ON DEMAND

Antibodies to aquaporin-4 and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are recently described biomarkers seen in a subset of atypical optic neuritis which have revolutionized our understanding of the condition. In this “Hot Topic,” my colleague, Dr. John Chen, will review these advances and how they impact the clinical care of our patients with optic neuritis.

PACE
In this month’s “Virtual Lecture,” Kevin Halling, M.D., Ph.D., will review basic cancer genetics concepts and discuss examples of how RNA sequencing can be used to detect clinically relevant alterations in tumors such as gene fusions, point mutations, tumor mutation burden, and gene expression of individual genes or sets of genes.

Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a common cause of disease in the transplant population. In some patients who are diagnosed with CMV and are on antiviral treatment for infections, the virus may develop resistance to the drugs. This “Hot Topic” will provide an overview of a new test developed by Mayo Clinic Laboratories, which uses next-generation sequencing technology to identify mutations in the genome of CMV that may be associated with antiviral resistance.

In this month’s “Virtual Lecture,” you will learn ways that Mayo Clinic is capitalizing on partnerships to reduce safety risks and environmental impacts, discuss challenges encountered with greening the laboratory efforts, and discover successful solutions and implementation strategies.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Julia Lehman, M.D., will discuss a rare and potentially fatal mucocutaneous blistering disease that is often associated with an underlying malignancy, called paraneoplastic pemphigus. She will also discuss the specialized tissue and serum testing that is required to establish the diagnosis.

PACE / State of CA / State of FL
In this "Phlebotomy Module," learners will be introduced to medical terminology, learning many of the terms they are likely to encounter in a health care setting. Additionally, information related to collection devices, types of equipment, and the situations to use them in will be discussed.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Rajiv Pruthi, M.B.B.S., will discuss different types of hemophilia along with their pathologic basis. He will also cover various types of factor assays such as one stage and chromogenic factor assays for diagnosis and their role in management of hemophilia.

PACE / State of CA / State of FL
In this month’s “Virtual Lecture,” Justin Kreuter, M.D., goes over the importance of maintaining a healthy blood donor community by talking about the effects of blood donation on stored iron and describes which individuals are at a higher risk for iron deficiency anemia.