The United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) held its annual meeting March 17-23, 2018, in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Department of Pathology had a robust representation at this important event.
Several members of our faculty and staff attended the conference, representing the Department at platform presentations, posters, and a Fellowship Fair to promote our programs.
Additionally, Drs. George Netto and Anna Yemelyanova taught a special course, "Molecular Diagnostic and Genomic Applications in Cancer: A Primer for the Pathologist." You can access the full conference program here. View a conference recap video on the USCAP website.
On Wednesday, March 28, Diana Morlote, M.D., Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellow, gave a recap of her presentations at the conference back on UAB campus, in West Pavillion Conference Center, along with Zheng Ping, M.D. (PGY4), who reviewed her posters. Morlote described what made this year's conference an outstanding experience.
"UAB had a great presence at the USCAP," Morlote said. She presented two platforms at the USCAP, including one on the use of next generation sequencing of clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma, "which tried to shed light on the molecular makeup of a rare renal neoplasm," she said. The second compared two methods of harvesting paraffin tissue for blocks for next generation sequencing (NGS), and the effects on DNA quality and NGS metrics.
Overall, UAB's research presentations areas at the USCAP covered the areas of genitourinary pathology, renal pathology, gynecologic pathology, breast pathology, gastrointestinal pathology, dermatopathology, head and neck pathology, cytopathology, and quality assurance and techniques.
"This year had a bigger focus on going back to the basic pathology techniques of proper specimen grossing and careful morphological and histological examination," Morlote said. "I thought this was brilliant and very much needed. As pathologists we need to remember immunohistochemistry and molecular techniques are ancillary studies that can only get you so far and could even lead you astray if you forgo careful morphological and histological examination."
The conference setting was a draw as well, taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Vancouver is a great city," Morlote said. "The Vancouver convention center was beautiful. There was an USCAP awards ceremony with James Bond theme music followed by a reception with food, drinks and circus performers. Also, I really enjoyed the UAB reception which we had on Monday afternoon and think those involved did an amazing job."
"It was a great experience and I'm already looking forward to next year," Morlote said.
The Department hosted a reception on Monday evening at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel. View slides from the reception and the poster sessions below.
