Aims of the Committee
To conduct activities related to education/training, accreditation, examination and registry of cytotechnologists.
Responsibilities
- Creating the test content and execution of the CT (IAC) examination.
- Overseeing the renewal process for IAC members registered with the IAC as holders of the CT (IAC).
- Selection of the tri-annual Cytotechnologist of the year award in collaboration with the nomination committee and the IAC central office (Only the Chair).
- Representing the interests of cytotechnologist members of the IAC in close collaboration with the educational committee.
- Presenting budgetary matters to BoD for discussion and implementation.
- Provide new WSI scans, visual images, and written test material for the IAC examination and periodically update the question database.
- Coordinate with the national office in organizing examinations {including candidate registration, evaluation of eligibility, arrangement of invigilators to administer the examination).
- Works directly with the international board of cytopathology committee and the committee on continuing education and quality assurance.
Chair
Donna russell, CFIAC (USA)
Donna Russell received her Master’s in Education from the University of Rochester Graduate School of Education and currently is the Education Coordinator of the Cytopathology Resident/Fellowship training program at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. She has been an employee at UR Medicine for over 30 years. She is also the program director of the Master’s level Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center/Daemen College School of Cytotechnology and is currently teaching her seventh class.
Members
Enrica Bresaola, CMIAC (Italy)
Enrica Bresaola was a leading cytologist in Milan, at the European Institute of Oncology, specializing in extravaginal cytology. In her role as a tutor in one of the most important centers for oncological diagnostics, she was a great teacher for many cytologists starting their careers.
Enrica Bresaola was also the Italian representative for the European Advisory Committee of Cytotechnology (EACC). In May 2025, she received the 2024 Cytotechnologist of the Year Award from the IAC at the 2025 Congress in Florence, Italy.
Catherine Bammert, Ph.D., CT, MB(ASCP), CMIAC (USA)
Catherine Bammert currently serves as an Associate Professor and Program Director for the Cytotechnology Program in the School of Health Professions at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
She serves on several national and international committees, including the American Society of Cytopathology’s Executive Board, the American Society of Cytopathology’s Editorial Board, American Society of Cytopathology Research and Current Concepts Committee, Cytology Program Review Committee, the ASCP BOC Data Insights and Analytics ad hoc Committee, the International Academy of Cytology Examination Committee and the CAAHEP Accreditation Workshop ad hoc Planning Committee. Catherine Bammert also the Past-president of the American Society for Cytology.
Jenna LeBlanc, CMIAC (USA)
Bio to be added
Akihiko Kawahara, DMSC, CFIAC (Japan)
Akihiko Kawahara is Deputy Chief Technologist, Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Kurume University Hospital He has been actively engaged in cytological research with a focus on liquid-based cytology, molecular testing, and diagnostic cytopathology of salivary gland and respiratory tract lesions. His work has helped advance ancillary techniques such as immunocytochemistry and cytology-based cell-free DNA analysis.
Rúben Roque, CFIAC (Portugal)
Rúben Roque is Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Lisbon School of Health Technologies, Polytechnic University of Lisbon, as well as Lecturer for the Postgraduate Course in Diagnosis in Cytopathology at P.Porto (Polytechnic of Porto)
Lia van Zuylan Manders, CMIAC (Netherlands)
Lia van Zuylan Manders graduated at the University of Applied Science in 1993. For over 30 years she has worked at the Radboud university hospital in Nijmegen (Netherlands) where she is now also the head of the cytology department.
Since 2013 she has been teaching gyn and non-gyn cytology at the University of Applied Science in Nijmegen. Since 2020 she has been the chairperson of the Dutch cytology society (WCD), and since 2023 also for the European Advisory Committee of Cytotechnology (EACC).
Allan J. Wilson, CMIAC (United Kingdom)
Allan Wilson is a Consultant Biomedical Scienist based in Monklands Hospital, Scotland. He is the clinical lead for the Scottish cervical screening programme. He led the redesign of the programme to accommodate HPV primary screening and has been involved in every major change within the Scottish programme over the last 30 years.
Mr. Wilson lead the European cervical cytology exam (QUATE) for almost ten years, and has almost 50 years’ experience covering all aspects of cervical screening and population screening. His main interests are training and education, molecular pathology and population screening.
Ex-Officio Members
dr. Syed Z. Ali, MD, FRCPath, FIAC (USA)
Prof. Ali serves as Professor of Pathology and Radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as the Director of the Division of Cytopathology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He received his Pathology residency training at North Shore University Hospital/Cornell University in New York with fellowships in Oncologic Surgical Pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Cytopathology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Known globally as an innovative educator, Prof. Ali has well over 375 invited lectures, keynote speeches and visiting professorships all over the world. In collaboration with international societies and universities, he directs or co-directs several annual major cytopathology tutorials.
Prof. Ali has published extensively with over 335 peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals, over 35 books, book chapters and electronic media. Known for his expertise in “Thyroid” and “Pancreatic” cytopathology, his monograph on “The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology” (now in its 3rd edition) has been translated in 8 languages and is extensively used in medical practice all over the world. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology (JASC) and a past-President of the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC). Presently, he serves as the President of the International Academy of Cytology (IAC) and Chair of the International Board of Cytopathology of the IAC. He is a fellow of both the Royal College of Pathologists (UK) and the IAC. He is recipient of the ASC’s “Warren R. Lang Award” in 1996, “President’s Award” in 2012, “Excellence in Education Award” in 2015, the IAC’s “Maurice Goldblatt Award” in 2019, Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology’s “LC Tao Educator of the Year Award” in 2022 and the ASC’s “Papanicolaou Award” in 2023.
Massimo Bongiovanni, MD, FIAC (Switzerland)
Dr. Bongiovanni is head of Cytopathology at SYNLAB Pathology in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is member of the Pathology Expert Group, at SYNLAB International, Member (MIAC) and then Fellow (FIAC) of the International Academy of Cytology since 2016. He is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and 15 book chapters. He was Vice President of the Swiss Cytology Society (2015-2021) and a member of the Endocrine Tumor Group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). He is associate editor of the journal Acta Cytologica and participates in the editorial board of the journal Diagnostic Cytopathology. He is currently co-chair of the scientific committee of the European Federation of Cytology Societies (EFCS).