Veterinary Laboratory Quality

Veterinary Laboratory Quality, First Edition

Basic Principles and Selected Topics

Editors:
Kathleen Freeman DVM, BS, MS, PhD, Dip. ECVCP, FRCPath, MRCVS
EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology
Stefanie Klenner-Gastreich Dr.med.vet., Dip. ECVCP
EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology
Jérémie Korchia DVM, MSc, DACVP

2024, 376 pages, 8.5" by 6" perfect bound paperback
ISBN 978-1-886958-39-5
376 pages
List price: $80.00

A CRITICAL NEW REFERENCE.

A much-needed manual for Laboratory Quality in Veterinary Medicine

For decades, the Veterinary Laboratory has relied on teachings adapted from the human laboratory. But differences between veterinary and human testing are distinct and growing in complexity. The utility of "traditional" reference manuals has declined. A specialized Veterinary work is long overdue.

At last, a Veterinary-Specific book on Quality is available. With the support and encouragement of the ECVCP and ASCVCP Laboratory Standards Committees and the Veterinary Information Network, editors Drs. Kathleen Freeman, Stefanie Klenner-Gastreich and Jeremie Korchia have assembled a comprehensive reference  for Veterinary Laboratories. Veterinary Laboratory Quality provides basic principles, in-depth coverage of selected topics and issues specific for veterinary laboratories. It provides a philosophical explanation of the authors' approach to veterinary laboratory quality as well as a practical approach to addressing the unique challenges of the veterinary laboratory. This single comprehensive reference covers in 25 chapters what would require multiple volumes in human laboratory textbooks.

The areas addressed include:

• Basic Quality Concepts
• Business Performance Metrics for the Laboratory
• Instrument, Method and QC Validation
• In-clinic Laboratory Testing Tips
• A complete introduction to Statistics for Veterinary Laboratories
• Special chapters on Biological Variation, Clinical Pathology, Cytology, Endocrinology, and LEAN Six Sigm

Together with the editors, the authors of Veterinary Laboratory Quality provide more than a dozen experts with hard-won wisdom and practical insights into the unique field of Veterinary Laboratory Testing.

About the Editors and Authors

Kathleen P Freeman DVM, BS, MS, PhD, DipECVCP, FRCPath, MRCVS, European Veterinary Specialist in Clinical Pathology, RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Pathology (Clinical Pathology), is an American-trained veterinary clinical pathologist with experience as a laboratory director and senior clinical pathologist in the USA and UK. She is the Founding Chair for the ASVCP Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards Committee and the ECVCP Laboratory Standards Committee. She received the ASVCP Teaching Award in 2014. Currently, she works as a veterinary clinical pathologist for Veterinary Information Network (VIN), based in Davis, California and works with the VIN-Europe and Beyond branch of VIN. Her special interests include laboratory quality, cytology, equine medicine and pathology, and veterinary medical specialty competency-based education.

Stefanie Klenner-Gastreich Dr.med.vet., DipECVCP, European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology received her veterinary degree from University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany and did her doctoral thesis in gastroenterology. After an internship at the Small Animal Clinic of the Justus-Liebig University Gießen she completed her residency at the Central Laboratory. At scil animal care company Dr. Klenner-Gastreich worked with POCT and especially loved method validation, product development and the discussion with colleagues and clients about the various aspects of laboratory diagnostics. Teaching has always been a pleasure during her work as VIN lecturer of the Quality assurance in Veterinary Laboratories
online course. She also serves as chair of the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) Laboratory Standards committee and treasurer of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ESVCP).

Jérémie Korchia DVM, MS, DAVCP (Clinical Pathology) graduated from the veterinary college of Alfort (France) and pursued studying with a Master of Pathophysiology and a small animal rotating internship. He worked in academia in small animal internal medicine and then in endocrinology, before moving to the USA for a clinical pathology residency at Michigan State University. After a few positions in the USA as lead scientist and academic instructor, he returned to Michigan State University as an assistant professor, while keeping active in clinical diagnostics and research. Dr Korchia is currently the section editor for clinical pathology of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, and the Chair of the ASVCP Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards committee. He chaired the laboratory quality ASVCP premeeting of 2022.

Nándor Balogh DVM, PhD, DipECVCP, is a graduate of the Veterinary School in Budapest, where he also gained a Ph.D. degree a few years later. Dr. Balogh has worked for the Budapest veterinary school small animal and large animal clinics and laboratories for several years, then spent a year in private practice In the Hungarian countryside. After that he worked for Vet-Med Labor Germany (later IDEXX) as a Hungarian representative. He spent nearly a year in the UK working for IDEXX as a clinical pathologist. During that period, he accomplished ECVCP certification. Since 2009, Dr Balogh has run his own private clinical pathology lab, PraxisLab, in Budapest. His special interests include laboratory quality management, lab IT, cytology and laboratory testing of kidney, liver and vector-borne diseases. He continues as a guest lecturer graduate students at the Budapest veterinary school and works as a member of the Hungarian Veterinary Chamber Educational Committee.

Randolph M Baral BVSc MANZCVS (feline) PhD graduated from the University of Sydney in 1991. After graduating, he worked part-time in Australia and the UK while pursuing a career as a professional triathlete. In 1997, he started Paddington Cat Hospital with his wife, Melissa Catt. Randolph achieved Membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Cats in 2001, and his clinical pathology PhD in 2015. He has been a VIN consultant since 2001. Dr. Baral has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and was a co-editor of the internal medicine section of Susan Little’s The Cat: Clinical Medicine and Management, for which he wrote twelve chapters in diverse areas. Randolph administers the vetbiologicalvariation.org website; he became a founding director of CustomClinPath software in 2021.

Amy Browne BSc Veterinary Science is a veterinary scientist with over 10 years’ experience working in veterinary diagnostic laboratories in both the UK and Ireland. She worked as a veterinary nurse for a busy referral hospital before moving to the UK and studying with the Royal Veterinary College in London. She continued to work in the UK with Torrance-Diamond Diagnostic Services before moving back to Ireland and continuing in the veterinary laboratory profession. Currently, she works as laboratory manager for VPG Cork. Her special interests are in the continuous improvement of analytical and diagnostic testing for veterinary laboratories including hematology, laboratory quality, technician training and development. Amy also has a keen interest in sigma LEAN and applies this to laboratory systems and principles. Linn Clarizio DVM, DACVP obtained her DVM from the University of Minnesota in 2019 and completed a clinical pathology residency at Kansas State University in 2022. Her professional interests include hematology, avian and exotic clinical pathology, laboratory methodology, and quality assurance.

Clare Louise Doyle BVSc FRCPath MRCVS, following five years in small animal and equine practice and an internship in large animal internal medicine at University College Dublin, completed a three-year residency in veterinary clinical pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2009. She became a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists by examination in 2010 and since then has worked for the Veterinary Pathology Group (UK) as a senior clinical pathologist for 13 years. Clare has a special interest in quality control within the veterinary laboratory, particularly in the application of quality improvement to biochemical testing.

Kendal E. Harr DVM, MS, DACVP received her veterinary degree from Cornell University and completed her residency and Master of Science (immunology, diagnostic validation) at the University of Florida, where she rose to Associate Director of Aquatic Animal Health. With over 20 years working in diagnostic clinical pathology laboratories focusing on non-domestic species, she recently began using digital and AI tools for diagnosis, which demonstrated the need for QA guidelines for the use of digital samples. Her professional interests also include environmental and pharmacologic toxicology, serving as a principal investigator of the forensic avian toxicity study during the Deepwater Horizon Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. She has been a member of ASVCP Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards committee since 2004 and the chair/cochair for 3 years. She currently works in drug development, focusing on chemotherapeutics.

Emma H Hooijberg BVSc, GPCert(SAP), PhD, DipECVCP, European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology, South African Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology, trained as a specialist veterinary clinical pathologist in Vienna, Austria, and am is currently an Associate Professor and Head of the Clinical Pathology Section at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her current position involves management of the laboratory and diagnostic service provision, undergraduate and postgraduate student teaching and supervision of and involvement in postgraduate and other research projects. Her special interests are non-domestic animal clinical pathology and conservation medicine, and laboratory quality assurance – in particular, method validation and reference interval studies.

Jennifer R. Matlow DVM, MS, DAVCP, is a graduate of Cornell Veterinary School and did my residency in veterinary clinical pathology at Texas A&M University. Dr. Matlow has been a board-certified (ACVP) clinical pathologist since 2013, working in veterinary commercial diagnostic laboratories and currently working for IDEXX, Inc. Dr. Matlow has also been a member (and immediate past-chair) of ASVCP’s Quality and Laboratory Standards Committee (QALS) since 2015, working on several projects and quality assurance guidelines. Currently, she serves as the lead of IDEXX’s avian and exotics clinical pathology reading team, as well as on the Laboratory Analytical Method Advisors committee which assists departments on matters of quality control. Her special interest is in quality assurance education for
general practitioner veterinarians, pathology and clinical residents, and laboratory technical staff.

Lucia Sanchini DVM, MSc, DipECVCP, FRCPath, MRCVS, European Veterinary Specialist in Clinical Pathology is a clinical pathologist with diagnostic experience in both glass and digital cytology. She worked in diagnostic commercial laboratories based in the UK since her board certification and has a special interest in cytology. For 3 years, Dr. Sanchini was responsible for laboratory quality at the commercial laboratory Batt Lab. Her enthusiasm for quality in veterinary laboratory medicine started during her previous career as veterinary surgeon, when she learned (often the hard way) that to get a diagnosis one must pay particular attention to the quality of the sample they send out.

Ben Sturgeon Dr BSc, BVM, CertEP, CertESM, BAEDT, MRCVS graduated from Edinburgh University in 1996 before following an internship and residency in Dublin and Edinburgh respectively in large animal medicine and surgery before undertaking a lectureship in Equine Practice at Edinburgh. He then entered private work running his own first opinion and referral practice for several years before moving into animal welfare work where he became a Global Director of humane education, veterinary treatment programs, operational strategy and impact assessment in over 120 projects in 30 countries. He is currently CEO of an NGO delivering animal welfare advocacy. Throughout he developed several organizational and departmental strategies including in them critical pathways, quality assurance, due diligence, and MEAL evaluations. He is widely renowned speaker, published in peer reviewed veterinary literature as well in lay journals and in several book editions.