The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) heads west this summer, bringing its flagship annual meeting to the Anaheim Convention Center July 26–30, 2026. Formerly known as the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, ADLM remains the largest gathering of clinical laboratory and diagnostics professionals in the world — and Puritan Medical Products will be there at Booth 1561.

Whether this is your first ADLM or your tenth, the sections below cover what you need to plan a productive week: registration, lodging, transportation, program highlights, on-the-ground logistics, and how to work the expo floor without burning out.

What Is ADLM?

ADLM is the annual meeting of the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine — the professional organization formerly known as AACC.

Each year it convenes laboratorians, clinicians, researchers, IVD manufacturers, and lab management professionals from across clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, and laboratory operations.

The 2026 program includes more than 250 educational sessions across plenaries, scientific sessions, roundtables, and ADLM University courses, plus the Clinical Lab Expo: an exhibit floor with roughly 800 exhibitors showcasing 200+ new products and services. It's where the field comes to compare notes on what's working, what's coming, and what to budget for next.

Where and When Is ADLM 2026?

ADLM 2026 takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California, from Sunday, July 26 through Thursday, July 30, 2026.

The Clinical Lab Expo — the exhibit hall portion of the meeting, where Puritan will be — runs Tuesday through Thursday:

Plenary sessions begin each morning Sunday through Thursday, with scientific sessions, roundtables, and the poster hall layered throughout the week. ADLM University pre-conference courses kick off Sunday for those who registered for them.

Do You Need to Register for ADLM in Advance?

Onsite registration will be available at the Anaheim Convention Center, but registering ahead saves both money and time. ADLM has flagged June 4 as the deadline for the lowest available registration rate, with online registration open through July 24 before onsite rates apply. ADLM members receive a meaningful discount on full conference registration — if you're not yet a member, the membership fee can be folded into your registration and still come out ahead of the nonmember rate.

For current pricing and to register, visit the official ADLM 2026 registration page.

A few registration details worth knowing:

• Expo-only passes offer access to the exhibit hall for a low single-day rate — useful for local professionals or supplier-side staff who want floor time without the full educational program.
• Group registrations aren't available online; ADLM's Customer Service Center handles those by phone.
• Cancellations before June 12 get a full refund minus a processing fee. Transfers to another person are allowed through July 11.

Is There a Virtual ADLM Option?

ADLM continues to prioritize in-person attendance for 2026. Session recordings are typically made available to members after the meeting, so if travel isn't possible this year, an ADLM membership is the path to catching up on content afterward.

Where to Stay in Anaheim for ADLM

Anaheim's resort district sits at the front door of the convention center, which makes lodging straightforward — most of the official hotels are within walking distance, and ADLM provides shuttle service from those that aren't.

The single most important thing to know about booking: the only authorized housing vendor for ADLM 2026 is Spargo, Inc. Booking through the official ADLM Housing Center gets you negotiated rates, overbooking protection, shuttle service, and flexible cancellation up to 72 hours before arrival. ADLM and other major conferences have flagged a steady increase in housing scams over the past few years — third parties calling or emailing attendees claiming to represent the conference, asking for upfront payment or PayPal transfers, and either pocketing the money or booking rooms that don't exist. ADLM will never call to make your reservation, and they only accept credit cards. If anyone reaches out claiming otherwise, it's a scam.

A few of the hotels closest to the convention center, useful as reference points when browsing the housing portal:

• Hilton Anaheim — directly connected to the convention center; the only fully connected option
• Anaheim Marriott — next door, about a 2-minute walk
• The Westin Anaheim Resort — approximately a 4-minute walk
• Sheraton Park Hotel and the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Anaheim Resort — both within a few minutes' walk

Rooms in the official block tend to go fastest at the convention-center-adjacent hotels, so book early if proximity matters to your schedule. Booking inside the ADLM block also earns priority points for exhibiting companies and helps support the meeting overall.

Reserve a room through the official ADLM Housing Center.

Getting Around Anaheim

From the airport

John Wayne Airport (SNA) is the closest, about 12 miles from the convention center — typically a 20-minute trip by rideshare or taxi. Los Angeles International (LAX) is the larger and usually cheaper-to-fly-into option, but plan on 60–90 minutes to the convention center depending on traffic; afternoon arrivals to LAX on a weekday can easily run two hours. Long Beach (LGB) is a smaller third option, roughly 30 minutes out.

ADLM does not provide airport transportation.

Rideshare, taxi, and private shuttle services (like Karmel and SuperShuttle) are all available at all three airports.

One important note for U.S. domestic travelers: TSA now requires a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, state ID, passport, or other approved ID for all domestic flights. If your license doesn't have a star in the upper right corner and you don't have a passport handy, check with your state DMV well before travel.

Around the convention district

The Anaheim Convention Center is at the south end of the Anaheim Resort District. Downtown Disney and Disneyland are about a mile north — walkable in roughly 15–20 minutes, or a short rideshare. Anaheim GardenWalk, the outdoor dining and retail area where most attendees end up at some point during the week, is a 5–10 minute walk from the convention center and a useful landmark to keep in mind for evening dinner plans or running into colleagues.

The Disneyland question

Yes, you're across the street from Disneyland. A significant share of ADLM attendees extend the trip with family or use the conference as an excuse for a few extra days in Southern California. ADLM negotiates discounted Disneyland tickets for attendees through the official housing portal, which is worth knowing about whether or not you go.

What Does the ADLM 2026 Program Look Like?

The conference is built around a few recurring formats. Knowing the rhythm helps you build a realistic schedule rather than over-stacking your calendar.

Plenary Sessions open each morning, Sunday through Thursday. These are keynote-style lectures from leaders across the field, designed for broad relevance.

Scientific Sessions run Monday through Thursday and represent the technical core of the meeting — roughly 70 sessions covering current research, clinical practice, and emerging technology. Most are included with full conference registration.

Roundtables are small-group ticketed discussions (limited to about 10 people) held Monday through Wednesday, typically early morning and midday. They sell out fast, and registration usually opens separately a few months before the meeting.

Poster Hall, open Tuesday and Wednesday inside the Clinical Lab Expo, features 700+ poster presentations with dedicated presenter discussion windows. Presented poster abstracts are published in Clinical Chemistry as a supplement issue, and ePosters are accessible to All Access registrants through August 31, 2026. This is one of the highest-value, lowest-pressure ways to engage directly with researchers.

Clinical Lab Expo is the exhibit floor itself, running Tuesday through Thursday. With around 800 exhibitors, this is where most attendees do their vendor research, see new products in person, and connect with technical contacts they've only emailed.

How to Work the Expo Floor

With three days and ~800 exhibitors, the expo floor rewards having a plan.

A few tactics that hold up well in practice:

1. Hit your priority booths in the first 90 minutes.

Booth staff are at their freshest Tuesday morning, the conversations are longest, and you're competing with fewer attendees for the technical reps. Save the small booths and the "I'm curious but not committed" stops for Thursday morning, when the floor is quieter and booth teams have more time to talk.

2. Map your route by zone, not by interest

The temptation is to bounce around chasing categories. The faster way is to pick one quadrant of the floor at a time and clear it before moving to the next. ADLM publishes a searchable floor plan — flag your priority booths, note the rest, and walk methodically.

3. Ask for the technical contact, not the sales contact

If you're evaluating a product for a real project, the territory rep at the booth is rarely the person who can answer specification or compatibility questions. Get the name and email of an applications scientist, R&D contact, or product manager before you leave the booth. The follow-up email will go much better.

4. Bring something to leave behind

A simple printed one-pager describing your lab, your testing volume, your platform, and your evaluation timeline tells vendors who you actually are. It saves twenty minutes of explanation and makes their internal handoff cleaner.

5. Pace your day

Plan for a real lunch break, a coffee, and at least one off-floor session per day. Burning through Tuesday and Wednesday at full speed usually means cutting Thursday short, which is when you'd otherwise have your best conversations.

6. Capture notes the same day

Whatever you do, don't rely on the stack of business cards and pens you collect. A five-minute voice memo or quick notes session in your phone at the end of each day is the difference between productive follow-up and a forgotten week.

What to Know Before You Go to ADLM

A few practical things that aren't always in the official communications:

Badge pickup and registration desk. Registration typically opens Saturday or Sunday afternoon and stays open throughout the conference. Picking up your badge the day before sessions start saves you from a Monday-morning line.

Dress code. ADLM is business casual. A polo or button-down with comfortable pants is standard on the expo floor; the educational sessions skew slightly more formal. Bring a layer, the convention center meeting rooms are reliably cold.

Wi-Fi and power. The convention center has free attendee Wi-Fi, but it can get congested midday on the expo floor. Bring a portable charger; outlets are limited in session rooms and competition for them is real.

CE and CME credit. Scientific sessions are eligible for ACCENT® continuing education and continuing medical education credits. Track which sessions you actually attended (badges are scanned at most), and claim credits through the ADLM portal after the meeting.

EventBit beacons. ADLM places small Bluetooth Low Energy beacons on attendee badges to anonymously track movement around the expo floor. This is normal and used for aggregate analytics — not individual surveillance — but it's worth knowing about so you're not surprised.

Networking events to put on your radar. ADLM Lab Feud, the Ice Cream Social, and enhanced coffee breaks are conference traditions that double as practical networking opportunities. The Disruptive Technology Award and Student Research Awards on Monday are also good venues for seeing where the field is heading.

International attendees. ADLM publishes guidance on visa letters of invitation and U.S. travel logistics. Information is available through the ADLM international attendees page. For visa interview appointments, the earlier the better — wait times have been long in many countries for the past few years.

What Puritan Is Bringing to Booth 1561

Stop by Booth 1561 in the Clinical Lab Expo to talk with our team about specimen collection and transport, the area where Puritan has spent more than a century developing application-specific solutions for clinical, molecular, and diagnostic workflows.

We'll have hands-on examples and technical staff available to discuss:

• Flocked swabs, including HydraFlock® and PurFlock Ultra®, engineered for rapid specimen uptake and efficient release
• Collection and transport systems, including liquid Amies and Universal Transport Media for viability and stability across common assay types
• Dry transport systems for workflows that don't require liquid media
• Specialty and custom configurations — including custom packaging, sterilization, and assembly for IVD and OEM partners

If you're working on test development, switching collection device suppliers, or evaluating options for a new specimen type, come prepared with your test platform's IFU or your assay requirements. The faster we can talk specifics, the more useful the conversation.

Want to reserve a time to meet with our team before the floor gets busy? Reach out in advance and we'll get something on the calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions About ADLM 2026

Where is ADLM 2026 being held? ADLM 2026 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California, from July 26–30, 2026.

When does the Clinical Lab Expo open? The exhibit hall is open Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Thursday, July 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific).

What's the difference between the ADLM Annual Meeting and the Clinical Lab Expo? The Annual Meeting is the educational program — plenaries, scientific sessions, roundtables, and ADLM University courses. The Clinical Lab Expo is the exhibit hall, where ~800 exhibitors showcase products and services. Full conference registration includes both; lower-cost Expo-only passes provide exhibit hall access without the educational program.

Where should I stay for ADLM 2026? Book through the official ADLM Housing Center, operated by Spargo, Inc. — the only authorized housing vendor. The Hilton Anaheim is directly connected to the convention center, the Anaheim Marriott is next door, and several other hotels are within a short walk. Booking through the official portal protects you from housing scams and locks in negotiated rates.

How do I get to the Anaheim Convention Center from the airport? From John Wayne Airport (SNA), the convention center is roughly 20 minutes by rideshare or taxi. From Los Angeles International (LAX), plan on 60–90 minutes depending on traffic. ADLM does not provide airport transportation, but does run shuttle service between most official hotels and the convention center during the conference.

Can I earn CE or CME credits at ADLM 2026? Yes. Scientific sessions are eligible for both ACCENT® continuing education (CE) and continuing medical education (CME) credits. Credits are claimed through the ADLM portal after the meeting.

What's the dress code for ADLM? Business casual is standard. Expo floor conversations skew slightly more relaxed; educational sessions and receptions a touch more formal. Pack a layer — meeting rooms are consistently cold.

Where can I find Puritan Medical Products? Puritan will be at Booth 1561 in the Clinical Lab Expo. Our team will be available throughout expo hours to discuss specimen collection devices, transport systems, environmental sampling kits, and custom configurations.

Are children allowed at ADLM 2026? Attendees aged 16 and 17 may register and attend if accompanied by a registered adult and presenting valid government-issued photo ID. ADLM is not a children's event.

What should I pack for ADLM 2026? A reusable water bottle, comfortable shoes, business casual layers for the often-chilly meeting rooms, a portable charger, and any business cards or one-pagers you want to leave with vendors. Anaheim in late July is sunny and warm — pack lighter than you would for Chicago.