2026 Annual Conference Handouts

 

Monday

The Use of Rapid Immunoassay Drug Screens at Autopsy: Triage or Trouble?
Hannah Coltrain, MS, PA(ASCP)CM

*KEYNOTE* The Story of Rapid Digital Pathology Transformation of Surgical Pathology at NYU Langone
Syed T. Hoda, MD

*KEYNOTE* Benign Bone Pathology
Syed T. Hoda, MD

*KEYNOTE* Malignant Bone Pathology
Syed T. Hoda, MD

Tuesday

Digital Pathology Without the Drama
Todd Vanden Branden & Kelsie Anderson, MHS, PA(ASCP)CM, MLSCM

A Pathologists’ Assistant’s Role in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Dr. Kristine McCluskey

Digital Clues After Death: A Case-Based Approach to the Use of Personal Devices in Death Investigation and Manner of Death Determination
Alysha Rushton, MS, PA(ASCP), D-ABMDI

The Gross Handling of Nephrectomy Specimens: Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Melissa L. Stanton, MD

The Gross Handling of Prostatectomy Specimens: Tips, Tricks, and How to Avoid Common Pitfalls
Melissa L. Stanton, MD

Wednesday

A Breath of Fresh Air – How to Approach Lung Specimens with Ease
Yasmeen Butt, MD

Molecular Classifications of Endometrial Carcinomas: How and When to do it?‎
Longwen Chen, MD, PhD

Burnout in the Pathology Lab: Are We Missing the Diagnosis?
Shipra Garg, MD

The Pathologists’ Assistant Advantage: Turning Workflow Expertise into Industry Innovation
Roseann Vitale, MS, PA(ASCP)

Thursday

Developing a Medical Device: Concept to Research and Clinical Care
Rocky Ackroyd

From Bench to Biomarkers: Practical Clinical, Pathologic, and Molecular Insights into Mesenchymal Neoplasms Across Age Groups
Eduardo Zambrano, MD, MSc

From Paper to Practice: Building the Future of Electronic Grossing Protocols
Heather Gaburo, MHS, PA(ASCP)CM

Tips and Tricks for Improving Gross Specimen Photography
Nathan Pallace

 

Posters

Group 1

Navigating the Unconventional Liver Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma Resection: A Case Study

Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma

The Pathologists’ Assistant and Patient Prognosis: Gross Documentation of Mesorectum Status in Advanced Rectal Cancer

Micropapillary Variant Urothelial Carcinoma with Underlying Kartagener Syndrome and PALB2 Mutation

Placenta – The Pathologies of Two Patients

Evaluating the Effect of Optical Restoration on Retinal Imaging Quality in Fixed Post-Mortem Human Eyes

Evaluating the Use of Green Embalming in Anatomical Education for Pathologists’ Assistant Students

Will Virtual Autopsy Replace Pathologists? 

 
Group 2

Angiosarcoma Mural Nodule within Mucinous Carcinoma Ovarian Mass 

Mandibular Aneurysmal Bone Cyst: A Case Study 

A Comparison for Fixatives and Media: From a Pathologists’ Assistant’s Perspective

Beyond the Skin: Advanced Oral Mucosal Melanoma with Mandibular Invasion 

Incidental Detection of a Ruptured Low-Grade Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasm Following Gynecological Specimen Evaluation 

Sacral Chordoma with Thoracic Metastases: A Case Study

Chondrosarcoma of the Larynx: A Case Study

Septation in Seminoma: Hidden in Pre-Op US, Revealed at the Bench 

 

Group 3

When the Work Weighs Heavy: Moral Distress in Pathologists’ Assistants 

Primary versus Metastatic: The Pathologists’ Assistant’s Role in a Rare Concurrent Leiomyosarcoma of the Pancreas and Chest Wall

Aortic Dissection: A Post-Mortem Case Study

Pathologists’ Assistants as Educators

The Relationship Between Right versus Left Sided Heart Dominance and their Respective Frequency of Myocardial Infarctions

Endosalpingiosis: Incidental or Important?

Intraoperative Frozen Section for Adnexal Tumors: An Unreliable Diagnostic Tool 

 

Group 4

AI-Assisted Instructional Material Development in Pathologists’ Assistant Education: A Faculty Implementation of NotebookLM at Rosalind Franklin University

A Rare Case Study of an Adult Retroperitoneal Extra-Renal Wilms Tumor

Carcinosarcoma: A Rare and Deadly Cancer: Case Study

CIC-Rearranged Sarcoma of the Thumb: A Rare Case in a Young Adult Male

Left on the Table: Examining a Pathologists’ Assistant Role in Preventable Tissue & Organ Anatomical Discards in Donation Settings

Treatment Effect and Hemorrhage in Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

A Decade in the Making: Progressive Fibrous Dysplasia of the Rib 

 

Group 5

Beating Heart, Aggressive Sarc: case-study of an atrial angiosarcoma 

Obesity-Induced Cutaneous Angiosarcoma: Considerations for Grossing and Staging Protocols

Choriocarcinoma Arising Within Complete Invasive Mole

Laboratory Education for Operating Room Staff as a Means of Pre-Analytical Error Reduction in Anatomic Pathology

Artificial Intelligence Integration into the Pathologists’ Assistant Workflow

Distinguishing Renal Cell and Urothelial Cell Carcinoma: Key Details in Gross Examination and TNM Staging

From Indolent to Invasive: High-Grade Salivary Duct Carcinoma ex Pleomorphic Adenoma in a Long-Standing Parotid Lesion 

 

Group 6

Understanding Turnover Among Pathologists’ Assistants: Drivers, Impact, and Opportunities for Retention

A Case Study: Mucinous Urachal Adenocarcinoma

A High-Grade Spindle Cell Sarcoma with Novel SPIDR::TERT Fusion

Uterine Leiomyosarcomas: Potentially Deceiving Tumors with Major Consequences

A Case of Pediatric Sudden Death with Insidious Bacterial Myocarditis

Maxillary Melanoma

An Educational Overview: The Pathologists’ Assistant’s Role in Interdisciplinary Awareness Between Microbiology and Surgical Pathology

A Pillar PathA Case: Adenocarcinoma in a Right Colon 

 

 

2026 Fall Conference – 51st Annual Conference

Sunday, September 13, 2026 – Thursday, September 17, 2026

Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
340 N 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004