Drs. Smith and Obiorah at Virginia Society of Pathology
The UVA Department of Pathology was heavily involved in the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Virginia Society for Pathology in Richmond, Virginia on November 22nd. The meeting kicked off with a practical and informative joint session on medical directorship from faculty members Ifey Obiorah and Vanessa Smith. Dr. Obiorah shared wisdom regarding antibody validation and troubleshooting as the director of our Immunohistochemistry Laboratory, while Dr. Smith discussed what she has learned regarding sample selection and optimizing results on tissue-based molecular assays as director our Genomics Laboratory. Both emphasized how important teamwork is to running a healthy lab and gave numerous accolades to their colleagues, particularly the expert technical staff here at UVA!
Resident Erin Saunders gives a talk at Virginia Society of Pathology.
The meeting next included fantastic resident presentations from PGY-4 Dr. Andrew Biesemier on a case of uterine fumarate hydratase-deficient leiomyoma (including a harrowing slide on the Krebs Cycle which gave us biology class flashbacks!) and PGY-1 Erin Saunders on a case of endometrial clear cell carcinoma presenting on a cervical cytology. Both did a superb job, and many attendees practicing in the community remarked on how much they learned from their presentations.
We next received updates from representatives from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and College of American Pathologists (CAP) who covered ongoing educational and legislative efforts of these key societies and enjoyed a lunchtime session on updates in HER2 testing related to new indications for conjugated therapies across a host of tumor types.
Resident Andrew Biesemier discussing a case at Virginia Society of Pathology.
The latter half of the day included a fantastic Keynote lecture from UVA School of Medicine alum Dr. Alex Baras, who discussed his experiences implementing digital pathology at Johns Hopkins University, where he serves as the Director Digital Pathology and Precision Medicine Informatics.
UVA Pathology residents, fellows, and faculty attending Virginia Society of Pathology.
The afternoon concluded with talks from VCU faculty and our own Dr. Anne Mills, who gave a session on challenging cervical cases including some sneak previews into the incoming Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology (LAST) Project update, an effort sponsored by the CAP which she co-Chairs. UVA Pathology Professor Emeritus Dr. Mark Stoler was instrumental in the first iteration of these guidelines published in 2012 and the update will be informed by references to many collaborative studies authored by Drs. Mills and Stoler in the ensuing years, representing a “full circle” moment for the department.
With more than a dozen trainees and faculty in attendance, it was a fantastic opportunity for UVA Pathology to connect with our colleagues in the Virginia Pathology community. Already looking forward to next year!
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