People of Pathology Podcast
Episodes
Episode 202: Marissa Spencer – #PathAssistDay 2025: Where The Profession Has Been And Where It’s Headed
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: technology in pathology
- Advocating for the PA profession
- Advice for aspiring PAs and the importance of shadowing
Links for this episode:
Pathologists’ Assistant Shadowing Network
American Association of Pathologists’ Assistants
People of Pathology Podcast:
Episode 201: Ashley Kalinauskas – How Torigen is Innovating Veterinary Oncology With Immunotherapy
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 aggressive cancers like hemangiosarcoma.
- How Torigen is utilizing digital pathology with the Concentriq platform to improve cancer diagnostics.
- Torigen is conducting research into additional applications, including equine and exotic animal cancers.
- Studying spontaneous cancer in pets provides valuable insights for human oncology research.
- Veterinary immunotherapy advancements have the potential to influence human cancer treatments.
- Immunotherapy is playing an increasingly important role in both veterinary and human medicine.
Links for this episode:
Pathologists’ Assistant Shadowing Network
People of Pathology Podcast:
Episode 200: Dr Meredith Herman – How #PathArt Enhances Education and Connection With Patients
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 historical use of art in pathology, dating back to the 1600s, and its role in education before modern technology.
- Pathology is inherently visual, making art a natural fit for the field; many pathologists have creative hobbies.
- The rise of Path Twitter (now Path X) has positively influenced the pathology community, fostering a movement around pathology art.
- Path art competitions have emerged, promoting interest in pathology among students and the public.
- Ethical considerations in path art include maintaining patient anonymity and being sensitive to the serious nature of diseases depicted.
- The importance of intent in sharing art, aiming for education and appreciation rather than trivialization.
- White Coat Artistry, which Dr Herman started during medical school, and has grown through social media engagement.
- Dr Herman’s journey into pathology beginning with an interest in biomedical laboratory science and was solidified by mentorship from a pathologist.
Links for this episode:
Pathologists’ Assistant Shadowing Network
#PathArt: from glass slide to canvas; with a mission of enlightening the burdens of life
Dr Herman on Instagram
People of Pathology Podcast:
Episode 199: Jason Maloney – Transforming Customer Experience in Digital Pathology
Today my guest is Jason Maloney, VP of Customer Experience at Proscia.
What we discuss with Jason:
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His background in customer-facing roles across various company sizes.
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Being drawn to Proscia by the opportunity to impact lives through digital pathology.
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Customer Experience (CX) encompasses professional services, technical support, and customer success, focusing on the post-sale experience.
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Many companies in the industry focus on product development without adequately addressing customer needs and experiences.
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Jason applies insights from various industries, emphasizing the importance of treating customers as humans and understanding their workflows.
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Proscia’s CX strategies have led to reduced time to go live with software and improved overall customer satisfaction.
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Proscia fosters a continuous feedback loop between customers and internal teams, enhancing product development and customer support.
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Proscia’s CX team helps pathologists and researchers integrate AI into their workflows, providing expertise and support.
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The future focus will be on developing trusted advisor relationships with customers, enhancing customer success initiatives, and deepening problem-solving capabilities.
Links for this episode:
Pathologists’ Assistant Shadowing Network on LinkedIn
Expanded Customer Experience (CX) Practice Enables Users To Realize Value Over 30% Faster
People of Pathology Podcast:
Episode 198: Razik Yousfi – Innovating at the Intersection of AI and Pathology
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 quality of training data.
- Paige emphasizes diverse datasets to improve model performance.
- Access to a rich dataset from over 800 institutions in 45 countries.
- Foundation models enhance the ability to analyze rare cancers and biomarkers.
- Models trained on large datasets improve application development speed.
- Microsoft partnership including working with Microsoft Research and Azure.
- Potential for AI to improve patient care and outcomes through better data integration.
- Alba Introduction: Launched as a clinical-grade AI co-pilot for pathologists.
- Some foundation models, like Virchow, have been open-sourced for research.
- Open-sourcing aims to build trust, encourage benchmarking, and boost the ecosystem.
- Encourages collaboration and faster application development in pathology
Links for this episode:
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Episode 197: Angie Dowell – Exploring Standardizing Grossing Data With AI
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 AI on Pathology
- Future of Pathology with AI
Links for this episode:
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