People of Pathology Podcast

Today my guests are Dr Meriem Sefta, Chief Diagnostics Officer at Owkin, and Amanda Coble, Senior Director of Product at Proscia.  What we discuss with Amanda and Dr Sefta: The history of Owkin Founding vision and early challenges Deep learning in pathology Mission and Precision Oncology Digital pathology and AI integration Biomarker screening products like MSIntuit CRC Outcome prediction solution...

My guest today is Dr Soufiane Azdad, founder of Algoscope. What we discuss with Dr Azdad: His journey into pathology Early experiences and challenges in pathology The Turning Point: Misplaced specimen incident Inspiration from technology and entrepreneurship Founding AlgoScope: The Mission and Vision The future of Digital Pathology Innovations in the grossing process The role of AI and robotics in...

My guest today is Dr Swikrity Baskota. What we discuss with Dr Baskota: How Dr Baskota uses social media to promote pathology Attracting more students to pathology Founding and expanding Match to Path The importance of mentorship Challenges for pathology applicants and how Match To Path can help Free resources on Match to Path Dr Baskota's personal journey into pathology Advancements in cytopathol...

Today is #PathAssistDay 2025, and my guest is Pathologists' Assistant Marissa Spencer. What we discuss with Marissa: The evolution of PA education and training Personalized teaching approaches The rewarding role of a preceptor The growth and expansion of PA programs across the country PAs in Forensic Pathology The PA's role in teaching residents The Role of PAs in tissue banking Future Directions:...

My guest today is Ashley Kalinauskas, CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals. What we discuss with Ashley: How her graduate research at Notre Dame led to the founding of Torigen Pharmaceuticals. Their approach provides an alternative to chemotherapy by using immunotherapy. The company aims to make cancer treatment more accessible and affordable for pet owners. Promising results have been seen in aggressiv...

Today my guest is Dr Meredith Herman. What we discuss with Dr Herman: The recently published paper titled "#Path Art: From Glass Slide to Canvas with a Mission of Enlightening the Burdens of Life." The inspiration for the paper came from the use of the hashtag #PathArt on social media, where pathologists share artistic representations of histology and pathology. The research involved exploring the...

Today my guest is Jason Maloney, VP of Customer Experience at Proscia.  What we discuss with Jason: His background in customer-facing roles across various company sizes. Being drawn to Proscia by the opportunity to impact lives through digital pathology. Customer Experience (CX) encompasses professional services, technical support, and customer success, focusing on the post-sale experience. Many c...

My guest today is Razik Yousfi, CEO of Paige. What we discuss with Razik: Joined Paige in 2019 as Head of Engineering Transitioned to CEO to lead the organization in focusing on AI strengths Shift from a technical focus to overall company accountability. Increased responsibility in setting vision, strategy, and external representation. Importance of Data in AI AI models depend heavily on the quali...

Today my guest is Angie Dowell from Vistapath.   What we discuss with Angie: Her start in microbiology as a tech in a hospital. Transition to Pathologists’ Assistant Her belief AI can improve efficiency by handling repetitive tasks, allowing focus on higher-level thinking. Standardization in Grossing Advantages of Standardized Templates Her role at Vistapath as a Customer Success Manager Impact of...

Bami Farinre returns to the podcast for an in depth discussion of her new book The Mentor's Journey - From Learning to Leading. The book has been a long time coming, inspired by the Bami's early career experiences in STEM as a biomedical scientist and the need for mentorship. She guest grew up in a community where mentorship was intrinsic and not formally defined, with a strong emphasis on educati...

Anna Dhody is back for Part 2 of our conversation.  What we discuss in Part 2: How the pandemic prompted the Mutter Museum to increase its online presence, leading to a virtual tour that garnered over a million views.   A significant event during this time was the donation of a human heart from a living donor, Rob, who wanted to contribute to the museum after receiving a heart transplant. Anna fil...

My guest today is Forensic Anthropologist Anna Dhody. What we talk about with Anna in part 1: Anna initially studied archaeology, influenced by visits to the Penn Museum in Philadelphia as a child. She developed a passion for archaeology at a young age, around 9 or 10 years old. Chose Boston University for its separate archaeology department, which offered more opportunities than those combined wi...

Today my guest is Dr Matt Cecchini. What we discuss with Dr Cecchini: His journey into pathology Initiatives to engage students in pathology His use of novel teaching methods like YouTube Application of large language models (LLMs) in pathology education Synthetic data and how it can be used in education Agentic AI and its role in pathology education Ethical concerns with LLMs The future of LLMs i...

Julianna Ianni from Proscia joins me today. What we discuss with Julianna: Her background in biomedical engineering and biomedical imaging. Transition from radiology to pathology and the overlap between the two fields. Role as VP of AI Research and Development at Proscia, focusing on AI applications in digital pathology. An overview of foundation models Embeddings and their role in feature extract...

My guest today is Jon Odle from Pramana. What we discuss with Jon: Overview of Pramana and its scanning technology Importance of QA/QC in digital pathology Challenges in scaling digital pathology, including labor costs The role of AI in digital pathology and its potential as a diagnostic aid The concept of Digital Pathology as a Service (DPAAS) Advantages of DPAAS, including cost-effectiveness and...

My guest today is Pathologist Dr Emily Volk. Mentorship played a significant role in her career, guiding her decisions and shaping her path. Dr. Volk became involved with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) through a mentor, who encouraged her to join the cytopathology committee. Dr. Volk was elected to the CAP Board of Governors and later became the president, serving during the COVID-19 p...

Dr Allison Goldberg is a cytopathologist, and Director of the Cytopathology Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University.. What we discuss with Dr Goldberg: How her father's work in pharmaceutical industry on AIDS medications helped to inspire her career path How she found satisfaction in surgical procedures and the operating room environment initially Inspired by a conversation with a pathologist mo...

Nathan Buchbinder from Proscia returns to discuss Proscia's Precision Medicine AI Portfolio. The portfolio includes leading AI applications available on the Concentriq platform. The portfolio streamlines the process of deploying, supporting, and using AI applications in pathology. The portfolio includes applications from Proscia and other developers, including Ibex, Visiopharm, Stratipath, DoMore...

Dr Denise Gemmellaro is a forensic entomologist, and my guest today.   We discuss how she initially pursued medical school but found it was not for her.   She found forensic entomology to be a complete and engaging field that allowed her to work on real cases and teach. Dr. Gemmellaro emphasized the importance of students realizing they can change their career path and explore different avenues. F...

Today Dr Ritcha Saxena returns to the podcast.   She integrated virtual teaching methods into her educational approach, including online lectures, Zoom discussions, and virtual microscopy. Dr. Saxena was involved in a study analyzing pathology education in medical schools in the U.S. and other countries, focusing on curriculum content, teaching methods, and instructional time allocation. The study...

Jacob Guggenheim is head of engineering at Vistapath.  Their innovative Sentinel is bringing AI to specimen grossing.  Jacob's background in bioengineering and robotics led him to join Vistapath Vistapath's mission is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the histology process, inspired by a real-world incident The Sentinel is designed to augment human capabilities in grossing specimens, not r...

My guests today are Dr Simone Arvisais-Anhalt and Dr Daniel Qazi.    We discussed the benefits of using LLMs in pathology, including creating outlines, data analysis, and translating reports for patients There are also challenges in the use LLMs, such as hallucinations and bias Dr. Arvisais-Anhalt and Dr. Qazi described their study on using LLMs in clinical practice They were some interesting find...

Jospeh Mossel co-founded Ibex in 2016. Since its inception, Ibex has remained committed to developing AI applications for clinical diagnostics. The company achieved its first milestone in 2018 by deploying its first algorithm for prostate cancer. This algorithm not only enhanced diagnostic efficiency but also detected a diagnostic error, demonstrating the value of AI in pathology. Over the years,...

My guests today are Imogen Fitt from Signify Research and Nathan Buchbinder from Proscia.  We discuss emerging trends in pathology, including: The current technology with the most significant impact in the field of pathology has been artificial intelligence (AI). AI has stirred up imaginations about the future of pathology and has accelerated the timeline for seeing its impact. Return on investmen...

Today my guest is Dr. Bronwyn Bryant, a pathologist and pathology educator. Dr. Bryant has been involved in the National EPA Working Group, focused on implementing Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in pathology residency programs. The group conducted a pilot study on EPAs and is now working on developing an electronic tool to facilitate the completion of EPAs in real-time. Dr. Bryant is p...