DEPARMENT OF LABORATORY MEDICINE

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The current Department of Laboratory Medicine was established in 2009, but its origins date back to 1940. The first clinical diagnostic laboratory was established in the Vytautas Magnus University Clinics established that year, and the doctor Juzefa Čeponienė, who led it, was not only a practical work expert but also a great educator. Many changes have taken place over the decades, and deep traditions have created preconditions for the integration of practical, educational and scientific activities in the current department.

OBJECTIVES

  • to ensure qualified, timely and accessible laboratory diagnostic services that meet the expectations of patients and doctors, for the purposes of diagnosis of diseases, their course, evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment and prevention;
  • to ensure the dissemination of science, knowledge and innovation in laboratory medicine to students, doctors, laboratory medicine specialists in other fields, as well as to the general public.

TASKS

  • to provide quality laboratory services;
  • to implement, conduct and continuously improve a quality management system based on internationally recognised quality standards;
  • participate in external laboratory evaluation programmes;
  • to provide timely, competent and confidential laboratory diagnostic services, ensuring a sufficient range of tests and their performance, and to provide advice on the ordering, evaluation and interpretation of the results of the tests, taking into account the specific clinical situation;
  • to cooperate with healthcare professionals to address issues and problems related to laboratory medicine;
  • to ensure a high quality of teaching activities by preparing students, postgraduates, residents, doctoral students and medical professionals, to participate in the training of laboratory medicine specialists and scientists;
  • to ensure the activity of scientific activities and its contribution to interdisciplinary scientific work.

CLINICAL ACTIVITIES

The practical activities of the Department of Laboratory Medicine are carried out in accordance with the normative documents of the Republic of Lithuania and the international standard “Medical laboratories — particular requirements for quality and competence (EN ISO 15189:2012)”.

The staff of the Department of the Laboratory Medicine is actively involved in the study process, preparing future doctors, medical biologists, other specialists in laboratory diagnostics. The postgraduate training courses’ students are given lectures, practical classes, thus the qualification of participants (specialists of various fields) is raised.

Master’s degree programmes

  • Medicine (during 4–6th years of study, clinical laboratory diagnostic issues are taught as part of the clinical modules)
  • Biology of Laboratory Medicine

Residency study programmes

  • Laboratory medicine
  • Allergology and Clinical Immunology (subject: Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics)
  • Infectious diseases (subject – Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics)
  • Haematology (subject – Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics)
  • Rheumatology (subject – Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics)

Bachelor’s degree programmes

  • Medical and Veterinary Genetics (in the 2nd year of study – taught subject – Clinical Chemistry)
  • Medical and Veterinary Biochemistry (in the 3rd year of study, subjects of Haematology and Haemostasis and Clinical Chemistry)
  • Search for pathogenic factors of bacteria and their influence on the course of the disease.
  • Etiology, diagnosis and search for pathogenesis mechanisms of haemostasis and haematologic disorders.

Project “The Search for Mechanisms and Risk Factors for Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii)”

The aim of the project is to master the methodologies and evaluation criteria for determining antibiotic resistance and resistance mechanisms of A. baumannii and to determine the influence of antibiotics prescribed for treatment on the selection of resistant strains.

Bacteria of the genus Acinetobacter were considered relatively non-pathogenic a few years ago, and in recent years have become one of the most important pathogens of hospital infections in Europe and the world. In modern medical institutions, in the treatment of patients with a high-risk factor, in state of immunosuppression, antibiotics of the widest spectrum are often prescribed. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to prevent the development of most strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Topic of work: The Search for Mechanisms and Risk Factors for Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii).

Purpose of the work: To assimilate the methodologies and evaluation criteria for determining the resistance and resistance mechanisms of A. baumannii, and to determine the influence of antibiotic therapy on the selection of resistant strains.

The research is funded by The European Social Fund under the measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712 “Development of scientific excellence of scientists, other researchers and students through practical scientific activities”.

 

Project “Links Between Cervical Intraepithelial Lesions and Human Papillomavirus Types”

The aim of the project is to assimilate the methodology of cervical scrape cytological smear performance in an automatic system and to get acquainted with the criteria of evaluation according to the Bethesda system (2014).

Persistent HPV infection causes cervical cancer in only a small percentage of women (Miranda PM, 2013). The longer the survival of a particular HPV genotype in the body, the probability that the virus will disappear, decreases, and the possibility of a pre-cancerous condition increases. Therefore, it is not enough to determine the colonisation of high-risk HPV types, in each case it is very important to determine the individual HPV genotype and assess its importance for the development of cervical cancer.

Topic of work: Links between cervical intraepithelial lesions and human papillomavirus types.

Purpose of the work: To identify high-risk HPV genotypes in cervical scrape smear tests and assess their significance for intraepithelial lesions based on Bethesda (2014) classification.

The research is funded by The European Social Fund under the measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712 “Development of scientific excellence of scientists, other researchers and students through practical scientific activities”.

 

LSMU Department of Laboratory Medicine
+370 37 326265
Eivenių St. 2, LT-50009 Kaunas
Prof. Dr. Astra Vitkauskienė
Head of the Department of Laboratory Medicine
All contacts