The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine’s (ADLM’s, formerly AACC’s) Asia-Pacific Subcommittee (formerly Asia-Pacific Working Group) returned to Kathmandu, Nepal, to deliver another impactful workshop. The subcommittee’s previous visit had been 7 years earlier in 2018. This visit was the result of a partnership with the Nepalese Association of Clinical Chemistry (NACC) to offer a workshop on “Achieving excellence in laboratory medicine through quality, competency, and data science.”
Prior to the conference, the team visited three labs in Kathmandu. Discussions covered lab quality systems, staff training, accreditation processes, and regulatory frameworks. Anu S. Maharjan, PhD, DABCC, NRCC, FADLM, Qing H. Meng, PhD, MD, DABCC, FADLM, and Y. Victoria Zhang, MBA, PhD, DABCC, FADLM, provided guidance on enhancing internal and external quality assessment in alignment with international standards.
A total of 148 laboratory professionals from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and other neighboring countries were in attendance at the workshop. They engaged with the speakers and explored quality indicators, lab personnel training, AI and machine learning, risk management, and more. The workshop, conducted through ADLM’s Global Lab Quality Initiative, featured in-depth knowledge exchange through interactive sessions grounded in real-life laboratory scenarios.
After the workshop, the ADLM team attended a second day of scientific presentations and industry workshops at the 5th NACC Conference. They observed e-poster presentations where distinguished speakers engaged with young laboratory scientists and exchanged career advice.
The speakers were eager to spend some time in Kathmandu and experience it’s historical and cultural offerings, including UNESCO World Heritage sites where they gained meaningful understanding into Nepal’s traditions, religious diversity, and centuries-old architectural marvels.
Meng shared his thought that spending time in Kathmandu “added a unique and inspiring dimension to the trip [that] reinforced the value of global collaboration that extends beyond science and medicine.”
The Asia-Pacific Subcommittee’s interaction with NACC members over a 2-day period, along with the lab visits, created a strong relationship that will promote future collaboration in years to come. The event not only strengthened regional partnerships but also reaffirmed ADLM’s and NACC’s shared commitment to advancing excellence in laboratory medicine.
A thank you to Anu S. Maharjan, PhD, DABCC, NRCC, FADLM, and Qing H. Meng, PhD, MD, DABCC, FADLM, for contributing background information to this article.
The ADLM/NACC workshop was conducted as a part of the Global Lab Quality Initiative funded by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. Any society interested in partnering on a similar workshop, please contact [email protected].