ERN-EuroBloodNet and GenoMed4All at #ASH21
The strong 63rd Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology took place this past week in Atlanta... and our colleagues from ERN-EuroBloodNet did not miss the occasion! The results from two projects promoted by the ERN were showcased in the oral and poster abstracts on December 13th, you can browse through their abstracts here.
We are already looking forward to next year's event!
#SCD is a disease on Focus in #EuroBloodNet and is addressed in projects such as @genomed4all where the #ERN is involved! Yesterday two #EuroBloodNetExperts involved in this disease were present at #ASH21! #EuroBloodNetinASH2021 #ERNeu @Pablo_Velasco_P @ejvanbeers pic.twitter.com/n0lfdyBSfj
— ERN EuroBloodNet (@ERNEuroBloodNet) December 14, 2021
Photo by Samuel Pereira on Unsplash
First joint meeting on Oxygenscan protocol harmonization
Earlier this month, GenoMed4All partners and collaborators met to discuss opportunities in OxygenScan protocol harmonization. The Oxygenscan test is particularly relevant for our use case group working on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), as it measures the relative oxygen pressure at the precise moment red blood cells reach the Point of Sickling (PoS) and thus, describes the defined loss of deformability of red blood cells affected by SCD.
This first meeting was co-chaired by Mar Mañú and Amira Idrizovic from Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research and Minke Rab and Richard van Wijk from UMC Utrecht, and gathered experts from Università degli Studi di Padova, APHP and additional interested parties from the Hematology department (Laboratory LHUB-ULB) at Erasme Hospital, Brussels.
The focus was on the standardization of key points in the OxygenScan analysis process within GenoMed4All's practice. Among the critical aspects that need to be considered are: hardware and software settings and machine set-up (e.g. fixed gain and oxygenation for the experiments), blood volume used for the test on red blood cell count, storage temperature for these blood samples, considerations of osmolarity for PVP vials, the pO2 spot.... Participants also agreed on a common methodology to check reproducibility of all experiments.
This is a meaningful first step in setting a baseline for the overall standardization of Oxygenscan tests, which will ultimately shape a compendium of best practices to share with future associate members of GenoMed4All within ERN-EuroBloodNet's member network.