotel.
There is a conference delegate room rate of 170euro/night. Available until 5pm on October 4th. Please state you are attending the conference when you call the hotel to secure this rate.
The hotel website is https://www.hodsonbayhotel.com/
Phone: 353 (0) 90 644 2004
email: info@hodsonbayhotel.com
Things to do in Athlone
There are so many things to do in the Athlone and surrounding area during your stay. Check out the websites below for some ideas:
https://www.hodsonbayhotel.com/things-to-do/
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Abstract Submissions
The ACBI is offering a 40euro rebate on registration fees to the lead authors of the first 10 abstracts submitted and subsequently accepted for presentation (oral or poster). Abstracts not complying with the submission guidelines (in particular the word count) will not be considered for rebate. Rebates will be issued after the conference.
The submission deadline is 5pm Friday 6th September.
Poster abstracts will be considered on any topic that is deemed, by the Conference Committee, to be relevant to the discipline of Clinical Biochemistry. Abstracts submitted are eligible for consideration as oral abstract presentations during the conference. Selected oral abstract presentations will be in two sessions: one for Clinical Cases; and one for any other abstracts. The abstract title must not exceed 20 words and the text (excluding title, authors, and author affiliations) should be no more than 300 words. Figures and tables should not be included in the abstract. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that spelling, grammar, and syntax are correct. It is understood that all abstracts submitted have been reviewed and approved for submission by all contributing authors. Abstracts not adhering to the above instructions may be rejected.
Scientific abstracts must be structured, with appropriate headings, and must:
- Give background/context to the work described
- State the specific aim of the study
- Clearly describe the methods used and the study design, as appropriate
- Give details of compliance with the 2018 Health Research Regulations and ethics approval where appropriate
- Summarise results obtained
- State conclusions reached
- Statements such as ‘data will be presented’ or ‘results will be discussed’ may lead to rejection.
Where data or results have been published elsewhere (e.g. peer reviewed journal articles, letters, conference proceedings, posters, oral presentations, guidelines), this should clearly be stated at abstract submission. Where previously presented work has been augmented such that the authors feel it represents new work, this should likewise be stated. Any adjudications on the novelty or otherwise of abstract submission will be made by the Conference Committee. When submitting abstracts, authors should indicate if they wish to be considered for an oral presentation. Submissions of original work will automatically be eligible for consideration for the conference poster prize. Work declared by the authors, or deemed by the Conference Committee, to have been published previously may be submitted but will be ineligible for consideration for the poster prize. The Conference Committee will review all submitted abstracts. Their decision is final.
Attend the Annual Conference of the Association of Clinical Biochemists in Ireland