Drugs of Abuse Automated Screening vs Manual Testing: What are the Benefits?

To Automate or not to Automate? Are you struggling with this question when it comes to implementing Drug Screening Test in your lab?

You will also learn about the differences in performance between automated drug screening test and manual testing, while understanding more about the benefits of automating your drugs of abuse testing.

There will be an interactive Live Q&A session at the end of the lecture with our speaker.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn of the current drugs of abuse situation as a global problem and the emergence of new drugs of abuse
• Understand the background of drug testing and the characteristics of a good drugs of abuse test
• Understand the benefits and limitations of different drug screening methods, based on these parameters: ease of use, result interpretation, sample suitability, qualitative vs quantitative testing, sensitivity/specificity, drugs detected and cost effectiveness.
• Discuss the difference between the performance of automated drug screening test and manual testing with examples of real cases

Presenter: Dr. Raja Elina Raja Aziddin (President, Malaysian Association of Clinical Biochemists (MACB))

Dr. Raja Elina has a degree in Biochemistry and PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Malaya. She has 36 years of experience in Clinical Biochemistry and was the Head of Drug and Research Unit in Hospital Kuala Lumpur until her retirement in June 2018. Her special interest is in drugs of abuse testing, therapeutic drugs and quality management. While in service, Dr. Elina was responsible for overseeing the drug testing services in Ministry of Health hospital laboratories. She developed the drug confirmatory test methods on the Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry which are currently still used today.

Dr. Elina actively conducts training at the national and international level. In 2017, the Asia Pacific Federation of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (APFCB) appointed her as travelling lecturer for the term 2017-2019.

Dr. Elina is currently the President of the Malaysian Association of Clinical Biochemists (MACB), the national representative to APFCB and International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). She is also a member of the APFCB Education and Laboratory Management Committee. In 2020, She was appointed as Chair of the Communications and Publications Committee of the APFCB and chief editor of APFCB News for a term of three years. In 2021 she was appointed as a member of the IFCC Committee on Laboratory Management for a term of three years. Dr. Elina is a Technical Assessor for Department of Standards Malaysia for ISO 15189 and is a trained lead assessor. She is also a member of the Technical Committee of “Clinical Laboratory Testing & In Vitro Diagnostic Test Systems (TC/R/7)” for the Preparation of Malaysian Standards