The ICSH General Assembly 2025 News

The ICSH held the 2025 General Assembly at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Chicago on 29th and 30^th September and attended by over 50 members and invited guests. ICSH sincerely thanks Sysmex America for their generous support in hosting the meeting and the generous hospitality provided.

During the Assembly all ICSH members (i.e. Corporate and Affiliate members and the Management Board) learned of the ICSH activities over the past year, programmes of work that are underway and plans for the coming year. It was evident that there is growing global interest in the ICSH and its activities as evidenced by the number of people accessing the website, new members (Corporate and Affiliate), interest in contributing to Working Group projects and the number of applications for ICSH Scholarships. Because of this growth, the Board will be increasing the membership to a maximum of 12; a call will soon be made for expressions from scientists and / or haematologists interested in joining the ICSH Board. 

Over the past 12-months the ICSH has completed a number of projects leading to publications, all of which are freely available and accessible via the ICSH website. These include: 

• Clinical applications of bone marrow CD34 immunohistochemistry assay 

• Guidance for internal quality control policy for blood cell counters 

• ICSH/JSLH reference measurement procedures for enumeration of erythrocytes and leukocytes 

• ICSH immunodifferential reference method for white blood cell enumeration and differential by flow cytometry 

• ICSH guidance on the validation of laboratory developed tests in haemostasis 

• Update on standardization of HbA2 and HbF (work together with IFCC)

Presentations were given by Working Group leads on projects underway, including: monocytes nomenclature, bone marrow examination and reporting, blood viscosity, malaria diagnostics, measurement of uncertainty, monitoring of direct thrombin inhibitors and measurement of non-clotting factor options for haemophilia. Proposals for new projects were discussed and are under consideration by the ICSH. 

A highlight of the Assembly was a special session devoted to the evolving role of artificial intelligence in haematology. There were three highly informative presentations given by Drs Stephen Master, Samer Albahra and Wolfgang Kern, followed by a dynamic panel discussion. Topics included guidance on manufacturer-developed and in-house AI algorithms, minimum performance metrics, operability, and quality assurance, all issues considered directly relevant to the ICSH. The Board will now consider whether, how, and when to develop related materials on artificial intelligence.

Dr Katharine Lowndes gave an overview of the upcoming 3-day ICSH Morphology Symposium (Perth, Western Australia, 24-26 November).  There has been enormous interest in this new ICSH educational initiative. Registrations were closed 3 months prior to the event as all places had been taken. The ICSH is supporting the attendance of scientists and haematologists from resource-constrained countries (including Tanzania; Cambodia; Fiji; Indonesia; Zambia). The programme includes live microscopy presentations, personal morphology review, plenary lectures, oral presentations and meet-the-expert sessions. The ICSH thanks the Organising Committee for their time and effort in preparing what should be an excellent event which promises to be an ICSH highlight for 2025. Already the ICSH is being asked about when and where the next Morphology Symposium will be held!

The General Assembly received updates on many of the projects currently underway, including blood viscosity, guidance for malaria testing, standardization of monocyte morphology, platelet clumping,  and revisions to the 2008 bone marrow guidance document. In haemostasis updates were given on measurement of uncertainty, acquired haemophilia A, laboratory measurement of emicizumab and other non-replacement therapies for Haemophilia and PT / APTT measurement. Proposals for new projects were discussed and are under consideration by the ICSH.

ICSH Affiliate members gave updates to the General Assembly of their activities and we discussed relationships with the WHO and JCTLM.

The winners of the ICSH Scholarships were announced:

Sam Machin Scholarship (supported by Mindray) 

Dr Aditya Tedjaseputra (UK): “Standardisation and validation of fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) measurable residual disease (MRD) by ultra-sensitive next generation sequencing (NGS)” 

Carol Briggs-Smalley Award (supported by Sysmex America Inc.) 

Zo Ee Wong (Australia): “Evaluation of CAR T cell quantification methods for monitoring therapy success”

The Assembly noted with sadness the recent passing of Drs Alexander Kratz and Bruce Davis, both eminent haematologists and former ICSH Board members who had given their time generously to the ICSH and the profession. 

Thanks to all participants and presenters who made the General Assembly a success. We look forward to a constructive year ahead and hearing more updates at the 2026 General Assembly in Shanghai. If you would like further information about the General Assembly, please contact the ICSH through the website or via email (admin@icsh.org). I extend my sincere thanks to Sysmex America, and especially Andy Hay and April Strong, for their generous support in hosting the General Assembly in Chicago.

If you would like further information about the general Assembly, please contact the ICSH through the website.