Digital Pathology Certificate Program

Orly Ardon, PhD MBA serves on the faculty at the Department of Pathology and is the Director of Digital Pathology Operations at MSK. Her research interests include the implementation of digital pathology, workflow improvement, and the business aspects of using disruptive health technologies. Orly has BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She also has an Executive MBA from the University of Utah.

Robb Angus has over a decade of privacy law experience.  With a solid foundation built during his tenure at one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S, Angus has expertise and best practices in privacy compliance, data protection strategy, and artificial intelligence initiatives.

Dr. Sylvia Asa, a Clinician-Scientist and Endocrine Pathologist, studies endocrine tumors to improve diagnosis of these diseases and to identify targets for therapy. Appointed to the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto in 1985, she was promoted to Professor in 1998. In 2019, she joined Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Heading the largest academic pathology department in Canada at UHN in 2000-2015, she made innovative changes to the discipline, emphasizing subspecialization, biobanking and digital pathology. Dr. Sylvia Asa, a Clinician-Scientist and Endocrine Pathologist, studies endocrine tumors to improve diagnosis of these diseases and to identify targets for therapy. Appointed to the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto in 1985, she was promoted to Professor in 1998. In 2019, she joined Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Heading the largest academic pathology department in Canada at UHN in 2000-2015, she made innovative changes to the discipline, emphasizing subspecialization, biobanking and digital pathology.

Tim Baradet serves as an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine, where he teaches in the Masters of Histotechnology Program. He has spent over 15 years in running histology and advanced microscope imaging core laboratories. He has a Doctorate in Molecular Pathobiology as well as being an ASCP certified HTL with a QIHC qualification.

For the last 6 years Tim has been involved on the new field of Digital Pathology. He has extensive experience in multiplexed IHC, whole-slide imaging, multi-spectral microscopy, image analysis & algorithm development. He co-presented the first ever hands-on Digital Pathology workshop at the 2015 NSH Meeting. He currently works as a Senior Research Investigator at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he plans, conducts, and directs digital pathology projects in support of the Immuno-Oncology portfolio.

Elizabeth Chlipala is partner and founder of Premier Laboratory, LLC.   Premier Laboratory is a GLP compliant contract research organization with the experience and expertise to process both standardized and specialized histology samples from the most demanding studies.  It offers customized  histology, immunohistochemistry, and is an industry leader and innovator in digital pathology offering high through put whole slide scanning services and customized image analysis solutions to its clients. Premier’s focus on strict process control ensures the delivery of relevant, consistent, and reproducible histopathology data.

Dr. Quincy Gu, Ph.D. in bioinformatics and computational biology, is currently an imaging scientist at Roche Sequencing Solutions, while holding academic affiliations with the Mayo Clinic as a research collaborator, and the University of Minnesota as an adjunct assistant professor. Dr. Gu has been and is continuing working on devising innovative medical AI algorithms to improve cancer patient care in the United States.

Dr. Hartman is a member of the Division of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is also the Associate Director of the Pathology Informatics Division. Dr. Hartman is an Academic Surgical Pathologist with a subspecialty interest and focus in Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic pathology. He also consults on surgical pathology cases involving the luminal GI tract and pancreas. Dr. Hartman's current primary research interests are in the field of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease: underlying mechanisms, molecular pathogenesis of dysplasia development; associated disorders; and post-surgical complications. Other areas of research include peritoneal mesothelioma, molecular abnormalities in colon cancer, and the application of pathology informatics. Dr. Hartman is a co-investigator on institutional grants. He is a member of USCAP, CAP and ASCP.

Dr. Hewitt earned his MD at University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and PhD at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, completing my thesis in genetics at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He completed my residency in Anatomic Pathology in the Laboratory of Pathology, NCI, and is board certified in Anatomic Pathology. Dr Hewitt led the The Tissue Array Research Program (TARP Lab) from 2000-2014 and the Applied Molecular Pathology Laboratory (AMPL), a dual division (CCR and DCEG) effort from 2009 till 2014. In 2014, Dr Hewitt initiated the Experimental Pathology Laboratory, within the Laboratory of Pathology.

Dr. Hewitt is a member of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute Immunology & Ligand Assay Consensus Committee, and serves as co-chair of the Subcommittee on Immunohistochemical Assays and a consultant to the Hematology and Pathology Devices Panel, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration. Dr Hewitt has co-authored more than 225 articles and servers on the editorial board of four peer-reviewed journals.

Mike Isaacs is the Director of Clinical informatics and Business Development at Washington University in the Department of Pathology and Immunology. He has a computer science background and over 25 years of experience in supporting Information Technology in the laboratory. Mike joins the show to discuss focusing the last 10 plus years in digital pathology, specifically developing multiple digital workflows to take advantage of technology in the laboratory. This episode contains vibrant discussions around the business case, applications, and workflow optimization.

Dr. David Kim is an assistant attending at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He subspecializes in cytopathology and diagnostic molecular pathology. He currently helps in implementing digital solutions as well as artificial intelligence initiatives for the cytopathology department at MSKCC. Current active research interests include digital cytopathology, deep learning application for cytopathology, and molecular testing for cytology specimens. 

Olga Kochar, M.S., CSSGB, is a veteran laboratory professional with diverse background, extensive experience and great leadership skills. In almost 20 years in the healthcare industry, Mrs. Kochar had held a number of management positions with commercial, pharmaceutical and hospital-based laboratories. As a result Olga managed numerous laboratory engagements, including regulatory assessments, implementations and integrations, outreach assistance, laboratory information system design and analysis, development of comprehensive policies and procedures, as well as coordination and implementation of the effective compliance and safety programs. Olga is a proven leader with vast technical expertise in the Healthcare industry, broad experience in Quality Management, as well as Six Sigma belt certification, and in addition Olga is a charismatic educator and presenter.

Mr. Mackie has been with the Cleveland Clinic for 18+ years. He currently implements and supports multiple whole slide digital imaging systems (Leica/Aperio, Olympus) for clinical and educational use in anatomic pathology. He was previously a system administrator/system analyst supporting AP and CP clinical applications.

Dr. Mounajjed is a consultant with the Mayo Clinic and specializes in GI/Live pathology, surgical pathology, and digital pathology. Dr. Mounajjed's research aims at studying the pathology and identifying specific subtypes of hepatocellular and cholangiocellular neoplasms, based on morphology, phenotype and genotype. Understanding different subtypes of these tumors can allow better risk stratification for patients and offer better treatment plans. In addition to his professional accomplishments, he is the proud father to a 22 month old daughter.

Dr. Liron Pantanowitz is the Maud Menten Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. He received his BScHons, Medical Degree, and PhD from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He subsequently completed his anatomical and clinical pathology residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard in Boston. He then completed a hematopathology fellowship at Harvard and Cytopathology fellowship at Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University. He is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in AP/CP, Cytopathology and Clinical Informatics. Dr. Pantanowitz has also completed his MHA from Ohio University. He joined UPMC/Pitt in 2010 where he became the Vice Chair for Pathology Informatics and Director of Cytopathology. In 2020 he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan as a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Director of Anatomical Pathology at the University of Michigan. He returned to Pittsburgh in 2023 to Chair the Department of Pathology at UPMC/Pitt. He has been listed several times as a top doctor in the Pittsburgh Magazine and Pittsburgh Business Times

Dr. Anil Parwani is a Professor of Pathology and Biomedical Informatics at The Ohio State University. He serves as the Donald A. Senhauser Chair of the Department of Pathology and the Chief of Pathology Services for the Health System. His research is focused on diagnostic and prognostic markers in bladder, prostate, and renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Parwani has expertise in surgical pathology, and pathology informatics including biobanking, whole slide imaging, digital imaging, telepathology, image analysis, artificial intelligence, and lab automation. Dr Parwani has authored over four hundred peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals and several books and book chapters. Dr. Parwani is the Editor-in-chief of Diagnostic Pathology and Co-editor of the Journal of Pathology Informatics

Ankush Patel, MD integrates multifaceted approaches and diverse professional perspectives in laboratory medicine to achieve practical outcomes for modern healthcare. He has authored over 50 academic publications and presentations and over 40 general communications articles in concert with a wide range of laboratory stakeholders. His work is featured in journals such as Nature, Journal of Pathology Informatics, Surgical Pathology Clinics, and Archives of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

Dr. Salama became chief medical officer of Sonic Healthcare USA in December 2021. Previously, Dr. Salama was a professor of Pathology at Mayo Clinic and the chief medical officer for Mayo Clinic Laboratories, as well as a consultant in Mayo’s Division of Hematopathology.

Dr. Salama’s clinical interests span aspects of hematopathology and his research work has focused on characterization and correlation of genetic / molecular aberrations and protein expression as well as morphometry using novel digital imaging and artificial intelligence tools.  He has authored more than 160 peer reviewed publications, books and book chapters. Dr. Salama received his medical degree from Cairo University followed by a diploma of hospital administration and health care management from the American University of Cairo. Dr. Salama completed his Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at Henry Ford Health System, followed by a surgical pathology fellowship at Stanford University and hematopathology fellowship at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Salama is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and clinical pathology as well as hematopathology.

Renee Slaw has been a healthcare professional for nearly 30 years as a cytogenetic technologist, quality and performance improvement coordinator and digital pathology manager. She is the coauthor on multiple publications and a speaker for the Digital Pathology Association for conventions and webinars. She recently moved to New York City, and enjoys time with her family, running, cooking and baking.

Adam Smith specializes in digital pathology and image analysis workflows. He received is bachelor’s in Biology from Ursinus College, and honed his skills in histology and digital pathology at Merck & Co., Inc. Adam currently works for Indica Labs, Inc. where he is passionate about using creative problem solving to provide image analysis solutions to his customers.

Dr. Bethany Williams is a Specialty Doctor at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds, and the Lead for Training, Validation and Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) at the National Pathology Imaging Co-Operative in the United Kingdom. She has published extensively in the fields of digital pathology patient safety, evidence based digital pathology training and validation and effective digital deployment.

Dr. Xia is a board certified pathologist with NYU Langone.