Awanui is proud to host Co:Lab 2026, Aotearoa New Zealand’s annual gathering for the pathology laboratory sector, at Wellington’s Harbourside Function Centre on 2–3 September.
Now in its sixth year, the forum brings laboratory leaders, clinicians, researchers, industry partners and policy makers together over two days. This year’s theme is Reimagining pathology: Our role in the future of healthcare.
“Pathology sits underneath almost every clinical decision made in this country, and the environment around it is changing quickly — new technologies, new expectations from patients, and new models of care,” says Awanui Head of Stakeholder Relations Trevor English.
“This year’s theme asks a direct question of all of us. What is the role of the laboratory in the healthcare system that is emerging, and what do we need to be doing now to be ready for it?”
Exploring where the sector is heading
The programme opens with a keynote from Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora National Chief Medical Officer Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, who returns later in the day to give a Health New Zealand perspective on pathology service delivery.
Across the two days, speakers will cover nationally coordinated and equitable access to genomic testing, artificial intelligence in anatomic pathology, the use of routine whole genome sequencing to detect antimicrobial resistant outbreaks in hospitals and long-term care facilities, the human impact of sepsis and the role of microbiology in catching it early, and what it takes to design services around patients rather than organisations.
Also on the programme are practical, everyday AI tools laboratories can pick up immediately, biomarker-driven brain health assessment, the national strengths and challenges of building genomics into health care, and the human capacities that matter more, not less, as AI accelerates.
“We have deliberately built a programme that moves between the very practical and the genuinely big picture,” says Trevor.
“There are sessions you could take back to the bench on Monday morning, and there are sessions that ask you to think about where the sector will be in a decade. Both matter, and delegates tell us every year that they want both.”
An Innovation Showcase on day two, supported by Roche Diagnostics, gives emerging scientists from Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Otago the stage to pitch their own ideas for the future of laboratory science.
Bringing the sector together
“What makes Co:Lab work is the room, not just the stage,” says Trevor.
“It is one of the few times in the year when laboratory leaders, clinicians, researchers, industry partners and policy people are all in the same place with the time to properly talk to each other. The conversations in the breaks are often as valuable as the ones from the podium.
“Awanui is proud to host the forum again and to bring the sector together across the motu.”
Co:Lab is made possible through the support of its speakers, delegates and sponsors, and Awanui thanks them for making the 2026 forum happen.
Co:Lab sells out every year.
Co:Lab 2026 is being held at Wellington’s Harbourside Function Centre, 4 Taranaki Street, from 2–3 September. View the full programme, meet the speakers and book tickets at https://www.colabforum.nz/