Plenary sessions

ADLM is proud to announce the following plenary sessions. These thought-provoking lectures, held each day, Sunday to Thursday, are delivered by world-renowned experts and cover timely topics spanning the breadth of laboratory medicine. The full lineup will be announced soon.

• Sunday, July 26: Diabetes prevention and treatment: A personal odyssey from bench to bedside
  David Nathan, MD
  2026 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Awardee
• Monday, July 27: Laboratory Diagnostics for Space Medicine
  Kathleen McMonigal, MD
• Tuesday, July 28: Alzheimer disease biomarkers in Down syndrome
  Elizabeth Head, PhD, MA
• Wednesday, July 29:Advances in screening for cervical cancer both in the United States and globally
  Leeya Pinder, MD, MPH
• Thursday, July 30: Mass spectrometry-based discovery and translation of novel biomarkers into immune-based therapies for cancer
  Arun P. Wiita, MD, PhD

Sunday, July 26

Diabetes prevention and treatment: A personal odyssey from bench to bedside

2026 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Awardee
David M. Nathan, MD
Director, Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Founder, Diabetes Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Cambridge, MA, USA

Talk Description: Dr. David M. Nathan has participated in some of the most course-changing historical developments in diabetes care during his 50-year career. These include: establishing the role of the HbA1c assay and its subsequent standardization; investigating intensive therapies with insulin pumps and other treatment modalities; demonstrating the myriad benefits of intensive therapy - and the central role of glycemic control; demonstrating the beneficial effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin on prevention of type 2 diabetes; being the first to demonstrate the glucose-lowering effects of the GLP-1(7-37) peptide; and directing the first large-scale comparative effectiveness study of pharmacologic treatments of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Nathan will review some of these developments and the importance of being in the right place at the right time and with the right colleagues. He will also note the importance of funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health throughout his career..

Biography: David M. Nathan, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He founded the Diabetes Center and directs the Clinical Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. An internationally acclaimed diabetes expert, he performed early, seminal studies to establish the HbA1c assay and conducted the first clinical studies with GLP-1 therapy in diabetes. Dr. Nathan is best known for his leadership of some of the most important studies in the treatment and prevention of diabetes including the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study in type 1 diabetes, and the Diabetes Prevention Program and the GRADE study in type 2 diabetes. David was awarded the Outstanding Clinician Award in 2002 and the inaugural Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award in 2015, both from the American Diabetes Association, and the 2010 Distinguished Scientist Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Monday, July 27

Laboratory Diagnostics for Space Medicine

Kathleen McMonigal, MD
Director, NASA Johnson Space Center Clinical Laboratory
Houston, Texas

Talk Description: Laboratory medicine plays a vital role in maintaining astronaut health during space missions. In the unique environment of space, microgravity significantly affects human physiology, leading to bone loss, cephalad fluid shifts, neurovestibular impairment, immune system dysregulation, reduced red blood cell mass, and ocular changes. Clinical laboratory testing is crucial during astronaut selection, annual medical certification, and post-mission recovery. Testing helps detect underlying health conditions that may jeopardize mission success or long-term health. Spaceflight introduces additional stressors such as cosmic radiation, prolonged isolation, circadian disruption, and altered microbiome, all of which can weaken immune responses—particularly T-cell function—resulting in latent virus reactivation and heightened allergic responses. Hematologic adaptations, such as decreased erythropoietin production and transient “spaceflight anemia,” are also common. As missions extend to the Moon and Mars, innovations in biomarker technologies, medical sensors, and portable diagnostics will be essential for autonomous health care in remote, austere environments. 

Biography: Kathleen A. McMonigal, MD, FCAP, is the Director of Clinical Laboratories for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. McMonigal oversees astronaut and occupational medicine laboratory testing at NASA. She is past chair of NASA’s Institutional Review Board. Dr. McMonigal is the NASA physician lead for development of medical standards for the Artemis program that is returning humans to the Moon and is also the NASA lead for the medical standards working group for the International Space Station. Her clinical laboratory team supports operational and research activities in the NASA space flight program.

Tuesday, July 28

Alzheimer disease biomarkers in Down syndrome

Elizabeth Head, PhD, MA
Dean’s Professor and Vice Chair for Research
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of California, Irvine

Talk Description: People with Down syndrome (DS) have a 90% lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia thought to be related to overexpression of genes on chromosome 21. Given there are over 220,000 people with DS in the USA alone, DS represents the most common genetic cause of AD. The Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium – Down syndrome (ABC-DS) is capturing neuroimaging (PET/MRI) and fluid biomarker (plasma/CSF) outcomes from a cohort of 550 people with DS over the age of 35 years with longitudinal clinical and neuropsychological follow up. AD biomarker profiles in DS overlap significantly with late onset AD but with distinct differences including earlier ages where changes are noted and more rapid progression. Interestingly, biomarkers of AD in DS also overlap substantially with autosomal dominant AD. ABC-DS is identifying informative AD biomarkers for DS supporting clinical trials and individual variability (e.g. resistance/resilience) in biomarker outcomes may inform precision medicine approaches.

Biography: Dr. Elizabeth Head received a Masters in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Canada. She received postdoctoral training at the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) at the University of California – Irvine. She is a Dean’s Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Head has dedicated over 25 years to the study of aging and Alzheimer disease with a focus on people with Down syndrome. The overarching goal of her laboratory is to use multidisciplinary approaches to identify targets for interventions for people with Down syndrome (DS) to slow or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).  

Wednesday, July 29

Advances in screening for cervical cancer both in the United States and globally

Leeya Pinder, MD, MPH
Director, Center for Global Cancer Control
Associate Professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Cincinnati, Ohio

Talk Description: This session will explore the latest advancements in cervical cancer screening, focusing on innovations that are increasing accessibility and effectiveness both in the U.S. and globally. We will discuss the impact of primary HPV testing, which screens for the virus that causes most cervical cancers, as well as the growing importance of HPV self-collection. This patient-centered approach allows individuals to collect their own samples for HPV testing. The presentation will also delve into the effectiveness of new low-cost technologies like thermal ablation devices and the potential of emerging technologies like Automated Visual Evaluation (AVE) and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve screening accuracy and access. The goal is to highlight how these strategies are closing critical gaps in care, particularly for marginalized communities and women living in low- and middle-income countries, and to advance the global effort to eliminate cervical cancer.

Biography: Dr. Leeya F. Pinder is a distinguished gynecologic oncologist and Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati. She also serves as the Associate Director for Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. Dr. Pinder is deeply committed to improving women's health worldwide by creating and implementing high-impact programs for the prevention and treatment of breast and cervical cancers. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on topics such as HPV vaccination, thermal ablation, and addressing health disparities in gynecologic cancer care. Through her extensive research and mentorship, she has built in-country expertise and capacity by leading collaborative projects and training healthcare providers. Her work is dedicated to advancing equitable cancer care, both domestically and globally.

Thursday, July 30

Mass spectrometry-based discovery and translation of novel biomarkers into immune-based therapies for cancer

Arun P. Wiita, MD, PhD
Professor and Interim Chair, UCSF Dept. of Laboratory Medicine
Adjunct Professor, UCSF Dept. of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences
Investigator, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco
Assistant Director, UCSF Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory
Director, UCSF Stephen and Nancy Grand Multiple Myeloma Translational Initiative Laboratory
Director, Physician-Scientist Pathway Program, Depts. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, California

Talk Description: Mass spectrometry is one of the most powerful tools for the discovery of disease-relevant biomarkers in cancer. Dr. Witta will discuss his group's work integrating chemical biology, mass spectrometry, and computational methods to focus on the "surfaceome", i.e. the complement of proteins at the plasma cell membrane of blood cancers. Using these technologies they seek to identify novel protein features at the cancer cell surface that can serve both as diagnostic biomarkers as well as therapeutic handles. Using this input from our mass spectrometry-driven discovery pipelines, they aim to develop novel therapeutics, including antibody-based therapeutics and engineered immune cell therapies, to attack and eliminate these antigen-positive tumors. The work of Dr. Witta’s group encompasses target discovery to developing therapies which can be translated to clinical trials, accompanied by flow cytometry-based companion diagnostics, thereby expanding the clinical impact of mass spectrometry.

Biography: Dr. Arun Wiita is a physician-scientist and Professor in the Dept. of Laboratory Medicine and Dept. of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Wiita’s research laboratory focuses on mass spectrometry-based proteomics, target discovery, protein engineering, and cellular engineering toward the development of novel immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies, while his clinical duties center on molecular genomic pathology. Dr. Wiita also directs the UCSF Stephen and Nancy Grand Multiple Myeloma Translational Initiative (MMTI) Laboratory. Dr. Wiita is a prior recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator Award, among others. He is also an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at UCSF, his MD and PhD at Columbia, with graduate training in single molecule biophysics, and undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Princeton.