Anna Merino González MD, PhD

Core Laboratory. Biomedical Diagnostic Center.

Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. IDIBAPS

Villarroel, 170

08036, Barcelona, Spain

Phone: 932275400-2309

+34 686441345

e-mail: amerino@clinic.cat

http://cdb.hospitalclinic.org/

Àrea d’Oncologia i Hematologia de l’IDIBAPS

Grup de Dinà­mica, Control i Aplicacions (CoDAlab)

 

Current position

 

Senior Consultant Haematology and Cytology Unit.
CORE Laboratory. Biomedical Diagnostic Center.
Àrea d’Oncologia i Hematologia de l’IDIBAPS

 

Education

 

  • Degree in Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona (1980)
Dr in Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona (1988)
  • Post Doctoral position in the University of California in San Francisco (Bone Marrow Transplant Laboratory): 1989-1990

 

Research interests

  • Diagnostic accuracy of Spanish laboratories using external quality control programs in peripheral blood smear.
  • Automatic classification of abnormal peripheral blood cells. New research line in automatic blood cell digital image classification. A joint research is growing jointly between CORE Laboratory (Hospital Clinic of Barcelona), IDIBAPS and CoDAlab to develop methods and algorithms to assist in haematological diagnosis based on microscope digital image processing.

 

Publications

 

Books

 

  • Anna Merino. Manual de Citología de Sangre Periférica. Editorial Acción Médica. Madrid, 2005.
  • Microorganismos de interés en Citología Hematológica. Club Català de Citologia Hematològica. Editorial Acción Médica. Madrid, 2005.
  • Citología de Líquidos Biológicos: Experiencia del Grupo Catalán de Citología Hematológica. Editorial Acción Médica. Madrid, 2011
  • Anna Merino. Manual de Citología de Sangre Periférica y Líquidos Biológicos 2ª Edición. Editorial Panamericana. Madrid, 2019.

 

Journals

 

JL Vives Corrons, A Merino, A Pujades, A Grañena, E Carreras, P Marín y C Rozman. Interest of study of lymphocyte phosphoglucomutase (PGM) and adenylatokinase (AK) in the early demonstration of Bone Marrow Engraftment. European J of Haematol 35: 469-473, 1985.

 

JL Vives Corrons, A Pujades, J Petit, D Colomer, M Corbella, JL Aguilar y A Merino. Chronic nonspherocitic hemolytic anemia (CNSHA) and Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in a patient with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP). Molecular study of a new variant (G6PD Clinic) with markedly acidic pH optimum. Human Genetics 81 (2): 161-164, 1989.

 

JL Vives Corrons, i Besson, A Merino, J Monteagudo, JC Reverter, JL Aguilar y C Enrich. Occurrency of hereditary leaky red cell syndrome and partial coagulation factor VII deficiency. Acta Haematologica 86 (4): 194-199, 1991.          

 

A Merino, Y Dror, B Colombe, M Benkerrou and MJ Cowan. Mechanisms involved in the development of tolerance after haplocompatible T cell depleted bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 12: 483-488, 1993.  

 

J Sierra, A Grañena, J García, A Valls, E Carreras, M Rovira, C Canals, E Martínez, C Puntí, M Algara, P Marín, A Merino, MJ Terol, A Urbano-Ispizua, C Rozman. Autologous bone marrow transplantation for acute leukemia: Results and prognostic factors in 90 consecutive patients. Bone Marrow Transplant 12: 517-523, 1993.

 

Y Dror, R Gallager, D Wara, B Colombe, A Merino, M Benkerrou, MJ Cowan. Immune reconstitution in severe combined immunodeficiency disease following lectin-treated T-cell depleted haplocompatible bone marrow transplantation. Blood 81:2021-2030, 1993.    

 

M Benkerrou, MJ Cowan, M Elder, Y Dror, A Merino, B Colombe and D Wara. Anti-Tetanus Toxoid Antibody Production after Mismatched T Cell Depleted Bone Marrow Transplantation. J Clin Immunol 14:98-106, 1994.

 

E Carreras, M Batlle, M Redondo, J Esteve, S Ros, M Rovira, J Sierra, A Urbano, P Marín, A Merino, J Puig de la Bellacasa, J Mensa y C Rozman. Anfotericina B intravenosa como profilaxis de las micosis profundas en el trasplante alogénico de medula ósea. Med Clin (Barc) 103: 761-765, 1994.

 

J Sierra, E Carreras, M Batlle, A Urbano-Ispizua, P Marín, I Besson, A Merino, M Algara, F Cervantes A Valls, R Castillo, E Montserrat y C Rozman. Trasplante de medula ósea a partir de donante no emparentado en la leucemia mieloide crónica: Resultados en 15 pacientes. Med Clin (Barc) 104: 689-694, 1995.

 

J Bladé, E Carreras, C Rozman, J Sierra, M Rovira, M Batlle, M Valls Algara, P Marín, A Urbano-Ispizua, A Merino, I Besson, E Montserrat. Trasplante de medula ósea en el mieloma múltiple. Análisis de 12 casos consecutivos. Med Clin (Barc) 105: 1-4, 1995.   

 

C Rozman, A Urbano-Ispizua, E Carreras, J Sierra, P Marín, M Rovira, A Merino, M Batlle, J Briones, R Mazzara and E Montserrat. Allogeneic Transplants with Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cells: A Report of Six Cases. Leukemia and Lymphoma 20:471-474, 1996.

 

C Rozman, A Urbano-Ispizua, E Carreras, J Sierra, P Marín, M Rovira, A Merino, M Batlle, J Briones, R Mazzara y E Montserrat. Trasplante alogénico de progenitores de sangre periférica: Experiencia preliminar. Med Clin 106: 66-68, 1996.

 

JL Vives Corrons, D Colomer, A Pujades, A Rovira, M Aymerich, A Merino, JL Aguilar. Congenial-6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) deficiency associated with chronic hemolytic anemia in a Spanish family. Am J Hematol  53 (4):221-227, 1996.

 

A Urbano-Ispizua, C Rozman, C Martínez, P Marín, J Briones, M Rovira, A Merino, J Sierra, R Mazzara E Carreras and E Montserrat. Rapid Engraftment without Significant Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Allogeneic Transplantation of CD34+ Selected Cells From Peripheral Blood. Blood 89: 3967-3973, 1997.

 

C Martínez, A Urbano-Ispizua, P Marín, A Merino, M Rovira, E Carreras, E Montserrat. Efficacy and toxicity of a high-dose G-CSF schedule for peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization in healthy donors. Bone Marrow Transplant 24:1273-1278, 1999.

 

A Merino, M Lozano, P Marín, R Mazzara, C Sanz and A Ordinas. What does the CD34+ cell look like? Transfusion 41 (8): 975, 2001.

 

A Merino, R Mazzara, B Fusté, M Díaz-Ricart, M Rozman, M Lozano, A Ordinas. The mesenchymal stem cells revealed.Transfusion 43 (1): 1, 2002.

 

B Fusté, R Mazzara, G Escolar, A Merino, A Ordinas, M Díaz-Ricart. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor increases expression of adhesion receptors on endothelial cells through activation of p38 MAPK. Haematologica. 89:578-585, 2004.

 

N Sopena, M Sánchez, A Merino. Fever after surgical procedure in a 54-year-old male. Med Clin: 124(18):710-716, 2005.

 

A Merino, J Esteve. Acute myeloid leukaemia with peculiar blast cell inclusions and pseudo-eosinophilia.  Br J Haematol 131: 286, 2005.

 

A Merino, J To, C Herrero. Atypical red cell inclusions in congenital erythropoietic porphyria.  Br J Haematol 132: 124, 2005.

 

A Merino, M Rozman, J Esteve. Chronic (B-cell) lymhocytic leukemia with unusual granulation.  Br J Haematol 133: 354, 2006.

 

A Merino, A Pereira, M Zabalza. Erythrophagocytosis in EBV IgM-mediated haemolytic anaemia. Transfusión 46(12):2035, 2006.

 

J To-Figueras, C Badenas, JM Mascaró, I Madrigal, A Merino, P Bastida, M Lecha, C Herrero. Study of the genotype-phenotype relationship in four cases of congenital erythropoietic porphyria. Blood Cell Mol Dis 38:242-246, 2007.

 

G Gutiérrez, A Merino, A Domingo, JM Jou, JC Reverter. EQAS for peripheral blood morphology in Spain: six years experience. Int J Lab Hematol 30:460-466, 2008.

 

A Merino. Diagnóstico de las Leucemias agudas. Ed Cont LabClin 11: 48-55, 2008.

 

G Gutiérrez, A Merino. Diagnóstico de Laboratorio de las infecciones por Plasmodium. Ed Cont LabClin 12: 28-35, 2009.

 

A Santamaría, A Merino, O Viñas, P. Arrizabalaga. Does medicine still show an unresolved discrimination against women? Experience in two European University Hospitals. J Med Ethics 35:104-106, 2009.

 

M Rigol, N Solanes, Jordi Farré, S Roura, M Roqué, A Berruezo, N Bellera, L Novensà, D Tamborero, C Prat-Vidal, Mª A Huzman, M Batlle, M Sitges, J Ramírez, A Dantas, A Merino, Ginés Sanz, J Brugada, A Bayés-Genís, M Heras. Effects of adipose tissue-derived stem cells therapy alter myocardial infarction: impact of the route of administration. J Card Fail 16(4):357-366, 2010.

 

A Merino, A Pereira, P Castro. Massive intravascular haemolysis during Clostridium perfrigens sepsis of hepatic origin. Eur J of Haematology 84(3):278-9, 2010. 

 

M Díaz, A Merino, A Pereira. Erythrophagocytosis in cold agglutinin disease. Trasfusion 50(11): 2310, 2010.

 

A Merino. Signos de alarma en el hemograma y utilidad diagnóstica de la morfología sanguínea.  Rev Lab Clin 3(4):151-152, 2010.

 

A Merino. Criterios para la realización de la Fórmula Leucocitaria Manual. Ed Cont Lab Clin 13:49-58, 2010.

 

L Florensa, JT Navarro, ME Pérez-Vila,…, A Merino, T Vallespi y S Woessner. Linfocitosis B policlonal persistente: estudio de 35 casos. Med Clin (Barc); 136(13):565-573, 2011.

 

A Merino, JC Fernández Larrea, J Bladé. Cytoplasmic inclusions in leukocytes associated to cryoglobulinemia and IgG-kappa monoclonal gammapathy of undetermined significance. Eur J of Haematol 86:550, 2011.

 

Merino A, Brugués R, García R, Kinder M, Torres F, Escolar G. Estudio comparativo de la morfología de sangre periférica analizada mediante el microscopio y el CellaVision DM96 en enfermedades hematológicas y no hematológicas.
Laboratorio Clínico 4:3-14; 2011

 

A Merino. Diagnóstico diferencial de las anemias. Ed Cont LabClin 14:45-69, 2011.

 

N Tovar, A Merino. May-Hegglin anomaly in a patient with HIV infection: Relevance of the peripheral blood film examination. Transfusion 53(7). Article first published on line 11 Jul 2013.  

 

Alferez, S; Merino, A; Bigorra, Laura; Ruiz, M; Mujica, L; Rodellar, J. Atypical lymphoid cells detection and classification on digital blood image analysis. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology 2013;35, pp. 100 – 101.

 

Bigorra, L; Alferez, S; Merino, A; Ruiz, M; Mujica, L; Rodellar, J. Blast cell detection and lineage classification using mathematical morphology and fuzzy clustering on digital blood image analysis. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology.2013; 35, pp. 101 – 10.  

 

Merino, Anna; Bigorra, Laura; Manuel Muñoz, Jose. Cytologyc analysis of body fluids for malignancy detection in the emergency laboratory. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology. 2013; 35 pp. 104 – 104.

 

Merino, Anna; Gutiérrez, Gabriela; Bigorra, Laura; Reverter, Joan Carles. External quality assessment scheme (eqas) for blood smears interpretation: evaluation of the results after two years experience.  International Journal of Laboratory Hematology 2013; 35, pp. 107 – 107.

 

Bigorra Laura; Merino Anna; Garcia Rosario; Serrando Maite. Red cell morphology evaluation applicability using cellavision DM96 digital images.  International Journal of Laboratory Hematology 2013; 35, pp. 102 – 103.

 

A Merino. Revisión de la Citología de los Líquidos Biológicos. Ed Cont Lab Clin 15:42-53, 2012.

 

A Merino. Diagnóstico diferencial de las células linfoides atípicas en sangre periférica. Ed Cont Lab Clin 16: 20-40, 2013.

 

A Merino, J Cid. Very unusual presentation of pernicious anemia with schistocytes in peripheral blood. Blood 2013 Dec 5;122(24):3862.

 

Santiago Alférez, Anna Merino, Luis E Mujica, Magda Ruiz, Laura Bigorra, José Rodellar. Automatic classification of atypical lymphoid B cells using digital blood image processing. Int J Lab Hematol, 36:472-480, 2014

 

Arrizabalaga P, Abellana R, Viñas O, Merino A, Ascaso C. Gender inequalities in the medical profession: are there still barriers to women physicians in the 21st century? Gac Sanit. 2014 May

 

Santiago Alférez, Anna Merino, Laura Bigorra, Luis E Mujica, Magda Ruiz, José Rodellar. Automatic recognition of atypical lymphoid cells from peripheral blood by digital image analysis. Am J Clin Pathol 2015;143:168-176.

 

L Bigorra, A Merino. The unusual presence of Streptococcus gallolyticus within neutrophils in a patient with endocarditis and brain abscesses. Br J  Hematol 2015; 169, 308.

 

A Merino. Blood film findings in severe babesiosis. Br J Hematol 2015; doi: 10.1111/bjh.13845

 

G Bastidas, A Merino.  Human African trypanosomiasis diagnosis by peripheral blood smear review in a Spanish traveler. Blood 2016; 127 (1):167.

 

Santiago Alférez, Anna Merino, Laura Bigorra, José Rodellar Characterization and automatic screening of reactive and abnormal neoplastic B lymphoid cells from peripheral blood. Int J Lab Hematol, 2016; 38(2), pp.209-216.

 

Laura Bigorra, Anna Merino, Santiago Alférez, Luis E Mujica, Magda Ruiz., José Rodellar. “Feature analysis and automatic identification of leukemic lineage blast cells and reactive lymphoid cells from peripheral blood cell images” American J  of Clinical Analysis, 2016; doi: 10.1002/jcla.22024

 

T B Keng, B De La Salle, G Bourner, A Merino, Jin-Yeong Han, Yokho Kawai, M T Peng, R McCafferty on behalf of the International Council for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH). Standardisation of Haematology Critical Results Management in Adults: An international Council for Standardisation in Haematology, ICSH, survey and recommendations. Int J Lab Hematol, 2016; doi:10.1111/ijlh.12526

 

Puigví L, Merino A, Alférez S, Acevedo A, Rodellar J. New quantitative features for the morphological differentiation of abnormal lymphoid cell images from peripheral blood. J Clin Pathol. 2017;70:108‐148.

 

Puigví L, Baumann T, Fernández S, Castro P, Pereira A, Merino A. Massive erythrophagocytosis by peripheral monocytes and neutrophils in parvovirus-B19 autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Ann Hematol. 2017 May;96(5):881-882. doi: 10.1007/s00277-017-2957-2.

 

L. Puigví, A. Merino. Varón con múltiples antecedentes patológicos acude a Urgencias por deterioro neurológico grave acompañado de convulsiones tónico-clónicas. Ed Cont LabClin, 2017.

 

L. Puigví, A. Merino. Auer Rod-Like inclusions in abnormal B lymphoid cells from peripheral blood and pleural effusion – Clinical Case Report, BloodMed.com, 2017.

 

A Merino, L Boldú, A Ermens. Acute myeloid leukemia: how to combine multiple tools. Int J Lab Hematol 2018;40 (Suppl.1):54-61.

 

Rodellar J, Alférez S, Acevedo A, Molina A, Merino A. Image processing and pattern recognition in the morphological analysis of blood cells. Int J Lab Hematol. 2018. DOI:10.1111/ijlh.12818

 

A Merino, L Puigví, S Alférez, L Boldú, J Rodellar. Optimizing morphology through blood cell image analysis. Int J Lab Hematol. 2018. DOI: 10.1111/ijlh.12832

 

Wong-Arteta J, Merino A, Torrente S, Banales JM, Bujanda L. High fluorescence cell count in ascitic body fluids for carcinomatosis screening. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2018 Oct 25;56(11):272–4.

 

Adrià Carpio, Anna Merino, Sergio Rodríguez-Tajes, Enric Reverter,  Miquel Bruguera,  Xavier Forns, Javier Fernández. Massive hemolysis complicating acute granulomatous hepatitis. Annals of Hematology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-018-3339-0.

 

Molina A, Alcaraz J, Guiñón L, Pérez A, Segurana A, Reverter JC, Bedini JL, Merino A. Study of the analytical performance at different concentrations of hematological parameters using Spanish EQAS data. Clin Chem Lab Med, Doi: 10.1515/cclm-2019-0108.

 

Oliver-Caldes A, González-Farré B, Merino A, Rozman M. Carcinocytaemia in an advanced stage of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Br J Haematol. 2019; 185(1): 8. Doi: 10.1111/bjh.15678.

 

Alférez, S.; Merino, A.; Acevedo, A.; Puigví, L.; Rodellar, J. Colour clustering segmentation framework for image analysis of malignant lymphoid cells in peripheral blood. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing 2019. DOI:10.1007/s11517-019-01954-7.

 

Puigví L, Alférez S, Boldú L, Acevedo A, Rodellar J, Merino A. Quantitative cytological descriptors to differentiate CLL, Sézary, Granular and Villous lymphocytes through image analysis. Am J Clin Pathol. 2018. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/aqz025.

 

Boldú L, Merino A, Alférez S, Molina A, Acevedo A, J. Rodellar. Automatic recognition of different types of acute leukaemia in peripheral blood by image analysis. J Clin Pathol 2019. doi:10.1136/jclinpath-2019-205949.

 

Andrea Acevedo, Santiago Alférez, Anna Merino, Laura Puigví, José Rodellar. Recognition of peripheral blood cell images using convolutional neural networks. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. DOI:10.1016/j.cmbp.2019.105020

 

Professional experience

 

  • Haematological Cytology
  • Virtual Microscopy
  • Flow Cytometry
  • External Quality Assays for Morphology
  • Image Analysis Equipment
  • Director and Professor of Peripheral blood and Body Fluid Cytology courses. Aula Clínic.
  • Teacher of Biomedical Engineering and Biomedicine in the University of Barcelona.

 

Scientific societies

 

Nationals

  • Treasurer of the Standardization in Haematology Group. Spanish Society of Haematology and Hemotherapy.
  • Vocal of the Education Committee of the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine.
  • President of the Laboratory of Haematology Committee. Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine.

 

Internationals

  • Vocal of the Education Committee of the International Society of the Laboratory of Hematology (ISLH)
  • Member of the EFLM distance education group
  • Member of the IFCC distance education group
  • Member of the ICSH group