November 15-20, 2022 Exploring Next Generation Cytology
The world of cytology came together in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, for the 21st International Congress of Cytology held jointly with the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC) from November 15-20, 2022. The Inner Harbor of Baltimore provided a beautiful backdrop for more than 685 attendees from 51 countries, including 113 representatives from 30 commercial exhibitors, to enjoy inspiring and challenging educational sessions. This Joint Session provided over 41 hours of education that included General Sessions, 13 Symposia, 22 Platform Presentations, 17 Cytology Short Courses, 20 Video Microscopy Tutorials, 5 Panel Discussions, Roundtable Discussions, 10 Microscopic Workshops, 20 Sign-out with the Professor sessions, Strategies in Cytology Education, USFNA Course, IAC Tutorial, and 136 Poster Presentations.
The Scientific Program Committees of both IAC and ASC volunteered countless hours to create a high quality scientific program. The general sessions included the popular ASC Diagnostic Cytology Unknown Case Seminar, the ASC Leopold Koss Lectureship: “Delayed, Deferred or Lost Care: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Care and Workforce Patterns in the US” presented by Dr. Ravi Parikh, University of Pennsylvania; the IAC Lectureship: “How I´ve Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love Genomics,” presented by Dr. Jorge Sergio Reis-Filho, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and the ASC New Frontiers Lecture: “CODA: Mapping Large Volumes of Tissues and Tumors at Single-Cell Resolution,” presented by Dr. Denis Wirtz, Johns Hopkins University. The Congress also featured a variety of innovative symposia, focusing on existing and new reporting systems in cytopathology from the WHO, targeted topic-based workshops, video microscopy tutorials, and sign-out with the professor sessions. Attendees were able to engage with program faculty who are at the forefront of cytopathology, presenting the latest advances, current perspectives, and critical issues in the field.
The WorldVision Cytopathology Contest (WCC), held on Thursday morning, is a global outreach initiative providing a platform for fostering close international relationships. The WCC encouraged an exchange of scientific knowledge and goodwill by offering a unique cytopathology case-based competition and an award to the winner. The top four finalists– Esma Ersoy, MD, United States; Diana Jaravaza, MD, South Africa; Tania Labiano, MD, Spain; and Lavisha S. Punjabi, MD, Singapore– presented interesting cytopathology cases to a jury during the Congress. The international jury panel consisted of Maria D. Lozano MD, PhD, MIAC (Spain), Gary M. Tse, MBBS (Hong Kong); Deepali Jain, FIAC (India); and Panagiota Mikou, MD, MSc, PhD, FIAC (Greece). The jury and the audience voted on the best presentation. The 2022 winner was Dr. Diana Jaravaza from the National Health Laboratory Service, Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa who presented a fascinating and rare case of secretory carcinoma of the salivary gland.
The Congress also honored members of the International Academy of Cytology and the American Society of Cytopathology who have made significant and lasting impacts on the field of cytology during the Award presentations and the Closing Ceremonies on Saturday afternoon. The awardees include:
IAC Achievement Awards
2020 Maurice Goldblatt Award, Andrew S. Field, MB, BS, FIAC, FRCPA
2021 Maurice Goldblatt Award, Marianne Engels, MD, FIAC
2022 Maurice Goldblatt Award, Ashish Chandra MD FRCPath, DipRCPath (Cytol)
International Cytotechnologist of the Year
2020 Masami Nambu, PhD, CT(IAC), Japan
2021 Jen-Sheng Ko, BS, CFIAC , Taiwan
2022 Donna K. Russell Med, CT(ASCP), HT(ASCP) CFIAC, USA
IAC Honorary Membership, Shirley E. Greening MS, JD, CFIAC
Kazumasa Masubuchi Life-Time Achievement in Clinical Cytology Award, Daisuke Aoki MD, PhD, MIAC
George L. Wied Award, Torill Sauer MD, PhD
James W. Reagan Award, Colleen Wright MBBCh, FCPath, MRCPath, FIAC
ASC Achievement Awards
Papanicolaou Award, Michael R. Henry, MD
Cytotechnologist Award for Outstanding Achievement, Janie Roberson, BS, SCT(ASCP)CM
Excellence in Education Award, Amber Donnelly, PhD, MPH, SCT(ASCP)
International Achievement Award, Esther Diana Rossi, MD, PhD
President`s Award, Zubair Baloch, MD, PhD
Volunteer Appreciation Award, Swikrity Upadhyay Baskota, MD
In addition, the IAC and ASC honored Platform or Poster Presenters rewarding research excellence and promoting the professional development of early career investigators. The leaders of the IAC and ASC created a joint Research and Current Concepts Committee who selected the recipients of the following abstract awards:
IAC/ASC Quality Improvement in Cytology Abstract Award
Comparison of Low-Cost Phantoms for Ultrasound Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy Teaching
Xiaofeng Zhao, MD, PhD, Esma Ersoy, MD, Dianna Ng, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
IAC/ASC Geno Saccomano, MD, New Frontiers in Cytology Award
A Novel Preservation Method of Improving DNA Stability for Liquid-Based Cytology Specimens Using a Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Line
Yukiko Matsuo, PhD, Tsutomu Yoshida, MD, PhD, Kazuya Yamashita, PhD, Dai Sonoda, MD, PhD, Masashi Mikubo, MD, PhD, Yukitoshi Satoh, MD, PhD
Kitasato University Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
IAC/ASC Advances in Thyroid Cytology Award
The Utility of Thyroseq in the Triage of Indeterminate Lesions in Thyroid Cytology with Microfollicular Architecture and Predominance of Hurthle Cells
Matthew Turner, MD, Christopher Sullivan, MD, MPH, Mackenzie Jones, Dorbin Abendano, MD, Maria Cecilia Reyes, MD
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
IAC/ASC Cytotechnologist Scientific Presentation Award
Approach to Out-of-Range Performance Indicators: A Quality Assurance Study
Karen Chau, MBA, CT(ASCP), Cecilia Gimenez, MD, Deepika Savant, MD, Peter Farmer, MD, Seema Khutti, MBBS, Kasturi Das, MD, Priyanka Karam, MD
Northwell Health, Greenvale, New York
IAC/ASC Innovative Cytotechnologist Practice Abstract Award
Telecytology Rapid Onsite Evaluation, with Real-time Communication between Cytopathologist, Cytotechnologist and Operator, Offers Better Adequacy Rates for Lymph Node Fine Needle Aspirations
Allison Goldberg, MD, Kelly Doxzon, MBA, CT (ASCP)
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IAC/ASC Warren R. Lang, MD Resident?s Physician Award
A Rotation of ROSEs: Workload and Reimbursement Analysis of System-wide Telecytology ROSE Coverage in a Multi-site Rural Health System
Terrance Lynn, MD, MS, MHCI, Sara Monaco, MD, Renee Frank, MD, Michelle Pramick, MD, Fan Lin, MD, PhD
Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania
ASC Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Research Award
Urine Cytology in Patients with Gender Confirmation Surgery and Hormone Therapy: Highlighting the Performance of Urine Cytology in an Underserved Patient Population
Chien-Kuang Cornelia Ding, MD, PhD1, Christopher VandenBussche, MD, PhD2, Carlo De la Sancha, MD1, Nancy Greenland, MD, PhD1, Poonam Vohra, MD1
University of California, San Francisco1, San Francisco, California; Johns Hopkins University2, Baltimore, Maryland
The Congress concluded with a very special festive evening to “cell-ebrate” the field of cytology: The Cell-ebration Baseball Bash, was held at the famous Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball team. The dance floor was full the entire night from friends from around the world “cell-ebrating” the historic, in-person, truly joint meeting of the IAC and ASC.
A special thank you goes to Dr. Zubair Baloch, Chair of the ASC Scientific Program Committee, and to Dr. Syed Ali, Chair of the IAC Program Committee. In addition, a big thank you goes to the ASC Team of Beth Jenkins, Sondra Forman, JoAnn Jenkins, Patty Huff, Jaime Rice, and Sandy Hitchens, and to Ms. Allison Austin of the IAC Central Office.
As the Congress came to a close, the Italian Planning Committee shared a beautiful video inviting everyone to Florence for the 22nd International Congress of Cytology in 2025. The ASC invites everyone to Austin, Texas, next year for the 71st Annual Scientific Meeting. Please join the IAC and ASC for more information on upcoming educational events.
