Our Review of the Association of Breast Surgery Annual Conference, 13-14th May 2024
As the voice of breast surgery in the UK, the Association of Breast Surgery’s (ABS) conferences and educational meetings promote good practice through information sharing and networking. And this year’s Annual Conference was no exception.
With a sold-out exhibition and a packed two-day educational and networking programme, it was a must-attend event for Informed Genomics. The team were kept busy at their booth during the two days, talking about their UKAS-accredited Hereditary Cancer services and solutions.
Here they reflect on what they learned.
Simon Davis, Chief Executive Officer
“The meeting exceeded our expectations. With almost 1,000 delegates in attendance, all focused explicitly on the breast cancer and breast care sector, the event provided us with fantastic networking opportunities..
“We spoke to lots of people who were interested in accessing our services. Many raised the issue of where to send patients who are not eligible for testing within the NHS. Working with our partner network, we can immediately help these patients to access UKAS-accredited testing services, which was very well received.
“The event also gave us the opportunity to talk with other partner organisations such as Everything Genetic, Veracyte, and Link Medical. Plus, of course, those all-important interactions with key opinion leaders regarding future large projects. All in all, this was a great event, and we would be very interested in attending again next year.”
George Vlachos, Clinical Services Sales Manager
“The ABS Conference provided a valuable and informative opportunity to connect and engage with delegates in meaningful conversations over the two days we were there. It was an excellent opportunity for us to find out everyone’s perspective on where and how genomic testing fits their requirements and introduce our clinical services to the broader ABS community. Evidently, there is a huge need for access to genomic testing, especially for patients who do not meet the current criteria to be referred via the National pathway.
“It was rewarding to see that delegates praised the steps we at Informed Genomics are taking to drive accessibility to healthcare, and I am very happy that our mission reflects their needs.”
Bradley Toghill, Genomics Services Sales Manager
Bradley gives us his key takeaways from the event: “The ABS conference gave us the opportunity to talk with key individuals working in the breast cancer field. Hereditary breast cancer confirmation testing is a significant requirement in breast cancer surgery as standard care. I was surprised at just how many requests we have for cancer-affected patients in this field, for example, for treatment choice. Almost all doctors require a provider for this, so the conference was an ideal forum to meet with these individuals and discuss our services.”
“We are in a prime position to service the hereditary breast cancer testing market. Attendees really appreciated that our service is ISO-approved, we are UK-based and offer a full workflow, low price, fast turnaround time, include counselling – and we are already providing this service to NHSE. The ABS Conference was an ideal platform to showcase our services and provide HCPs with the information they needed about hereditary testing and the challenges they face in their everyday practice.”
