Audio Conference

Presenter: John Shalkham, M.A., SCT(ASCP), Director, Office of Quality Assurance, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison Description: Quality Assurance Plans are a vital component of effective laboratory service.  The Microbiology laboratory must adapt the Quality Assurance Plan to include concepts such as Quality System essentials and Quality Management Systems.   This […]

Presenter: Diep (Zip) Hoang Johnson, B.S., CEB, Vectorborne Surveillance Coordinator, Communicable Disease Epidemiology Section, Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health Description: This presentation will provide an update on the current surveillance programs for arbovirus infections and ehrlichiosis in Wisconsin.  The importance of surveillance and the emergence of a new strain Ehrlichia muris-like, which […]

Presenters: Pete Shult, Ph.D., CDD Director and Emergency Laboratory Response, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Erik Reisdorf, MPH, Virology Surveillance and Team Leader, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Description: This audio conference will provide a review of the past 2012 – 2013 respiratory virus season and will highlight our […]

Presenter: Michael Costello, Ph.D., MT(ASCP), Microbiology Technical Director, ACL Laboratories Description: Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization – Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) has recently migrated from an experimental technique to the method of choice for routine identification of bacteria and yeast. Implementation of MALDI-TOF in routine clinical microbiology laboratories should be rapid and widespread […]

Presenter: Raymond Podzorski, Ph.D., D(ABMM), Clinical Microbiologist, Department of Pathology, ProHealth Care Laboratories – Waukesha Memorial Hospital Description: This audio conference with cover the basic microbiology procedures used to help in the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections.  Areas covered will be organisms commonly associated with prosthetic joint infections, specimen collection and transport, Gram stain methodology, […]

Presenter: Julie Tans-Kersten, M.S., MT(ASCP), TB Coordinator, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI Description: This audio conference will cover the clinical significance of the Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM).  The presentation will focus on various methods that may be used to identify NTM, from conventional methods to the newer emerging technologies such as […]

Presenter: Erik Munson, Ph.D., Technical Director, Wheaton Franciscan Laboratory, Milwaukee, WI Description: This audio conference will provide guidance on bench-level biochemical testing in the clinical microbiology laboratory, as such testing may be of importance to a variety of microbiology laboratories throughout the state. Discussed principles will subsequently be: 1) applied toward a better understanding of […]

Presenter: Timothy Monson, M.S., Supervisor, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI Mike Rauch, B.S., Advanced Microbiologist, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI Description: Clinical laboratories in Wisconsin have been testing for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) for many years. As more clinical laboratories have implemented Shiga toxin (ST) testing, statewide […]

Presenters: Erin Bowles, B.S., MT(ASCP), Clinical Laboratory Network Coordinator, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI Amanda Weiss, B.S., MT(ASCP), Program Coordinator, Proficiency Testing, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI Description: This audio conference presentation will introduce Sentinel Clinical Laboratories that participate in the WSLH PT Bioterrorism Preparedness Exercises (BPEs) to […]

Presenter: Erik Munson, Ph.D., Technical Director, Wheaton Franciscan Laboratory, Milwaukee, WI Description: Streptococcus agalactiae is an etiology of neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia.  Strategies have been devised to identify appropriate candidates for intrapartum antimicrobial chemotherapy.  While more women are screened for this agent, rates of early-onset disease have not concomitantly decreased.  Potential improvements in laboratory […]