Valitest - Training

VALITEST webinar series and training activities

Three series of webinars and training activities were organised in the framework of VALITEST:

One on the concept of test validation in Plant Health
One on the organisation of Test Performance Studies (TPS)
One on the guidelines for the development, validation and routine use of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) tests for diagnostics of plant pests .

The concept of test validation in Plant Health

Objective of the series and activities

The objectives of this webinar series and activities were:

To introduce the concept of validation and present the state of the art in terms of choice of a test and analysis of the results of performance evaluation
To train experts on the use of kits (including on-site and field tests)

Format

The activities consisted of 5 webinars (1h) and 2 practical training sessions.

Participants

The VALITEST training activities were targeting stakeholders working in Plant Health and interested in the concept of test validation (e.g. technical staff of public and private diagnostic laboratories and of companies producing diagnostic kits, scientific community, policy makers, end-users of kits and on-site tests).

Webinar	What is test validation and why it matters for reliable diagnostics?	Content of the webinar: The objective of this webinar is to present what is meant by validation of a test in Plant Health and why it is important to have reliable diagnostics. Presenters: René van der Vlugt (WUR), Françoise Petter (EPPO)
Webinar	How to adopt a new test in your laboratory?	Content of the webinar: During this webinar, the general steps that should be considered when adopting a new test in the laboratory will be presented. Then examples of the main challenges experienced by the VALITEST partners when adopting a new test will be presented. Presenters: Tanja Dreo (National Institute of Biology), Mathieu Rolland (ANSES), Denise Altenbach (BIOREBA), Camilo Gianinazzi (IpadLab) and Marta Santos (ClearDetections)
Webinar	The use and validation of on-site tests	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present the specificities of using and validating on-site tests compare to standard laboratory tests. The experience from a kit producing company and from a diagnostic laboratory will be shared. Presenters: Denise Altenbach (BIOREBA) and Jean-Philippe Renvoisé (ANSES)
Practical training session	Analysis of performance characteristics	Objective of the activities: Every diagnostic test has its performance characteristics. The choice to use a certain test for a certain intended use is largely made on basis of these characteristics. This implies that the importance of different performance criteria is dependent on the scope of a diagnostic test. In this interactive meeting we will explore the importance of the scope of a diagnostic test, to find out which performance criteria are important in different testing situations and why. Facilitators: Jose van Beckhoven (Prime Diagnostics) and other partners from the project
Webinar	How do companies handle quality control and validation of products and how will the EPDIA charter help in improving this task?	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present how companies handle product development, validation and production quality control and how the European Plant Diagnostics Industry Association (EPDIA) quality charter respond to the need of having a harmonized approach for quality. Presenters: Caroline Freye (LOEWE), Marta Santos (ClearDetections), Camilo Gianinazzi (IpadLab)
Webinar	Why is communication on test selection between risk managers and diagnostic laboratories important ?	Content of the webinar: The choice of diagnostic tests is usually made by national reference laboratories based on the performance characteristics of the tests. In this webinar the presenters will discuss why in some circumstances, the risk managers should also be involved in the final decision. Presenters: Barbara Agstner and Femke van den Berg (FERA Science Ltd.) and Françoise Petter (EPPO)
Practical training session	The use of kits: training and demonstration	Objective of the activities: The objectives of this activity is to discuss the use of kits based on ELISA or molecular technologies. For this training activity, participants will have the opportunity to test in advance one kit produced by one of the companies that are VALITEST partners and to provide feedback on the use of this kit. If possible, feedback should be sent in advance. During the training session, companies will present the advantages and limitations of the two different technologies. Practical sessions will be organised to discuss the use of the kits and the feedbacks sent by the participants Organization: The participants registering to this activity have the possibility to test one kit from one of the companies and to provide feedback to the company. The kit will be sent mid-February. The all-inclusive kits will be supplied for free by the companies, but the shipment costs will be billed to the participants. Participants must use the kit only for the purpose of the VALITEST practical training session and must test it before the practical training session. Presenters/facilitators: Theoretical session: Caroline Freye (LOEWE), Marieke Beltman (ClearDetections), Camilo Gianinazzi (IpadLab), Denise Altenbach (BIOREBA), Marco Kaiser (BIOREBA) Practical session: all companies of WP7.

Test Performance Studies organisation

Objective of the series and activities

The objectives of this webinar series and activities were:

To present the state of the art in term of organization and analysis of Test Performance Studies (TPS)
To present results and experience gained during the VALITEST project (12 TPS were organised in the framework of the project).

Format

The activities consisted of educational videos, 8 webinars (1h) and 2 practical training sessions.

Participants

The VALITEST training activities are targeting staff of public and private (diagnostic) laboratories that are organising test performance studies.

Videos	What is a TPS?
Videos	VALITEST TPS: selection of the pests and of the TPS organizers
Webinar 1	Preparing the TPS plan	Content of the webinar: During this webinar, the objectives and the content of the TPS plan will be presented. Experience from VALITEST TPS organisers will be shared. Presenters: Françoise Petter & Charlotte Trontin (EPPO) with the support of Géraldine Anthoine (ANSES)
Webinar 2	Selection of the tests and associated documents	Content of the webinar: During this webinar, the workflow for test selection (including definition of the TPS scope, the inventory of tests available, the selection of criteria and the preliminary studies) will be presented. Experience from VALITEST TPS organisers will be shared. Presenter: Hanna Mouaziz (ANSES)
Webinar 3	Selection of participants and contract	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present the workflow used in the framework of VALITEST to select the participants of the TPS. Experience from VALITEST TPS organisers will be shared. Presenter: Hanna Mouaziz (ANSES)
Webinar 4	Preparation and dispatch of samples	Content of the webinar: This webinar will describe how to prepare the panel of samples based on the scope of the validation, the access to biological material, the performance criteria of interest etc. Recommendations from work package 2 on an optimal theoretical panel for statistical analysis of the results will also be presented. Experience from VALITEST TPS organisers will be shared. Presenter: Mathieu Rolland (ANSES)
Webinar 5	Production of reference material for TPS	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present a list of descriptors for reference materials that was established in the framework of VALITEST work package 3 and the minimum requirement for each of these descriptors. Then a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the production of reference material will be presented. Presenter: René van der Vlugt (WUR)
Practical training sessions	How to organise Test Performance Studies?	Content of the activity: Participants will go in detail through the different steps of the organisation of a TPS. The TPSs on ToBRFV or TSWV will be used as examples to illustrate the activities. Prerequisite: Participants should attend the webinars 1 to 5 (or watch the recordings once released) to participate in this practical training session. Facilitators: Nataša Mehle (NIB) and Sabrina Bertin, Anna Taglienti (CREA)
Webinar 6	How to tackle the analysis of TPS results?	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present how to define whether the results from a laboratory are acceptable or not and how to define outliers. It will quickly show how to present and interpret the obtained results. Experience from VALITEST TPS organisers will be shared. Presenter: Jenny Tomlinson (FERA)
Videos	Calculate performance characteristics of a test and get useful information from your validation data by statistical analysis.
Webinar 7	Q&A session: the statistical analysis of TPS results	Content of the webinar: Based on the videos to be released on the website on how to calculate different performance characteristics, this webinar will be a Q&A session on how to perform the statistical analysis of the TPS results. Wherever possible, questions should be sent in advance. It may not be possible to deal with last minute questions during the webinar. Presenters: Sébastien Massart (U. Liege) and Yves Brostaux (U. Liege), Jenny Tomlinson (FERA)
Practical training sessions	How to analyse the results of Test Performance Studies?	Content of the activity: Participants will have to analyse the results of a TPS and calculate the performance characteristics of different tests. Prerequisite: Participants should attend the webinars 6 and 7 (or watch the recordings once released) and watch the videos ‘Calculate performance characteristics and get useful information from your validation data by statistical analysis’ to participate in this practical training session. Facilitator: Jenny Tomlinson, Marc Kennedy and Roy Macarthur (FERA)
Webinar 8	From TPS organisation to analysis of the results: example of the TPS on ToBRFV	Content of the webinar: This webinar will be a complete and detailed presentation on the organisation and results of the TPS on ToBRFV. Presenter: Francesco Faggioli and Marta Luigi (CREA)

The use and validation of High Throughput sequencing (HTS) tests for diagnostics of plant pests.

Objective of the series and activities

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) is a powerful tool that enables the simultaneous sequencing of potentially all organisms present in a sample. Because of the growing interest in applying HTS for routine diagnostics in plant health laboratories, the objective of this webinar series and activities is to present the recommendations developed by WP2 on the process of selection, development, validation and verification of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) tests and the quality assurance for their routine use as diagnostic tests in plant health laboratories. These recommendations are general to enable a broad application in all plant health fields with appropriate flexibility to account for the changes of technologies.

Format

The activities consisted of 3 webinars (1 to 1.5h) and 1 practical training activity (2 sessions).

Participants

These VALITEST training activities are mainly targeting technical staff of public and private diagnostic laboratories that intend to routinely use HTS technologies for the detection and identification of any plant pest regardless of the type of HTS technology. Scientists that are using HTS in their laboratories for research purpose may also be interested to join the webinars and training activities and their expertise will be welcome during the practical training activity.

Webinar 1	What is High Throughput Sequencing (HTS)?	Content of the webinar: During this webinar, an overview of the HTS process including the different steps in the laboratory and for the bioinformatics analysis will be presented. This webinar is targeting diagnosticians and scientists that are not familiar with HTS. Presenter: Sébastien Massart (U. Liège)
Webinar 2	How to prepare your laboratory to conduct HTS tests?	Content of the webinar: During this webinar, the general and technical requirement that need to be considered by laboratories that intend to routinely use HTS tests in their laboratories will be presented. The general requirements cover facilities, personnel, quality management, outsourcing and data management. Special technical considerations during the laboratory work and bioinformatic analyses related to the use of HTS tests will also be presented in this webinar. Presenter: Sébastien Massart (U. Liege)
Webinar 3	How to develop, validate and routinely use HTS for diagnostic purpose?	Content of the webinar: This webinar will present a methodology and its key points in order to adopt a HTS test in a diagnostic laboratory. A focus will be made on the selection, development, verification or validation of an HTS test. The routine application of HTS test in diagnostics including the controls to be used will be discussed as well as how to deal with the continuous update of kits and databases. Presenter: Sébastien Massart (U. Liege)
Practical training activity	How to apply the guidelines to your laboratory?	Please note you have to attend the 2 sessions. Objective of the activities: The activity will be divided into 2 sessions. In the first session (2.5 hours), small group activities will be organised to get the participants to think about how they would apply the guidelines to their laboratory in order to validate or verify a HTS test. The questions that the group will tackle are: what would be the minimal requirements for evaluating the performance criteria and for validating a HTS test based on shotgun sequencing or on amplicon sequencing ? How many samples ? How many targets/pest in the reference samples ? How many replicates ?... Preliminary document will be sent to the participant beforehand. In the second session, the work and reflections of each small group will be shared and discussed altogether. Prerequisite: This practical training activity target diagnosticians that are implementing HTS tests in their laboratory or intend to do so in the future. Participants should attend the webinars 2 and 3 (or watch the recordings once released) to participate in this practical training activity and have already an experience with HTS analysis. Presenters/facilitators: Sébastien Massart (U. Liège)	Training completed thanks to the participants

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement n°773139.

The content of this website represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. It cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Research Executive Agency or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

VALITEST webinar series and training activities

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The concept of test validation in Plant Health

Objective of the series and activities

Format

Participants

Test Performance Studies organisation

Objective of the series and activities

Format

Participants

The use and validation of High Throughput sequencing (HTS) tests for diagnostics of plant pests.

Objective of the series and activities

Format

Participants