National Conference Awards

POSTER ABSTRACTS 

The National Meeting includes an abstract submission and review process through which presenters self-nominate. Abstracts are anonymised and sent for review by the scientific and clinical science review committees for suitability.  

The authors of accepted abstracts are invited to either create a poster or an oral presentation based on their abstract.  

Posters are put on display at the National Meeting. Abstracts are additionally published in the Supplement of Annals of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.  

Past abstracts are free to view and download from the ACB website’s Annals section. 

QUALIFYING CRITERIA 

Any professional, either in training or in work, can submit an abstract to be considered for a poster or a clinical case presentation. 

Each applicant (who must be the first author, if submitting on behalf of a group) must certify that the work, or a substantial and clearly defined part of it, is their own work.  

HOW TO SUBMIT 

Applicants must use the Poster Abstract submission form to apply. Prior to accessing the form, users will be required to create an account with the Oxford Abstracts platform. 

During the abstract submission process, authors can indicate whether they would like their submission to be considered for one of the Poster Prizes (Audit and Clinical Case), for a Clinical Cases Oral Presentation, or for the Medal Award. 

The abstract should be completed in no more than 300 words. For Clinical Cases, include a clear description of the clinical presentation, presentation of the test results, and appropriate interpretation of those results. For Clinical Audit, include a clear description of the area of practice, the standards/ guidelines used, changes introduced, and re-audit. 

The deadline for submitting your poster abstract is 30 June 2022. 

HOW IT WILL BE SCORED & ACCEPTED 

All abstract submissions are anonymised before being reviewed. 

Audit submissions are reviewed by the ACB Audit committee. Clinical Case submissions are reviewed by the clinical science review committee, as well as by the Clinical Case Oral Presentation session chair.   

Preference will be given to cases with multi-disciplinary involvement, rare case studies, or an unusual presentation of a more common case.  

The authors of the highest scoring Clinical Cases will be contacted to discuss their preference for either oral or poster presentation, and will be given further guidelines at that stage.  

Note that case abstracts presented orally at the meeting session will not be displayed as posters.  

POSTER PRIZES 

Abstracts submitted for prize consideration are scored and shortlisted by judges for: the Clinical Cases Poster Prize, the Audit Poster Prize, and the Clinical Cases Oral Presentation respectively. The winner of the Clinical Cases Oral Presentation is voted for by the audience. 

The winner from each category receives £100 and the runner-up receives £50 (in vouchers).  

Some abstracts may also be eligible for the Medal Award. Please click on the Medal Award section on the National Conference Awards page for more information. 

The winners will be announced and presented with their prizes at the National Meeting closing ceremony. 

FURTHER QUESTIONS 

If you have any questions about the Poster Abstracts or the submission process, please don’t hesitate to contact our Publications Administrator at [email protected]. 

 

 

THE AWARD 

Awarded annually based on an oral communication presented by a member in active training at the National Meeting. The winner receives a silver medal and a £300 cash prize, while the runner-up receives £150. 

QUALIFYING CRITERIA 

Applicants must be Members of the Association who are in active training (i.e. working towards, but not yet having acquired FRCPath) on the date of the competition. 

Applicants must certify that the work, or a substantial and clearly defined part of it, is their own work.   

HOW TO SUBMIT 

The shortlist for the Medal Award will be selected from the Poster Abstract submissions. 

In the Poster Abstracts submissions form, applicants should submit an abstract of no more than 300 words. Please read the guidance on how to submit your abstract in the Poster Prizes section of the National Conference Awards page. 

Applicants must indicate on the submission form that the author wishes their abstract, if accepted, to be considered for the Medal Award. 

The deadline for submitting your poster abstract, including consideration for the Medal Award, is 30 June 2022. 

HOW IT WILL BE SCORED & AWARDED 

The judges on the Award Committee will look for evidence of original science that is relevant to Laboratory Medicine, that is completed by the presenter and has impact on the patient pathway.  

Shortlisting and judging is done by an Award Committee, comprising the Association’s President, Past President or President Elect, Director of Publications & Communications, Director of Education, Training & Workforce, and the Director of Conferences and Events.  

Shortlisted Medal Award applicants will be informed not less than 6 weeks before the Award. At the National Meeting there will be a separate session dedicated to the Award presentations. Participants will be given 15 minutes to make their presentation with a further 5 minutes for questions. Judges will also look for a clear and interesting delivery, careful timing, good audio-visual aids, and the ability to discuss the project and answer questions.  

The winner and runner-up will be announced at the National Meeting’s closing ceremony. 

FURTHER QUESTIONS 

If you have any questions about the Medal Award or its submission process, please don’t hesitate to contact our Publications Administrator at [email protected].

THE AWARD 

The Impact Award is an opportunity for ACB members working in laboratory medicine to showcase and be recognised for an initiative they have delivered, either as an individual or group, which has resulted in positive change to a service. 

This can be positive change related to: 

• The patient pathway 
• Health systems and services 
• The laboratory workforce  
• Environmental sustainability 
• Inclusive healthcare 

QUALIFYING CRITERIA 

The Impact Award celebrates an improved service, rather than the individual(s) involved. 

The initiative must be innovative to the sector and/or your workplace, and must have resulted in demonstrable change that benefitted the stakeholders involved. This initiative must have been implemented, and not be solely research or a study.  

It may showcase an idea that was already implemented in other industries, communities or countries, as long as you have adapted and refined it to solve a challenge related to your clinical practice and/or stakeholders. 

The person(s) awarded must be able to deliver a plenary lecture about the initiative at the UKMedLab22 National Meeting. In the case of a group submission, the awardees can nominate a lead presenter or present as a group. 

HOW TO SUBMIT 

Submission is by self-nomination and completion of the Impact Award submission form by an individual or group representative. You must provide details about the following sections in no more than 150 words each: 

• The background to the initiative 
• The action taken through the initiative 
• The impact the initiative had 

Please note that this submission does not enlist you for any other awards or submissions at the National Meeting. For information on the Medal Award and Poster Abstract submissions, see the relevant sections on the National Conference Awards page. 

The deadline for submitting applications to the Impact Award is 31 July 2022. 

HOW IT WILL BE SCORED & AWARDED 

This award is scored by the UKMedlab organising committee based on the ability to evidence the positive change that resulted from the implementation of the initiative. 

Your submission should clearly demonstrate the problem you were facing (baseline), the steps you took to address it (implementation), and how those made a difference (impact). 

Successful submissions are able to address the following considerations in an insightful manner: 

• What KPIs (if any) did you use to measure the level of success in your initiative? 
• What qualitative evidence can you provide that demonstrate the success of your initiative? 
• How big was the problem you were trying to solve? 
• How unique is your initiative? 
• How easy was it to implement your initiative? 
• How many people and/or practices benefitted from this initiative? 
• Can it be scaled for the benefit of others? 

PRIZE 

The awardee(s) will present their work at the UKMedLab22 National Meeting and will receive a suitable memento. 

FURTHER QUESTIONS 

If you have any questions about the Impact Award or its submission process, please don’t hesitate to contact the ACB team at [email protected]. 

Presented annually at the National Meeting of the Association. The Award comprises a suitable memento and an honorarium.

The selection procedure for the Award is as follows:

• The recipient will be a Member of the Association, normally resident in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, who is acknowledged as having made an outstanding contribution to Clinical Biochemistry.

• Written nominations are sought through ACB News 18 months prior to the Award being made from a proposer and two seconders who are Members of the Association.

• Elected Members of Council may not sign nominations as proposer or seconder.

• The nomination should be forwarded to the National Meetings Secretary and must be accompanied by a supporting statement outlining the nature of the contribution made by the nominee and the reasons for consideration for this Award.

• The nominee must be willing to be proposed and be able to present an award lecture at the National Meeting that should reflect the ‘state of the art’ in a chosen area of Clinical Biochemistry.

• The recipient is selected by the Association’s Executive and the successful nominee will be advised 12 months prior to the award being made.

ACB Council is informed of this outcome at its first meeting after the selection is completed. The Award is presented by a representative of the sponsoring company after the recipient has delivered the ACB Foundation Lecture. The name of the Award winner is also announced in ACB News.

Sponsorship by individual Corporate Members will be invited as part of the overall Annual National Meeting (Focus) sponsorship package from 2011 onwards.

 

This prestigious award was introduced in 2011, replacing the Siemens Award Lecture and the Roche Diagnostics Award Lecture (previous winners of these awards can also be found below).

• Nominated persons should normally be practising clinical biochemists from outside of the UK who have made a major contribution to clinical biochemistry – in practice, research or in education.

• The recipient is invited to give a state-of-the-art lecture in their area of expertise and the Award will be a certificate and an honorarium.

• In the first year of the Award, the recipient was nominated by the Annual National Meeting (Focus) Scientific Programme Committee. Thereafter (Focus 2012 onwards), written nominations are sought through the ACB News 18 months prior to the Award being made. This will comprise a supporting proposer and 2 seconders who are members of the Association, but not Members of Council or officers of standing committees.

• If there are no nominations, the Annual National Meeting (Focus) Scientific Programme Committee will be invited to nominate a recipient.

• The nominee must be willing to be proposed and willing to deliver an Award Lecture at the national meeting.

• The nomination is ratified by ACB Executive. If there is more than 1 nomination, the recipient will be selected by Executive.

• ACB Council is informed of the outcome at its first meeting after selection of the recipient.

Sponsorship by individual Corporate Members will be invited as part of the overall Annual National Meeting (Focus) sponsorship package from 2011 onwards. The Award is presented by a representative of the sponsoring company.

 

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (AACC) Transatlantic Lecture was inaugurated in 1998 when the ACB National Meeting was held in Glasgow. This was the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the AACC. The procedure for selecting the AACC Transatlantic Lecture has evolved over this time.

The speaker’s expenses will cover travel (economy) plus registration and accommodation for the full meeting.

• The proposed speaker is selected by the Scientific Programme Organising Committee for the National Meeting at which the lecture will be presented. The AACC is then consulted through its President about the person selected.
• The major qualification for the speaker is that he or she is a distinguished, leading clinical scientist from the American Continent. The person will be able to deliver a plenary lecture on a subject usually relevant to one of the themes of the conference.

• The person will be able to deliver a plenary lecture on a subject usually relevant to one of the themes of the conference.

• The lecturer does not need to be a Member of AACC nor only be resident in the USA.

• The proposed speaker is selected by the Association’s Executive and the scientific programme lead of the meeting at which the lecture will be presented.