Dr. George D. Lundberg to Present “How Molecular Pathology Blends with Laboratory Medicine” at the Second Annual Digital Pathology Conference in San Francisco

Dr. George D. Lundberg is a pathologist and, from February 1999 to January 2009, editor of Medscape. For 17 years prior to joining Medscape, Lundberg served as editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). During his 17-year tenure, JAMA’s scientific impact factor rose to 9.3, exceeded only by the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and Annals of Internal Medicine, among general medical journals. He was willing to take on politically sensitive health issues such as tobacco (long before it was politically correct to tackle smoking), boxing, nuclear war, and alternative medicine, to name a few. In so doing, JAMA affirmed that health care is not just the application of biologic knowledge but is intertwined with all other aspects of life—social, political, economic, and cultural. Lundberg made JAMA a force for “evidence based medicine” with its series on Users’ Guide to the Medical Literature and The Rational Clinical Examination and by endorsing structured abstracts. By using JAMA to publish parts of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, National Institutes of Health consensus conferences, and reports of the Institute of Medicine, Lundberg helped physicians keep up with important medical developments before the advent of the Web. Finally, he increased JAMA’s success by paying attention to its newsworthiness, as all effective editors of large general medical journals do (whether or not they admit it). Pretty cool for a pathologist! 

Second Annual Digital Pathology 

Transforming Medicine in a Digital World

Part of the 21st Annual Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference

February 10-12, 2014 | San Francisco, CA

What Role will Pathologists Play in Clinical Diagnostics in the New Era of Genomic Medicine?

Cambridge Healthtech Institute recently interviewed Dr. George Lundberg, Chief Medical Officer, CollabRx and Editor at Large for Medscape.  Dr. Lundberg is a noted pathologist who served as Editor-in-Chief for 17 years of the Journal of the American Medical Association and is well-known for encouraging the pathology profession to assert leadership in clinical diagnostics in the new era of genomic medicine. Dr. Lundberg will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Pathology conference this February 12 at 3:15pm in San Francisco. Digital Pathology is part of the 21st Annual Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference which brings together 3,000 molecular medicine researchers every year.

In what ways do you see that the pathology community needs to change?Pathologists serve as the link between all clinicians and all lab tests that are ordered. Molecular tests are one more kind of lab test. Pathologists are at the center of decision making to determine what tests should be available, which are performed, and where they should be performed. The interpretation of the test results determine the actions that should be taken by the clinician. Most practicing physicians have received little training in genomics and genetics and therefore have a limited practical understanding of it. Pathologists serve as an important link between the lab and the clinician to help guide clinical decision making, including how to interpret test results and to make follow up decisions.

CHI: How can pathology practice be helped or transformed by molecular technologies?
GL: The technology moves very rapidly, so the pathologist has to get deeply embedded and the knowledge base has to be continually updated. Real education for physician practice begins with their residencies and fellowships. Many organizations are now offering CME courses on practical genomics, including The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

CHI: What obstacles are there to the adoption of molecular technologies?
GL: Resistance to change is one. Physicians learn to practice during their residency.  They need to feel compelled to make changes during their practice lives. Incentives need to be built in to motivate them to change their behavior. No one wants to be out of date. But they don’t want to adopt new practices too soon. One big obstacle is who will pay for the tests. Payment decisions are very important to the adoption of new tests.

CHI: What new opportunities exist for pathologists?
GL: The molecular understanding of disease is burgeoning along with its application in medicine. Cancer research and treatment was stuck for about 40 years will little progress on outcomes, despite billions of dollars being spent on research. Today, each day, about 1,600 Americans progress beyond the standard of care with their cancers. New understanding of the molecular basis of cancer provides a major opportunity for improving our treatment of advanced, and sometimes earlier, malignancies. Early diagnosis, once seen as a panacea, has not been particularly successful in preventing many advanced cancers.

CHI: How do you see digital pathology perceived by the community?
GL: Innovative, creative, promising, and new.

CHI: What will you be talking about in your presentation this February?
GL: I plan to discuss how molecular pathology can blend with lab medicine. I will be bringing the 40 year old “brain to brain loop” thesis forward for molecular oncology. And, after full disclosure, I will talk about how our San Francisco company  CollabRx works, and where our products fit. In the 1970s, I began a column in the Journal of American Medical Association called “Toward Optimal Laboratory Use” that ran for about 30 years. It was conceived as an early application of algorithms to lab testing and how physicians should change their behavior based on lab results.  CollabRx represents applied oncogenomics. It presents an approach to cancer therapy guided by molecular information about the patient’s individual tumor. Using the clinical CollabRx product called “Therapy Finder”, physicians and patients may share decision-making live online for the management of cancer by converting the algorithmic approach developed in the 1970s into up to date, internet based, useful, practical ways to deal with many advanced cancers. To assist in the use of its laboratory product called Genetic Variant Annotation (GVA)  CollabRx  is developing criteria for actionability from biomarker alterations which I will also describe.

Learn More   |   View Brochure   |   Share on LinkedIn   | Register  (Savings Up to $200 Available Until January 10)

Digital Pathology is part of the 21st Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference which brings together more than 3,000 informatics, clinical, diagnostics, and oncology researchers every year.

Save up to $1,500 with an All Access Package
Suggested All Access Package includes two short courses, Latest Advances in Molecular Pathology and Next-Generation Sequencing in Molecular Pathology: Challenges and Applications, the Genomics in Medicine symposium, plus the Digital Pathology conference track.

FINAL AGENDA

FEATURED PRESENTATION: American Telemedicine Association (ATA) Updated Guideline on Telepathology
Liron Pantanowitz, M.D., Associate Professor, Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

FEATURED PRESENTATION: Pushing the Resolution Limit with a Simple LED Array
Guoan Zheng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering & Electrical Engineering, University of Connecticut

Luncheon Presentation: Pathology – From an Analog Art to a Digital Science
Ralf Huss, M.D., CMO, Definiens AG
Sponsored by:

IN VIVO MICROSCOPY

IVM Diagnosis in Surgical Pathology: Present and Future
Maria M. Shevchuk, M.D., Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology, Weill Cornell Medical College

In vivo Microscopy: Technologies, Applications and Roles for Pathologists
Guillermo J. Tearney, M.D., Ph.D., Mike & Sue Hazard Family MGH Research Scholar, Professor, Pathology, Harvard Medical School; Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

In vivo Imaging of Cell and Tissue Dynamics: Towards Biologically Relevant Diagnostic Models in Surgical Pathology
Kamran Badizadegan, M.D., FCAP, Chair, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Nemours Children’s Hospital; Professor of Pathology, UCF College of Medicine

An Objective Image Quality Model Based on Subjective Pathology Perception Test   
Dirk Vossen, Ph.D., Director, Applications and Q&R, Philips Digital Pathology
Sponsored by:

> Sponsored Presentation (Opportunities Available)

MULTIPLEXING

Overview of Multiplexing and Novel Microscopy Platforms: So Many Biomarkers, So Little Tissue…
Richard Levenson, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair, Strategic Technologies, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Davis Medical Center

Predicting Response to Targeted Therapy in Solid Tumors Using Multivariate Indices based on Protein Biomarker Expression
Vladimir Knezevic, M.D., Senior Vice President, Research & Development, 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc.

Multiplexing in a CLIA Environment
Kenneth J. Bloom, M.D., CMO, Clarient, Inc.

QUANTITATIVE BIOMARKERS

The Quest for a Universal Fixative: Measuring Fixative-induced Morphologic and Antigenic Variation
Alexander “Sandy” Borowsky, M.D., Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis

New Methods for Multi-Parameter Quantitative in situ Biomarker Assessment: Nucleic Acids vs. Proteins
David L. Rimm, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Pathology, Yale University

Mass Tags and IHC – A New Frontier for 100 Parameters and Above
Garry P. Nolan, Ph.D., Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor, Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford School of Medicine; Director, NHLBI Proteomics Center for Systems Immunology; Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, Center for Clinical Science Research

Quantitative Image Analysis of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: From Bench Side to Bed Side
Marilyn Bui, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Analytic Microscopy Core, Director, Cytopathology Fellowship Program, Associate Member & Professor, Anatomic Pathology, Sarcoma and Experimental Therapeutics, Moffitt Cancer Center; Oncological Sciences, Cell Biology, Pathology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida

IMPLEMENTATION & PRACTICE

Management of Clinical Digital Image Files
John H. Sinard, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Pathology; Director, Pathology & Informatics; Associate Director, Anatomic Pathology, Yale University

Implementing WSI in a Large Academic Hospital
Thomas W. Bauer, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, ePathology, Cleveland Clinic

Image Analysis Algorithms: What Can They Do for Pathology?
Metin N. Gurcan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics, Ohio State University

IMAGE APPLICATIONS

Use of Whole Slide Imaging for Primary Diagnosis in Canada
Andrew J. Evans, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC, Staff Pathologist & Associate Professor, University Health Network, Laboratory Medicine Program

Digital Imaging of Peripheral Blood Smears: Challenges and Opportunities
Christopher Naugler, M.D., BScH, MSc, CCFP, FCFP, FRCPC, Assistant Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Division Head, General Pathology, Calgary Laboratory Services

Implementation of WSI for Consensus Review in Clinical Trials
Stephen M. Hewitt, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Investigator, Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

How Molecular Pathology Blends with Laboratory Medicine
George D. Lundberg, M.D., Chief Medical Officer & Editor at Large, CollabRx & Medscape

ADVANCED IMAGING TECHNIQUES

Why Investing in Digital Imaging is a Good Bet
Anil Parwani, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Pathology Informatics, Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Alterations in Nanoscale Nuclear Architecture for Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis
Yang Liu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine, Bioengineering, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh

Whole Slide Image Analysis in Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy and Cytopathology
Brian Collins, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis

For exhibit and sponsorship information, including sponsored podium presentations, please contact:

Jon Stroup (Companies A-K)
Manager, Business Development
Cambridge Healthtech Institute
T: (+1) 781-972-5483
E: jstroup@healthtech.com

Joseph Vacca (Companies L-Z)
Manager, Business Development
Cambridge Healthtech Institute
T: (+1) 781-972-5431
E: jvacca@healthtech.com

 Source: Cambridge Healthtech Institute