It’s already time to start gearing up for the 2025 AAVLD/USAHA Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Gaylord Rockies Hotel in Aurora, CO, from October 30 to November 5, 2025!  The Program Committee and the leadership of AAVLD and USAHA have been hard at work putting together a great meeting for you.

We are looking forward to hearing all of the great work that has been going on in our member labs and with other collaborative partners.  The abstract submission portal is open now, with abstract submissions closing on June 27, 2025.  We encourage both oral and poster in-person presentations.  Trainee travel and trainee presentation awards are available to promote excellence in the diagnostic discipline as well as develop presentation skills.  Please note that applicants for trainee presentation awards must submit either a recording of their presentation (for oral presentations) or a PDF of their poster (for poster presentations) by October 9^th, 2025.

In addition, and new for this year, a staff travel award is available to a clerical or technical staff member interested in attending the meeting and engaging more with AAVLD.  The awardee receives travel funding plus a one-year membership to AAVLD.  A letter of intent from the applicant and a letter of support from a sponsor at an AAVLD-member laboratory is required.

The theme for this year’s plenary session is “What’s old is new again”, and will look at how diagnostic tools/conditions have evolved, changed, or been repurposed.  Topics will include new uses for electron microscopy, new uses for LIMS data, utilization of cell culture for sequencing, and more!

We have many interesting symposia and workshops for you, including “Cytology for Anatomic Pathologists”, “International Experiences with High Consequence Animal Disease Outbreaks & Response”, “Best Practices for Submitting, Reviewing, and Publishing Manuscripts in JVDI”, and “Using Data Analytics to Reduce Turnaround Time in Veterinary Diagnostics”.

We look forward to engaging with you scientifically and socially in Colorado to support your professional growth and scientific collaborations.  In addition to the scientific and plenary sessions, you can look forward to an engaging keynote session at the President’s dinner, the awards luncheon, committee meetings, exhibitor show, coffee meetings, and meals with friends.

See you in a few months!

Ashley Hill

2025 Annual Meeting Program Committee Chair and AAVLD President-Elect