Creating connections through ADLM’s first workshop in Brazil

For the first time ever, the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine’s (ADLM’s, formerly AACC’s) Global Lab Quality Initiative held a workshop in South America’s biggest country: Brazil. Three speakers from the Latin America Subcommittee (formerly Latin America Working Group) flew to São Paulo, then arrived via a 60-mile car journey in Campinas, where the Sociedade Brasileira de Análises Clínicas (SBAC) hosted their 50th congress. To celebrate their 50th meeting, laboratory medicine leaders came from all over Brazil to connect with colleagues, attend lectures, and explore the expo hall.

The Congreso Brasileira de Análises Clínicas (CBAC) is the largest clinical analysis conference in the country, and ADLM held a full-day pre-congress workshop on June 15 for an audience of more than 100 attendees. Latin America Subcommittee speakers Jessica Colon-Franco, PhD, DABCC, FADLM, Ileana Lopez-Plaza, MD, and Verónica I. Luzzi, PhD, MS, DABCC, FACB, presented “Addressing laboratory quality and risk management: Best practices from pre-analytical phase to accreditation” with lectures on quality control, lab accreditation, risk management, and more.

Prior to the workshop, the speakers visited two laboratories in small cities outside of Campinas. The labs struggled with personnel shortages and a lack of space. The speakers drew on observations at the labs when presenting at the ADLM/SBAC pre-congress workshop to ensure their presentations addressed real challenges faced by Brazilian laboratorians.

One of the eight presentations at the workshop was given by Daniella Martins Alves, MBA, who works for a Brazilian lab accreditation department called the Sistema Nacional de Acreditação - DICQ. She discussed laboratory accreditation in Brazil, which gave everyone in attendance some regional context within the workshop.

After the conclusion of the workshop in the evening, the congress held its opening plenary to kick off the congress. SBAC President Maria Elizabeth Menezes, MSc, PhD, invited Colon-Franco to present about ADLM to the congress. Colon-Franco outlined the work of ADLM, the Latin America Subcommittee’s initiatives, and ADLM’s future endeavors in Latin America. She thanked SBAC for hosting the workshop. This marked the beginning of a strong collaboration between ADLM and SBAC that the association envisions lasting for years to come.

ADLM’s first time conducting programming in Brazil marked a significant moment for the association and its support for laboratory science in the region. The two organizations fostered a strong relationship through the efforts of SBAC’s volunteers and its partners, who ensured the program’s success.