Formed in 2022, The British Society for Haematology (BSH) Laboratory Special Interest Group (SIG) incorporates both benign and malignant laboratory haematology. The SIG is comprised of BSH members and non-members who are a mix of medics and scientists.
The group will focus on general laboratory haematology, haematological malignancy diagnostics and the investigation of constitutional haematological disorders in the UK. These will continue to be a growth area over the next few decades, particularly with the advent of genomic and personalised medicine. Within the SIG, we will have separate sub-speciality workstreams to allow professionals to coalesce around areas of their particular interest, such as HMDS or red cell haematology.
These workstreams will operate and report through the SIG organising committee.
Laboratory SIG committee
April Sellors (Chair)
Consultant Clinical Scientist
HMDL Laboratory, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Dr Alesia Khan (Vice-chair)
Consultant Haematologist
Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Andrew McGregor
Consultant Haematologist
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Andrew Wilson
Consultant Haematologist
University College London NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Anna Godfrey
Consultant Haematologist and Clinical Lead
Haematopathology and Oncology Diagnostics Service, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Professor John Snowden
Consultant Haematologist, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Honorary Professor, University of Sheffield
Honorary Clinical Professor, University College London
Dr Linda Barton
Consultant Haematologist, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Honorary Associate Professor, University of Leicester
Professor M. Calaminici
Consultant Haematopathologist Barts Health NHS Trust
British Lymphoma Pathology Group (BLPG) Chair
Mrs Nicki Lawrence
Principal Biomedical Scientist
Royal Stoke University Hospital
Dr Rachel Brown
Haematology Consultant and Clinical Director for Laboratory Haematology
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Sateesh Kumar Nagumantry
Consultant Haematologist, Peterborough City Hospital
PNH Physician, National PNH Service, Leeds
Dr Shireen Kassam
Consultant Haematologist and Lifestyle Medicine Physician, London South-East
KSS Training Programme Director, King’s College Hospital, London
Dr Timothy Farren
Head of Immunophenotyping and Scientific Lead for SIHMDS
NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership
Tom Butler
Consultant Haematologist and Haematopathologist, Barts Health NHS Trust
Clinical Director, NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership
Join the Laboratory Special Interest Group.
The SIG welcomes both members and non-members of the BSH who have a special interest in Laboratory Haematology and is free to join.
Please note you will need to log in or create a website account to join a SIG.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 020 7713 0990.
The 65th BSH Annual Scientific Meeting will run from 27-29 April 2025, at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, UK.
This year the Laboratory SIG will host three sessions, all on Monday 28 April. See below for details.
We look forward to welcoming you at the ASM.
Please send brief details of any areas you would particularly like to see covered to [email protected], preferably before the event. We may not be able to address every question straight away, but they will all be brought to the attention of the Laboratory SIG.
There is no such thing as a stupid question, apart from the question not asked, so send your thoughts and queries. We hope to see many of you in Glasgow.
This session will be chaired by April Sellors, Chair of the BSH Laboratory SIG.
The session will discuss future trends and considerations for laboratory haematology, taking in:
• Sustainability by Dr Shireen Kassam
The session will be chaired by April Sellors, Chair of the Laboratory SIG
The Laboratory SIG invites you to view eight slides online for the ever-popular interactive morphology quiz. The cases are from around the country and are available to view on the Leeds Virtual Pathology website. The answers will be published on the BSH website after the ASM, along with the cases.
We look forward to welcoming you to the session.
The session will run from 15.15-16.45 in the Lomond room. It will be chaired by Dr Alesia Khan, Vice Chair of the Laboratory SIG.
The new Digital Pathology Task Force, which sits under the Laboratory Special Interest Group, welcomes applications to fill a number of vacancies.
Task Force members will play a key role in shaping and advancing its strategic goals, helping to drive innovation, support decision-making and enhancing the use of digital pathology within haematology. Members will be haematologists or healthcare scientists, with at least one trainee.
Visit out Volunteer With Us page for more information.
HMDS survey results
Thank you to those who completed our HMDS survey in 2022. A summary of the results is available.
The results have already been presented at a BSH-supported HMDS network meeting in February 2023, as well as at the Lab SIG session of our BSH Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in April 2023.
The ASM presentation discusses the results of the survey, as well as outlining national issues and progress on forming a UK HMDS network.
Genomics Laboratory Hubs (GLH) and their multidisciplinary teams (MDT)
Below you will find further information on the UK GLHs, their MDTs and the tests they provide.
The MDT is held from 14:00 to 15:00 every Thursday.
Regular attendees:
Noemi Roy
Janet Hampson
Melanie Proven, Ria Burns
Dariusz Dziedzic
Sarah Westbury
Liam Miller
Treena Cranston
I-jun Lau
Saniya Dhawan
Amrana Qureshi
Altaf Al-Mamari
Michelle Rugless
Matthew Sims
Francesca Crolla
Rachael Biggart
Primary contact:
Oxford Molecular Haematology Laboratory
Request form:
Rare disease molecular haematology request form
The MDT is held every two weeks on a Friday from 14:00 to 15:00 via Teams.
Regular attendees:
Organiser: Dr Dalia Khan, Consultant Haematologist, Oxford
MDT coordinator: Gabi Niemiec
Prof Andrew Mumford
Dr Sarah Westbury
Dr Nicola Curry
Dr Sarah Mangles
Dr Rashid Kazmi
Dr Claire Lentaigne
Dr Gillian Lowe
Dr Carl Fratter
Dr Patricia Bignell
Liam Miller
Primary contact:
Dr Dalia Khan
Request form:
Genetics MDT proforma
The MDT is held on the third Friday of each month.
Regular attendees:
The four GLH scientists
Primary contact:
Noemi Roy
Request form:
Genomics diagnostic laboratory generic request form
The MDT is held on the fourth Thursday of every second month, either at 11:00 or 14:00.
Regular attendees:
NW GLH and East GLH Genetics Specialist teams (including invited guests).
Primary contacts:
Laura and Rachel, MDT Coordinators at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
Request form:
Genomics diagnostic laboratory generic request form
The MDT is held on the first Monday of each month from 10:00-11:30.
Regular attendees:
Chair: Dr Elizabeth Horn
Primary contact:
Dr Elizabeth Horn
Request forms:
Rare disease referral form
Genetic testing for haemoglobinopathies referral form
For some time, we have been anticipating the publication of two new haematological malignancy diagnostic classifications: the World Health Organisation (WHO) 5th edition and the International Consensus Classification (ICC), the outlines of which have recently been published in Leukemia and Blood, respectively.
While, for the most part, they agree and overlap with each other, the two classifications do differ in some areas.
The British Society for Haematology (BSH) and the British Lymphoma Pathology Group (BLPG) have been asked to help. We want to provide some interim guidance for members whilst planning formal, definitive guidance.