Message from the President ...
Lester Layfield, M.D. The annual PCS meeting was held in San Antonio, TX during the 100 th USCAP Annual Meeting. On behalf of the current PSC leadership and members, I would like to thank the officers and committee chairs and members for their 2009-2011 terms of service to the PSC. Special thanks go to the immediate past president, Dr. Martha Bishop Pitman. The officers for the 2011-2013 term include myself as President, Zubair Baloch as President-Elect, Dr. Eric Suba as treasurer and Dr. David Chhieng as Secretary. The Board of Directors is listed in Table I and the Committees and their membership are listed in Table II.
The 2011 PSC presentations began with the International Relations Committee Afternoon Session moderated by Drs. Matthew Zarka and Eric Suba. The presentations included, Live Strong Programs in Mexico and South Africa given by Rebekkah Schear of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Austin TX. Dr. Britt-Marie Ljung spoke on Cytology in Ghana followed by Dr. Ludwig Eric Gonzales from the Mexican Academy of Cytopathology in Mexico City, Mexico giving a lecture entitled, Papanicolaou Screening in Mexico . Finally, Dr. Andrew Field of St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia gave a presentation entitled, Fine-Needle Biopsy Training Programs in Africa . These informative presentations were followed by the Annual Business Meeting and cocktail reception.
The PSC then presented its Companion Society Evening Session. Immediately prior to the session, a brief awards ceremony occurred in which Andrew Field, MD was honored with the Yolanda Oertel Interventional Cytopathologist of the Year Award , Fernando Schmitt, MD, PhD received the L.C. Tao Educator of the Year Award and Carlos Bedrossian, MD received the newly established PSC Lifetime Achievement Award . Thanks was given to Drs. Oertel, Tao and Abati for their support of these awards.
The Scientific Program commenced with moderation by Zubair W. Baloch,MD, Dr. Sylvia Asa gave the presentation entitled, Practicing Morphology in the Era of Special Techniques . This was followed by the presentation entitled, How Much Molecular Pathology Does the Cytopathologist Need to Know? given by Jennifer Hunt, MD. Dr. Dara Aisner then presented the presentation entitled, Lessons Learned From Molecular Analysis of “Unbelievably Small” Cytology Specimens . The Scientific Session was concluded with the presentation of HPV Analysis of Head and Neck Fine-Needle Aspiration Specimens given by William Westra, MD. The 2012 Scientific Program to be given at the 101 st USCAP Annual Meeting will focus on pulmonary cytology. Presentations will be given by:
Robert Viggiano, MD: EBUS and Other Biopsy Techniques for Diagnosis of Lung Tumors
Kevin Leslie, MD: Histopathology of Lung Tumors: An Update
Kim Geisinger, MD: Cytologic Classification of Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma
Neil Linderman, MD: Molecular Aspects of EBUS/Transbronchial Biopsies
The Papanicolaou Society is developing guidelines/recommendations for pancreaticobiliary cytology. The guidelines will be developed with input from as broad a range of medical practitioners with interest in pancreaticobiliary cytology as possible. These guidelines will be developed in cooperation with multiple professional societies including the American Society of Cytopathology. Other professional organizations are invited to participate including those from the general pathology community, radiology societies, endoscopy societies and surgical societies with interest in pancreaticobiliary disease. Following the development of these pancreaticobiliary guidelines, further guidelines in the area of pulmonary cytopathology will be developed using a similar web based discussion forum with input from appropriate professional societies.
The Papanicolaou Society continues to reach out both nationally and globally. Dr. Andrew Field with his colleagues Drs. Britt-Marie Ljung, Eric Suba and Matthew Zarka continue to reach out internationally with particular emphasis in sub Saharan Africa. The Papanicolaou Society buddy system for distribution of Diagnostic Cytopathology journals is proceeding well with an expected distribution of the first set of journals to occur in June or July of 2011. This should facilitate distribution of medical literature to our international colleagues. The Papanicolaou Society continues to expand its educational material by participating in international conferences, FNA tutorials, guideline development and scientific session presentations. I invite all the members of the Papanicolaou Society to become involved in these projects. The updated Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology website can aid in communication and keeping members informed of Papanicolaou Society benefits and educational programs. I look forward to working with all of you as well as reaching out to other societies so that the Papanicolaou Society remains a leader in the field of cytopathology education with special emphasis on bridging the gap between Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology.
