Board of Directors

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.

Professor Fernando Schmitt is a Professor of Pathology at the Medical Faculty of University of Porto, Senior Researcher and Head of Molecular Pathology Unit at IPATIMUP, Director of RISE (Clinical and Transnational Research Network of the Medical Faculty), Past-President of the International Society of Breast Pathology and President of the International Academy of Cytology (IAC). He has authored over 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 33 book chapters, and is the editor of six books. Prof Schmitt is widely considered a world-leading expert in cytopathology and breast cancer. Fernando was a fellow at the Karolinska Medical Hospital, Stockholm, and was a Professor of Pathology at the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, and University of Toronto, Canada. He was also Director of the Department of Medicine at Laboratoire national de Santé, Luxembourg. His research work is on breast cancer, with emphasis on molecular markers, cell adhesion and invasion, therapeutic targets, and mechanisms of resistance. In the last years, his research work has been dedicated to the study of molecular markers on cytological material. Fernando serves as Editor in Chief of Pathobiology and Associate Editor of six major scientific journals and sits on the editorial board of many others. He is a standing member of the WHO-IAC Classification of Tumours. He has also been chair, president, or scientific director of several major European, Portuguese, and Brazilian scientific societies of pathology and cytology. He received the following prizes: Educator of the Year 2011 by the PSC, GOLDBLATT AWARD 2013 by the IAC, Dario Cruz 2018 from the Portuguese League Against Cancer for his career as a researcher in breast cancer, and the 2021 International Achievement Award from the American Society of Cytopathology.

Dr. Bongiovanni is Director of Cytopathology at Unilabs in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He was a  Member (MIAC) and then Fellow (FIAC) of the International Academy of Cytology since 2016.

Dr Bongiovanni completed his medical studies in 1997 and his residency in Pathology in 2002 at the University of Turin in Italy. In 2003, he joined the Institute of Pathology at the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), where he began his scientific and clinical work in the field of pathology and cytopathology. After gaining experience in Ticino as deputy director of the Cantonal Institute of Pathology (2010-2014), he was appointed as associate professor and head of the Department of Cytopathology at the Institute of Pathology of the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV, 2014).

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 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).

Dr. Pitman is an internationally recognized expert in the field of cytopathology and fine needle aspiration cytopathology in general, and pancreaticobiliary cytopathology, in particular. She is a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and practicing pathologist in cytopathology and gastrointestinal surgical pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she obtained her residency and fellowship training. She is past president of the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology and past President of the American Society of Cytopathology. She has been Associate Editor of Cancer Cytopathology and The Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology and is currently active on the editorial boards of several journals. She is the lead author of the PSC Pancreaticobiliary Terminology System for reporting pancreaticobiliary cytology as well as the new WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytology. She is also on the Standing Committee (one of 5 series editors) for all WHO Reporting Systems. Her clinical research is devoted to the investigation of the early detection of pancreatic cancer, especially in association with mucinous pancreatic cysts.

Prof. Lukas Bubendorf is a surgical pathologist and head of cytopathology at the Institute for Pathology of the University Hospital Basel. He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the National Human Genome Research Institutes at the NIH, Bethesda, from 1998-2000.

He is a member of numerous national and international scientific societies, the Steering Committee of the ETOP Lungscape project, the IASLC Pathology Committee and the editorial boards of several journals including Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Lung Cancer, Pathobiology, Cancer Cytopathology, Diagnostic Cytopathology, and Acta Cytologica.

Professor Bubendorf is the author of more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. His major interests and diagnostic expertise lie within lung pathology and uropathology, and in the general field of cytopathology. His research group currently investigates the role of genomic evolution and heterogeneity in solid tumors, including lung cancer and prostate cancer. In cytology, he aims at translating molecular techniques and assays to clinical routine application.

Dr Angel Fomperoza Torres is a Professor of Pathology and Director of Cytopathology at Veracruzana University School of Medicine in Veracruz, Mexico.

Director of Anatomical Pathology and Cytopathology department at Petroleos Mexicanos Minatitlan Regional Hospital, in Veracruz México. Past President of the Mexican Academy of Cytopathology (AMCP), Fellowship of the International Academy of Cytology (FIAC), President of the XXXI Congress of the Latin American Society of Cytology, and Supervisor of the screening program of Cervical Cancer in México. 

President of the research and bioethics committee in the health services of Petroleos Mexicanos.

Dr. Fomperoza´s clinical practice includes Anatomical Pathology, Cytopathology, administration, teaching and research. His special interests include gynecologic pathology. He has published over 70 journal articles, book chapters and postgraduate research paper and was editor of the medical journal of Medicine of Petroleos Mexicanos. He is a frequent guest speaker, chair and moderator at National and International Pathology Meetings including IAC tutorials and companion meetings.

Dr. José A. Jiménez Heffernan is Head of the Pathology Department and Professor of Pathology at Hospital de la Princesa, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain.

He received his medical degree from the University of Córdoba, Spain in 1991 and PhD degree from the University of Alcalá in 2009. He has taken the professional qualifications exams of the European Board of Pathology, FRCPath (U.K.) and FIAC. He completed his Pathology training in 1996 at the University Hospital La Paz, Madrid, where he began practicing cytopathology in 1997 under the mentorship of Dr. José M. Viguer. Since then he has been involved in the practice of cytopathology with special interest in the areas of FNAB, immunocytochemistry, effusions and intraoperative cytology. He is author of more than 160 journal articles and book chapters most of which are related to diagnostic cytopathology. Prof. Jiménez Heffernan is an expert member of the Liver, and Kidney/Adrenal IAC-IARC (WHO) reporting systems.

Dr Bharat Rekhi MD, DNB, MIAC, FRCPATH (HISTO AND CYTOPATHOLOGY)

Dr. Bharat Rekhi (MD, DNB, MIAC, FRCPATH) is Professor/Pathologist at Tata Memorial Centre(TMC), Mumbai, India with a special interest in bone and soft tissue tumors (adult and pediatric), gynec pathology and related molecular and cytopathology. He serves on the editorial board of the World Health Organization (WHO)-International Agency for research on cancer (IARC) for reporting system in soft tissue cytopathology. He is a standing committee member for the WHO-IARC books for the 5th and 6th editions. He is one of the members of the tumor harmonization, grey zone and rare tumors and World Health Organization classification of tumors (WCT)/lower middle income country liaison committees for the 6th edition of the WCTs. He is one of the country advisors (North India) for the Royal College of Pathologists, UK.

He has many awards to his credit, including grand prize for the best electronic poster exhibit, International Skeletal Society meeting, Rome, 2012, Dr V.R. Khanolkar award the best published paper in 2018, Smt. Kunti Mehrotra award for the best published paper in 2012, the latter two awards, both by the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists (IAPM) and for the best oral presentation by the Indian Academy of Cytologists, during the year 2018. 

He has 6 National gold medal orations and presented as an invited speaker at numerous National and International Conferences, including International Congress of Cytology (ICC), European Congress of Cytology (ECC), European Congress of Pathology(ECP), International Academy of Pathology (IAP)-Asia Pacific, IAP-Singapore division, USCAP, ESMO-Asia 2019, NUHS surgical pathology course, Singapore, 2019 and College of Pathologists, Sri Lanka, 2022. He was chairperson in sessions on soft tissue and bone tumors during the European Congress of Pathology (ECP) 2020, 2021 and 2022 and also invited for the year 2024. He was also the poster judge for the ECP 2022. He is the Editor-In-Chief of the Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology (IJPM), and the current secretary of the Indian Academy of Cytologists. 

He has authored/co-authored 285 PUBMED-indexed publications with an overall h-index of 33 and has written several book chapters, including for the 5th edition of the (WHO) classification of Tumors of soft tissue and bone, pediatric and skin tumors. He is on the editorial board of the IARC-WHO reporting system for soft tissue cytopathology. He is an outreach editor for the cytopathology journal, associate editor of BMC Cancer and a recognized MD pathology teacher. He is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Surgical Pathology and Pathology Research and Practice journals.

Dr. Yukitoshi Satoh, MD, PhD, FIAC is the Professor Emeritus of the Kitasato University and the Director of the Maruko Central Hospital, Japan. He is currently served as the Past President of the Japanese Society of Clinical Cytology (JSCC), the largest national society of cytology worldwide with over 13,000 members. Previously, he served as the Congress President of the JSCC in 2020.

Dr. Satoh graduated from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. He trained in pathology and cytology at the Cancer Institute and in surgery at the Mitsui Memorial Hospital and Cancer Institute Hospital. He is a board-certified thoracic surgeon by the Japan Surgical Society and a board-certified cytopathologist by the JSCC.

His research interests include clinical and basic research in thoracic oncology and cytology, particularly in the diagnosis of thoracic malignancies and genomic analysis of lung adenocarcinoma.

He is also interested in the cytomorphologic diagnosis of lung cancers and development of reporting terminologies for respiratory cytology and has contributed to the World Health Organization Reporting System for Lung Cytopathology. He has authored and co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles regarding thoracic oncology including cytology.

Moreover, he seeks to promote the globalization of respiratory cytology and the academic improvement of the IAC.

Prof Tse is a chairman and professor in the Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the president of the Hong Kong Division of International Academy of Pathology. He is currently the regional editor for Australasia, Histopathology, overseas editor for Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology, outreach editor for Cytopathology, associate editor for Pathology, associate editor for Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, editorial advisory board member for Cancer Cytopathology, advisory board member for eBioMedicine and editorial board member for other journals including Acta Cytologica, Chinese Pathology Journal, Diagnostic Cytopathology, Human Pathology Case Reports, Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine, Modern Pathology and Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology. Prof Tse has given many invited presentations, convened regional and international meetings and has published actively in breast pathology, and has published extensively.