Day two of the Pathology Visions conference in San Diego was excellent... it began with a couple of fine keynotes, including a rousing presentation from Dr. Mary Kass, President of the CAP Foundation, about Pathology in the 21st Century. She encouraged Pathologists to think of their role as transforming into the center of medical care, the "doctor's doctor", and pointed out that many current trends including a movement toward personalized medicine and inceasing involvement of consumers in their own medical care will expand the role of Pathologists. Really inspiring, her passion for working through the CAP foundation to help effect this transformation was evident.

Mary Kass' keynote - Pathology in the 21st Century (click to enlarge)
Next I attended a great presentation by Dr. Sylvia Asa, Professor of Pathology at the University of Toronto, describing the University Health Network Experience across Ontario. Dr. Asa's team are living the transformation described by Dr. Kass, and have been incorporating digital pathology into their daily workflow.
I also saw a nice talk by Bob van Gemen, General Manager of Digital Pathology at Philips, Digital Pathology from a Radiology Perspective; Bob leads a "startup" within Philips created to pursue digital pathology opportunities, starting from Philips' extensive experience with Radiology PACS systems. It is great to see major medical imaging companies like Philips, GE, and Siemens entering digital pathology, as it shows the maturity and growth of the market.

Bob van Gemen describes Philips' approach to digital pathology
(click to enlarge)

Comparing image based diagnostics: Pathology and Radiology
(click to enlarge)
Cliff Slaughterbeck, Engineering Manager at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, gave a facinating overview of High-Throughput Imaging and Analysis at the Allen Institute. The diverse types of data being captured and the volumes are impressive; Allen have been creating in taking commercially available tools and adapting and enhancing them for their use.

Cliff Slaughterbeck describes Allen Institute's Pathology Informatics Approach
(click to enlarge)
Following a great lunch (the food at the Manchester Hyatt truly exceeded expectations), Dr. Alexander Judkins of Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania spoke about Virtual Microscopy Clinical Interface Issues, a nice survey of the challenges faced and overcome by CHOP while integrating digital pathology into their workflow. CHOP continue to be an innovative leader in pathology.
The last sessions of the day were a couple of great panel discussions: Clinical Trials in a Global Environment, and The Role of Pathologists in Diagnostics.

Panel: The Role of Pathologists in Diagnostics (click to enlarge)
And then the final event of the conference, an ice cream social in the exhibit hall. It was a great couple of days - stimulating, informative, and exciting (and exhausting!) A conference like this is attended by leaders and early adopters, but you could really sense that digital pathology is getting traction in mainstream applications.