The 26th edition of the International Conference on Laboratory Medicine, held in Padova on October 23rd 2019, is entitled “From bench to diagnostic – therapeutic pathways”. Laboratory (diagnostic) services are a key component of modern health care. It has been estimated that 70–80% of all medical decisions impacting diagnosis or treatment involve at least one pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) investigation. In this issue of the Journal, we publish a series of papers emphasizing the debate regarding the future of laboratory medicine, translational health economics and some examples of translating new biomarkers into clinical practice.
Original Article
Evaluation of precision, comparability and linearity of MAGLUMI™ 2000 Plus GAD65 antibody assay
Review Article
Introduction of glycated albumin in clinical practice
Navigating between technology and professionalism: key points for the future of clinical laboratories
Procalcitonin in acute infections: from the research laboratory to clinical impact—new perspectives of biomarker use
Translational health economics—delivering the return on investment for laboratory medicine
Pathology and laboratory medicine in universal health coverage
Blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease
Disclosure:
The series “2019 International Conference on Laboratory Medicine: From Bench to Diagnostic - Therapeutic Pathways” was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Laboratory and Precision Medicine without any sponsorship or funding. Giuseppe Lippi and Mario Plebani served as the unpaid Guest Editors for the series.
