Please join us for the LGC, Biosearch COVID-19 Podcast
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced unprecedented change throughout society, from lockdowns and mask
wearing to the rapid marshalling of the molecular diagnostics and therapeutic development communities
to counteract this deadly disease. In Countering Covid, a podcast brought to you by LGC, Biosearch Technologies,
our goal is to help assay developers, scientists, and clinicians gain behind-the-scenes insight into the
technologies around SARS-CoV-2 testing. Through conversations with the scientists that are building, implementing,
and reconfiguring technologies to address SARS-CoV-2 challenges, we highlight how, working together, we can make
the world a safer place.
01
Focusing on the finer points of the SARS-CoV-2 testing workflow: false positives and false negatives
17 December, 2020 /
Understanding misleading COVID-19 test results
Like any diagnostic test, SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic assays are affected by the appearance of false positives and false negative results. In this episode, we speak with qPCR assay, workflow, and measurement experts Jim Huggett, Tania Nolan, and James Grayson about the causes of false positives and false negatives and how to mitigate these misleading events. Along the way we also touch on limits-of-detection, the role of workflow software in supporting the production of reliable results, and important aspects of the qPCR assay that clinicians and assay developers should keep in mind.
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02
Insights from an academic clinical research assay developer
22 January, 2021 /
Analysis of numerous factors of COVID-19 testing, including test development and tests for different sample types
The sudden onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic forced many academic research labs to pivot to diagnostic testing. In this episode, we speak with Priya Banada, an Assistant Professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, about her experiences pivoting from developing clinical research assays to running diagnostic assays, with added insights from a software vendor’s point-of-view from James Grayson. We also cover the pros and cons of different sample types, viral load, and how more clinicians should be asking to see Ct values.
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A fairly new technology for medical settings, artificial intelligence (AI) has been critical for enabling deep insights and fast responses to the pandemic. In this podcast, we speak with scientists from three different companies on how they use AI to counter the pandemic, the challenges facing AI in a biomedical setting, and the real advantages that this powerful technology can bring to improve healthcare outcomes. Covering SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic testing, patient management in the hospital, and SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic imaging, our guests bring together an impressive depth of knowledge and range of viewpoints on the implementation of AI in medicine.
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With many public health experts believing that COVID-19 will continue to be a global health problem for years to come, the need for SARS-CoV-2 testing will remain. However, the type of testing will likely change. For regions where the virus is not very widespread and the number of diagnostic tests has declined, surveillance testing of wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 can be an efficient and cost-effective way to understand and anticipate potential outbreaks.
In this episode, we speak with three scientists from Combinati, a company that has commercialised a digital PCR platform, on how their technology is being used by universities and municipalities in the United States to analyse wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, and the unique advantages of digital PCR for this application.
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