. Key note speakers provided valuable insights from across Canada-provincially and nationally-from the United States and the United Kingdom. A listing follows.
Keynote speakers were featured;
Dr. Fraser Ashton
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
Dr. Gilles Delage
Public Health Laboratory, Quebec
Dr. Helen Demshar
Laboratory Services Branch, Ontario
Dr. Kevin Forward
Public Health, Nova Scotia
Dr. Robert George
Central Public Health Laboratory, UK
Dr. Greg Hammond
Public Health, Manitoba
Dr. Joe Losos
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC)
Dr. Robert Martin
American State & Territorial Public Health Laboratories
Dr. Brian Mahy
Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Dr. John Smith
Centre for Disease Control, B.C.
Dr. Jim Talbot
Provincial Laboratory of Public Health for Northern Alberta
Dr. John Wade
Manitoba Health
Breakout sessions were employed to stimulate ideas-and consensus.
Four key questions were progressively addressed during the course of the forum:
Vision-What are the characteristics of an
optimum microbiological reference service system?
Model-How would you design an optimum reference
services model?
Gaps-What are the gaps and issues between our
optimum model and our current system?
Actions-What actions can be taken to move toward
the vision? Participants were also asked to consider each topic
within the context of a common set of themes:
Common themes carried through the breakout session discussions.