Aleksandra Zuraw

Aleksandra Zuraw is a toxicologic pathologist at Charles River Laboratories and an online publisher at the Digital Pathology Place website. She graduated in veterinary medicine in Wroclaw, Poland, where she worked as a practitioner before pursuing the veterinary pathology training in Berlin, Germany. After finishing her residency and PhD she worked for a digital pathology company specializing in image analysis, which started a great passion for this discipline and resulted in the creation of the Digital Pathology Place website a blog and podcast with digital pathology informational resources. The next steps in her career led her into the field of toxicologic pathology through Canada into the US where she keeps applying her digital pathology and image analysis knowledge to improve the toxicopathologic workflows.

Liron Pantanowitz

Professor Liron Pantanowitz is Chair and Professor of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA. He received his medical degree and PhD from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He completed his anatomical and clinical pathology residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard in Boston. He subsequently completed a hematopathology fellowship at Harvard and Cytopathology fellowship at Tufts. He is also board certified by the American Board of Pathology in clinical informatics and completed his MHA at Ohio University. Dr. Pantanowitz is an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pathology Informatics. He is the past president of the Digital Pathology Association, past president of the American Society of Cytopathology, and a past president and current council member of the Association of Pathology Informatics. He is widely published in the field of pathology informatics and cytopathology. His research interests include digital pathology and artificial intelligence, as well as non-gynecologic cytopathology.

Elena Miranda

I hold a BSc and a Master’s degree in Medical Biotechnology, as well as a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Milan, Italy. In 2014, following postdoctoral fellowships in Southampton and Milan, I joined MedImmune where I was responsible for profiling target expression in human samples and relevant pre-clinical models using histopathology and immunohistochemistry assays.
In 2017 I joined UCL Cancer Institute in London as Biobank and Pathology Core Facility Manager. Since 2020 I have been leading the Global Non-Clinical Histology team at GSK. I have extensive experience in histology, immunohistochemistry, In situ hybridization, laser capture microdissection, image analysis and multiplex staining, as they have been the subject of my work and studies for the last 20 years.

David Snead

Professor Snead is a consultant cellular pathologist at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW). He has been in post at Coventry for 27 years. He is the founding director of PathLAKE

He is an international expert in the use of digital pathology, having led Coventry to be one of the first hospitals in the world to switch to digital pathology for routine diagnosis.

He served as clinical service lead for over 10 years at UHCW and is an expert assessor for UKAS for DP. This experience has given him a unique understanding of how innovative AI based solutions can be deployed to address the major challenges facing cellular pathology departments globally. In 2023 he co-founded Histofy a company producing AI solutions for digital pathology. After boot-strapped investment of £1m the company aims to complete its seed round funding shortly and is launching its first products on to the market in 2025.

There are no shortcuts to achieving excellent results with AI solutions, but a career’s experience in diagnostic cellular pathology gives an invaluable understanding of where these innovations can be best deployed for the benefits of patients and pathologists.

Dr Darren Treanor

Prof. Darren Treanor MB BSc (Computing) MD PhD is a consultant pathologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, honorary professor of pathology at the University of Leeds, adjunct professor in digital pathology at Linköping University, Sweden and Digital Pathology Lead for the UK Royal College of Pathologists. He is a clinical director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare at the University of Leeds and Director of the UK National Pathology Imaging Co-operative.

Dual qualified in medicine and computing, Dr. Treanor runs the Leeds virtual pathology project, with a multi-disciplinary team working in digital pathology research and innovation. He has co-authored over 180 papers in the medical and computing literature, most of them concerned with the application or development of digital pathology in clinical and preclinical areas.

He is director of the National Pathology Imaging Co-operative, a £100m Industry-Academia-NHS collaboration to deploy digital pathology across more than 20 labs, and across two national networks to support sarcoma/bone and paediatric tumour diagnosis. NPIC will use this infrastructure to develop and test artificial intelligence systems to diagnose cancer, covering the whole AI lifecycle from development through evaluation to deployment.

At Linköping his research includes the clinical adoption and validation of digital pathology in a fully digitised department, and the development and implementation of AI.

Other research activities include 3D tissue reconstruction, image analysis, colour measurement/ correction and the use of digital pathology in education and training.

Further details are available at https://npic.ac.uk

Lise Bertrand

Dr Lise Bertrand is the Pathology Director, Digital Pathology Lead at Charles River Laboratories and Digital Pathology Councilor for the European Society of Toxicologic Pathology. After earning her veterinary degree, MSc, and completing a residency in anatomic pathology at the Veterinary School of Nantes, France, she became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathology in 2011.
With over a decade in the pharmaceutical industry, she leads strategic initiatives integrating digital pathology and AI into GLP and non-GLP environments. She is deeply engaged in national and international scientific communities, championing innovation and collaboration in the evolving field of toxicologic pathology.

Manuel Salto-Tellez

Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez (MST) (MD-LMS, FRCPath, FRCPI) studied Medicine in Spain (Oviedo), Germany (Aachen) and The Netherlands (Leiden). He specialized in Histopathology in the UK (Edinburgh and London) and learnt Molecular Pathology in USA (Philadelphia). For more than 10 years he worked at the National University of Singapore and its National University Hospital, where he was associate professor, senior consultant, and Vice-dean for Research.
MST is author or co-author of more than 330 internationally peer-reviewed articles in translational science, molecular pathology and diagnostics, and is editor or contributor to some of the key textbooks of pathology and oncology. MST serves and has served in key committees related to cancer research, at national and international levels, and holds more than £38M in competitive grant funding, including major ongoing programmes with UKRI and NIHR. He is scientific advisor to 2 companies in the digital pathology and artificial intelligence space.

Monika Lamba Saini

Dr. Monika Lamba Saini, MBBS, MD, Ph.D., is the ‘Global Translational Pathology leader’ at ADC Therapeutics, where she is responsible for advancing translational research strategies, leveraging digital pathology and AI, and integrating biomarkers to drive novel therapeutics from discovery to clinical development. She also serves as an ‘Education Committee’ member of the Digital Pathology Association. She previously served as the Director of Digital Pathology Innovation at IQVIA laboratories where she provided stewardship of digital pathology from validation to implementation of the digital pathology systems, as well as providing pathology support for AI-based algorithms and digital image analyses. She is a pathologist-scientist with 20+ years of experience and proficiency in pathology. She has been the principal investigator and sub-investigator of clinical trials for companion diagnostics in oncology with Cell Carta Belgium. She has extensive global experience and is the author and reviewer for notable journals, and an invited speaker on international platforms.

Bobbi Pritt

Professor Bobbi S. Pritt, MD, MSc, is a Consultant and Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. She also serves on the Board of Governors for the College of American Pathologists and Chairs the Information Technology Leadership Committee and the Council on Scientific Affairs. Professor Pritt received her medical degree and completed a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, followed by fellowship training in Medical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic. Her primary areas of interest are the laboratory diagnosis of parasitic and vector-borne diseases and the pathology of infectious diseases. She has published more than 220 articles, 4 books, and 28 book chapters on these topics and produces a weekly parasite case blog (http://parasitewonders.blogspot.com). She also publishes a bi-weekly laboratory leadership podcast called “Answers from the Lab” (https://news.mayocliniclabs.com/homepage/podcasts-2/answers-from-the-lab/).

Hakima Ibaroudene

With 20 years of experience in basic and applied research, Hakima Ibaroudene has a strong track record of leading cutting-edge projects at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). She currently manages the Bioinformatics section within the Artificial Intelligence Department and leads the Medical AI program area in the Intelligent Systems Division. The Medical AI program is focused on leveraging artificial intelligence to address complex challenges in the medical domain.
In addition to her leadership at SwRI, Ms. Ibaroudene is an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC), where she collaborates with domain experts to extend SwRI’s healthcare initiatives, and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where she contributes to research in electrical engineering. Her extensive expertise bridges AI, bioinformatics, and medical research, driving innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration across the field.

James Thackeray

James Thackeray is the Chief Executive Officer of Lumea, where he has spent the past nine years advancing digital pathology and driving innovation in cancer diagnostics. He has led commercial strategy and growth at Lumea and previously worked with leading biotechnology and diagnostic organizations including Johnson & Johnson, GE Healthcare, Genzyme, and Genomic Health. James earned his MBA from the David Eccles School of Business and also serves as President of the Digital Diagnostic Summit, a conference focused on practical implementation of digital technology and AI in pathology.

Lorcan Sherry

Lorcan is an image analysis expert who previously spent 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a group leader (Organon, Schering-Plough, Merck & Co.). He led a group responsible for performing histology, immunohistochemistry / image analysis and he has considerable experience in developing translational biomarker strategies for projects across various therapeutic areas.

As co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at OracleBio, Lorcan has helped establish the company as a market leader within its field, supporting the digital pathology programmes of major Pharma and Biotech companies around the globe. Day to day, Lorcan oversees a team of image analysis scientists and pathologists responsible for the execution of Client image analysis R&D studies, while further driving the adoption of innovative techniques and processes to improve the quality and efficiency of our services.

Manasi Aichmueller-Ratnaparkhe

Dr. Manasi A-Ratnaparkhe is the CEO and Co-Founder of PAICON GmbH, a health-tech startup using data equity and AI to transform cancer diagnostics. With over a decade of experience in cancer research across India, the USA, and Germany, she holds a PhD in Cancer Genetics from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Heidelberg University, as well as an MBA Essentials from the London School of Economics. Manasi founded PAICON in 2021 to pursue a simple but powerful belief: AI should work for all, not just a selected few. By combining genetically and technically diverse global datasets with advanced AI, she is building tools for fairer, faster, and more accurate cancer diagnosis. She also launched the Remaining84 campaign to close the data gap that excludes most of the world’s population from AI training, pushing for representation, equity, and global relevance in healthcare innovation.

Erio Barale-Thomas

Vision: Improving the workflow of toxicologic pathology by increasing standardization in histology, implementing digital pathology, and bringing quantification to pathology evaluation.

Biosketch: Erio graduated from the Veterinary School of Lyon, France, in 1989 and holds a national degree in toxicologic pathology. Since 2003 he works for Janssen Pharmaceutica in Beerse, Belgium. Throughout his career he was interested in special stains and special techniques, and in mentoring young colleagues undergoing their veterinary pathology residency.

He currently leads the digital pathology efforts in the histology and pathology departments, for both the infrastructure/platform and the scientific applications; he also liaises with IT (for optimizing platform design) and other scientific departments/therapeutic areas (for synergy in bringing tools on the platform).

He is also a strong advocate of cooperation among international toxicologic pathology societies and is very involved in the interaction with regulatory bodies. He is a former president of the French Society of Toxicologic Pathology and an active member of the European and North American STP.

Mieke Verslegers

Dr. Verslegers is a Principal Scientist in the Preclinical Sciences and Translational Safety department at Johnson & Johnson Innovative medicine, located in Beerse, Belgium. She obtained a PhD degree in Biological Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2013. After her PhD, she was a project lead as radiobiologist at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre and acted as a mentor and teacher in the context of radioprotection. Since she joined the Investigate Pathobiology group at J&J in 2022, her team has witnessed a steep increase in immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization data set complexity as well as an increased demand for high-plex imaging methods and multiomics technologies, which have warranted the need to develop AI-driven analysis methods for spatially resolved data output.

Peter Gross

Peter Gross studied Physics at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and earned his PhD in Biophysics from VU University Amsterdam. He then pursued postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology, focusing on automated microscopy image analysis through custom scripting. Since 2021, he has been working at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he develops quantitative AI tools to support histopathological analysis in preclinical research.

Catherine Guettier

Catherine Guettier is Emeritus Professor of Pathology at Paris Saclay University She was Head of the department of Pathology of Paris Saclay university hospitals in Greater Paris university hospitals (APHP) and research investigator at INSERM U1193. Her expertise area is adult and pediatric liver pathology including liver transplantation. She is one of the pioneers of digital pathology in France. From 2012 to 2016, she coordinated the Telepathology network of Ile de France. The department she headed was pilot site in 2018 for the implementation of digital pathology in France. She and her team collaborate with academic structures such as CentraleSupelec-Inria and private companies for the development and the implementation of AI algorithms in pathology. She is currently consultant for Aiforia Technologies Oyj.

Jo Martin

Professor Martin qualified Cambridge University and London Hospital Medical College, has a University of London PhD and Masters in Leadership. She has over 130 published papers including Nature group and Science journals and is Deputy Vice Principal (Health) and Professor of Pathology at Queen Mary University London. Her clinical specialist expertise is in the pathology of gastrointestinal motility disorders, and she is an Honorary Consultant Histopathologist at Barts Health NHS Trust.
She is an award winning eCPD app designer and co-founder of Biomoti, a drug delivery development company. She developed and leads an innovative multi-million pound adaptive learning programme for RCPath and the NHS England Technology Enhanced Learning team.
She served as a director on the Board of Barts Health NHS Trust for 5 years. She has very broad experience in healthcare management including responsibility for local and regional research and for the training and education of over 17,500 staff and as Medical Director of the large multi site Trust.
National Clinical Director of Pathology for NHS England April 2013-16, Jo was President of the Royal College of Pathologists from November 2017-2020, and has been National Specialty Advisor for Pathology for NHS England since 2020.

Elizabeth Neyens

Dr. Elizabeth Neyens is an internationally recognized veterinary and toxicologic consultant pathologist with over 20 years of leadership in preclinical safety assessment. Board-certified in toxicology (DABT, ERT), she specializes in digital pathology and the expert interpretation of toxicologic studies for biotech, pharma, and CRO partners worldwide. Dr. Neyens provides GLP and non-GLP histopathology review, digital slide peer review, and regulatory strategy, integrating whole-slide imaging and AI-enabled platforms into routine workflows. She is known for implementing digital pathology solutions that enhance data quality, streamline collaboration across global teams, and support FDA/EMA compliance. Her expertise spans biologics, oncology, autoimmune disease, ocular pathology, and medical device safety. Dr. Neyens excels at translating complex pathology endpoints into actionable insights, enabling CEOs and R&D leaders to de-risk pipelines, accelerate development, and expand preclinical capabilities through innovative digital pathology applications.

Jojanneke Drogt

Jojanneke Drogt is a medical ethicist and postdoctoral researcher at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), the Netherlands. Her research concentrates on the ethics of biomedical technology, particularly medical AI ethics and the philosophy of AI. Her dissertation specifically addressed the ethical integration of AI in image-driven medicine.

Yuri Tolkach

Yuri Tolkach is a senior attending physician in the Institute of Pathology of the University Hospital Cologne, Germany. He is the Head of Urological Pathology and of the Digital Pathology divisions in the Institute and a Lead for Computational Pathology research group (www.tolklab.de). His research focuses on developing artificial intelligence-based tools for pathology and oncology.

Debra Padgett

Debra Padgett is the Immediate Past President of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) and Clinical Pathology Service Manager at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. A Chartered Scientist with over 24 years in NHS laboratories, she has led major transformation programmes to improve service quality, workforce development, and innovation.
As IBMS President (2022–2024) and long-standing Council member, Debra championed excellence in pathology, working with NHS England, RCPath, and ALM on strategic initiatives, including digital pathology adoption and advanced practice role expansion.
In her current role as NENC Pathology Network Operational Lead, she has guided the network to maturity under the NHSE matrix and integrated digital pathology to streamline workflows and enhance diagnostics.
Debra also serves as Lead Healthcare Scientist for Northumbria, a BSI ISO 15189 committee member, and STEM ambassador, continuing to drive sustainable, high-quality pathology services that meet the evolving needs of the NHS and patients.

Christopher Walsh

Christopher Walsh has a background spanning computer science and biomedical research; his work explores how large-scale deep learning can reveal new insights from complex tissue data. Christopher’s recent research focuses on self-supervised approaches that learn directly from unlabelled clinical images, aiming to build interpretable and scalable systems for a range of future applications in diagnostics and biomedical research. He has worked across academic and healthcare settings, with a commitment to advancing technologies that support both scientific discovery and improved patient care.

Shoko Vos

Shoko Vos works as a consultant pathologist at Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Her subspecialties are thoracic, liver, and renal pathology. She has a special interest in bio-ethical issues in pathology practice related to new developments (e.g. molecular pathology, digital pathology, artificial intelligence).

Arthur Lewis

A dynamic leader within Pathology, Clinical Pharmacology Safety Sciences (CPSS) at AstraZeneca, spearheading a global team of Image Analysis & AI scientists dedicated to advancing preclinical and early clinical tissue imaging through cutting-edge digitization and AI analysis techniques. Our mission delivering critical insights into drug therapeutic indices by leveraging and integrating multiple tissue imaging modalities, including H&E, IHC, ISH, mIF, and spatial transcriptomics.
Working in close collaboration with AstraZeneca’s Scientists, Pathologist, Data Scientists & IT engineers to integrate multimodal imaging datasets from digital pathology, multiplex assays, spatial transcriptomics and mass spectrometry imaging. This approach harnesses AI capabilities for enhanced image and data analysis, contributing to a deeper understanding of safety and efficacy endpoints, ultimately driving innovative solutions and breakthroughs in drug discovery.

Alexander Wright

Alex has been working in digital pathology since 2006, developing image analysis algorithms and AI-powered diagnostic tools, using digitized histopathology slides. He completed his PhD in 2018, with his Thesis: “Automated analysis of colorectal cancer“.

After joining NPIC in 2021, he worked on the development and migration of the NPIC National Clinical PACS solution, before changing focus to lead the development of NPIC’s Research and AI systems.

Alex has worked on a wide variety of projects across all of the NPIC themes, including developing the technical infrastructure of both the clinical and research digital pathology solutions, the installation of the AI FORGE and its scanners, various research and development projects, such as the QCC Point of Use Quality Assurance tool, as well as creating the NPIC center, website and branding.

Currently, Alex is responsible for the development of NPIC’s national Secure Data Environment platform and leads the NPIC AI Scientist team, who are working to deploy and evaluate AI in the clinical setting.

In addition to AI research, Alex is responsible for developing the University of Leeds Virtual Pathology website and infrastructure, which hosts thousands of educational resources, attracting millions of visitors per year.

Dr Nicholas Spencer

Dr Spencer is an experienced NHS radiologist and clinical leader. As a long-standing core member of specialist multidisciplinary teams supporting both Head and Neck and Haematology Cancers, he has an innate understanding of patient pathways and the central importance of diagnostic specialities to service quality and improvement.
Now working as Global Chief Clinical Information officer at AGFA HealthCare, Nick is passionate about seamless delivery of diagnostic information to clinical teams to optimise patient care. He is focussed on ensuring pathology and radiology services can work with effective integrated solutions to drive efficiency, improve quality and deliver better patient outcomes.

Mac (Robert) Macaulay

Robert (Mac) Macaulay CMgr MCMI is a recognised leader in digital pathology transformation, serving as Pathology LIMS Manager and Deputy Lead for Digital Diagnostics at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and the Sussex Pathology Network, one of the UK’s largest consolidated diagnostic services. He holds a Management Professional (Executive) in Health and Social Care degree and is a Chartered Manager with the Chartered Management Institute.
With over a decade of experience in Pathology and healthcare IT, Mac plays a central role in driving transformation across seven laboratory sites. He leads the delivery and optimisation of Laboratory Information Management Systems, ensuring safe, efficient, and future-proof workflows that support both clinicians and patients.
Mac has been instrumental in shaping the Network’s forthcoming joint LIMS and order communications implementation, as well as wider NHS digital health initiatives. Committed to collaboration and knowledge sharing, Mac works closely with clinical, scientific, and IT colleagues to drive adoption of digital solutions that enhance patient care.

Celine Degaillier

Céline Degaillier is a versatile scientific collaborator in the Anatomic Pathology department at UZ Brussel. She supports scientific operations, supervises cytology and HPV workflows, and ensures quality assurance across techniques. She screens cervicovaginal cytological samples, validates laboratory systems, and manages departmental IT projects and application implementations. Céline played a key role in integrating digital pathology systems and continues to optimize the Laboratory Information System and develop custom tools to enhance lab efficiency. Previously, at the Belgian Cancer Registry, she coordinated the virtual tumor bank project, analyzed biobank data, and contributed to web application development. Earlier in her career, she supported pathologists with tissue macroscopy and cytology, managed tumor bank logistics, and coordinated clinical studies.

Ayesha Azam

Dr Ayesha Azam is a Consultant Histopathologist at University hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust and reciepient of the NHR Senior Clinical Practitioner Research Award. She completed a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Digital and Computational Pathology at the University of Warwick, focusing on translational research to integrate digital pathology and artificial intelligence into routine diagnostic practice.
Her research portfolio includes leading contributions to national multicentre validation studies that informed UK cancer screening policy, as well as projects on AI applications for biomarker testing, risk stratification and digital training tools. She collaborates with computational scientists at the Tissue Image Analytics Centre, University of Warwick, gaining hands-on experience in algorithm development and training that informs her perspective on the clinical use and limitations of AI.
Alongside research, Dr Azam is committed to medical education, supporting pathology trainees and research students, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to accelarate innovation in digital diagnostics.

Diana Montezuma

– Board-certified pathologist; PhD in Medical Sciences.
– Research focus: Digital and Computational Pathology
– Currently serving as Head of the R&D Unit at IMP Diagnostics (Portugal).
– Chair of the Scientific Committee and Board member of the European Society of Digital and Integrative Pathology (ESDIP).
– Invited Junior Researcher at the Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group (CBEG) at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto.

Francesco Ciompi

Dr. Francesco Ciompi leads research on AI for Precision Medicine, working at the intersection of pathology, oncology, and artificial intelligence. His group focuses on AI to develop, discover and benchmark predictive biomarkers in immuno-oncology and improve computer-aided diagnosis. As a co-chair of the Computational Pathology Group at Radbodumc, he has secured numerous prestigious awards, including an NWO VIDI personal grant and the AMMODO Science Award for Groundbreaking Research. Dr. Ciompi is a principal investigator in major Dutch (KWF) and EU (BIGPICTURE, IMAGIO) projects and actively contributes to the Computational Pathology scientific community by founding the TIGER and UNICORN challenges, the COMPAYL workshop and the MICCAI Special Interest Group on Computational Pathology. He is also part of the editorial board of Medical Image Analysis, of the European Interdisciplinary Society for AI in Cancer Research (ESAC) and International Immuno Oncology working groups.

Luisa Bell

Dr. Luisa Bell is a neuropathology scientist at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) in Basel, with a background in Translational Neurosciences and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her expertise centers on advanced tissue technologies and imaging of human post-mortem brain tissue and in vitro models, with a particular focus on blood-brain barrier (BBB) organoids. She aims to improve the quality of preclinical mechanistic data from human systems to support enhanced preclinical-to-clinical translation. Her work is specifically focused on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis, where she seeks to ensure the translatability and clinical relevance of novel therapeutic strategies.

Amal Asar

I trained in Histopathology and became a Consultant after completing a Master’s degree in Histopathology. I specialise in breast and GIT pathology, and I am quite interested in uncovering easier ways of doing the job. I am particularly passionate about teaching and knowledge transferability in an easy memorable way. I also contributed to few Pathology AI solution research projects, which are still a work in progress.

Christos Matsoukas

I am an Associate Director of AI at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg, focusing on multimodal AI with an emphasis on medical imaging. Before transitioning into machine learning, I trained and worked in space physics, which still shapes my analytical mindset and systems approach. I work on self-supervised learning, foundation model development, and efficient model adaptation, and I build practical AI-assisted pipelines that translate research into impact. I collaborate closely with pathologists, engineers, and scientists, mentor researchers, and bridge industry-academia partnerships. My aim is to drive AI strategy and methods that improve how we design studies, interpret data, and ultimately deliver therapies to patients.

Radha Krishnan

Dr Radha Krishnan is the Head of Clinical Pathology, at Merck Sharpe and Dohme, London, UK. Dr. Krishnan specialises in surgical pathology specifically in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant space, immune-oncology, specifically PD-L1, biomarker assay validations. Within the context of the changing healthcare landscape at the intersection of data sciences and technology, Dr Krishnan is actively involved in efforts to leverage informatics, machine learning and AI methodologies in precision medicine across therapeutic areas of oncology and NASH. For more than a decade before transitioning to industry, Dr Krishnan was the Chief Pathologist at one of the largest Clinical research organisations supporting clinical trials where she was leading anatomic pathology services, biomarker assay development and companion diagnostics.

Barkha Gupta

Dr. Barkha Gupta (MD, Pathology) is a senior pathologist with over a decade of international experience across hospital, pharmaceutical, and academic environments. Her expertise lies in tissue biomarker development and AI-driven digital pathology where she has contributed to advancing precision diagnostics and translational research. Dr. Gupta is playing a key role in global clinical development programs, particularly in the areas of immunology and inflammation, combining scientific depth with strategic execution. With a strong focus on regulatory frameworks, she is ensuring the seamless integration of digital pathology into clinical trials, enabling innovation while maintaining compliance.

Branko Perunovic

Branko is a histopathologist and Chief Medical Officer of Black Country Pathology Service, one of the UK’s largest and most successful NHS pathology networks. With many years of experience leading large, multispecialty laboratory services, he has guided complex transformation programmes across blood sciences, microbiology, and cellular pathology. Since 2012, he has been at the forefront of digital pathology, driving the adoption of digital and computational systems across multiple NHS trusts. Branko combines clinical expertise with a strong understanding of medical management, holding professional qualifications in both fields. His work has an international dimension, shaped by leadership experience overseas. He is particularly focused on building services that are resilient, adaptive, and centred on workforce development, fostering career progression while improving patient care. Branko’s approach to leadership emphasises collaboration across organisational boundaries to deliver sustainable, high-quality pathology services that meet the evolving needs of modern healthcare.

Katherine Glazebrook

Katherine Glazebrook is an experienced NHS programme leader specialising in digital pathology transformation, operational optimisation, and multi site service change. With a career spanning procurement, project management, and senior programme leadership, she has delivered several significant initiatives, including regional service consolidation and achieving digital pathology compliance ahead of target for the Black Country Pathology Service. Her experience bridges clinical, technical, and operational domains, ensuring governance, quality, and stakeholder alignment at every stage. Katherine’s portfolio includes major equipment installations, laboratory redesigns, service decommissioning, and activation of new hospital services, underpinned by rigorous risk management and financial modelling.

Nirav Gandhi

Dr Gandhi has been a consultant cellular pathologist at UHDB for over 10 years. In his role as IT and Clinical Service lead, he was previously the responsible clinician for implementation of a new LIMS system within the Department. He has also been integral in the deployment of a digital pathology system within the department, being intimately involved in specification development, procurement, LIMS integration and clinical roll-out.

Dr Gandhi serves as a technical expert for digital pathology with UKAS and sits on the working group can services for the Royal College of Pathologists and is treasurer for the British Association of Gynaecological Pathologists.

David Clark

David is a consultant Haematopathologist with almost 30 years of experience as a Clinical Leader at the local, regional and national level, including 2 years as national clinical lead for Histopathology at NHS improvement (2011-13). He has led major transformational changes including organizational mergers and service improvement and re-design both within and across organizations. He has been coaching Lean CQI for more than 10 years. He has more than 40 publications including the textbook Bone Marrow Pathology, now in its fifth edition. He is clinical lead for digital pathology implementation at Nottingham University Hospitals (since July 2020).

Michael Valante

Michael Valante, MBA, BSBME, is the global healthcare and life science business lead for Dell Technologies Unstructured Data Solutions and serves as CTO for Digital Pathology. His professional background spans +20 years with global clinical informatics and medical imaging companies including Philips, Eclipsys and Bell Laboratories. He serves on the Digital Pathology Association’s (DPA) Content Committee (co-chair), Education Committee and Foundation board. He is a member of the Enterprise Imaging Committee for the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SiiM) and serves on Educational Advisory Board for Imaging Technology News. He is a subject matter expert in the areas of digital and computational pathology, enterprise imaging and PACS (picture archiving and communication systems). He is deeply focused on the healthcare industry, working with customers and application partners defining strategic linkages between clinical requirements and informatics capabilities, to optimally leverage technology to improve outcomes, clinical efficiency, and patient and staff satisfaction.

Ian Mason

Ian is the NPIC Programme Head for Digital Deployment & Business Services, responsible for delivering a digital pathology solution to NHS Trusts nationally, whilst supporting our partners to embark on digital transformation across pathology. Ian is responsible for managing the relationships with our existing partners and to identify opportunities with new partners to work with NPIC in the future.

Ian has worked in IT delivery in the Healthcare industry for the last 19 years and held various leadership roles covering Programme delivery, Operations and Training Services. Ian has delivered numerous digital transformation projects in clinical environments across Primary Care, Community, Child Health & Acute Care settings. Ian has also helped NHS Digital deliver the Health & Social Care Network which was the largest public sector migration to a new data network, saving the NHS £75m per year.

Ian is now helping to drive forward the clinical implementation of the NPIC digital pathology solution across the country to help NPIC deliver against its objectives in forming a true national network for pathology.

Usman Arif

Usman is the NPIC Programme Head for Digital Deployment, Data, and IT (Information Technology) Services and is responsible in providing strategic leadership and delivery of the NPIC Digital Pathology solution and services, including the technology products and systems, business as usual IT Services, client service functions and IT contract and supplier management.

Spanning a 17+ year career across the Health Care Sector and Local Government sector in Digital and IT, he’s passionate about the implementation of products and services that are built to improve services to patients.

At NPIC Usman directed and led multi-disciplinary teams of technical professionals and expert industry Partners, to design, develop, implement a Single National centrally hosted Digital Pathology Platform, enabling the onboarding of 20 + NHS Trusts nationally, allowing Pathologists to engage, evaluate, and collaborate rapidly and remotely, with transparency and consistency, improving efficiency, productivity and improving direct care to patients.

Usman is now looking to continue to lead and drive the deployment of the NPIC Digital Pathology Solution bringing together innovative technology with sector specific experience to help NPIC deliver against its objectives in forming a true national network for pathology.

Chaith Kondragunta

Chaith Kondragunta is the CEO of AIRAMatrix Pvt. Ltd based in Mumbai, India. AIRAMatrix provides AI based solutions to the Life Sciences industry. The company’s solutions help improve workflow efficiency and help increase accuracy in pharmaceutical drug discovery and development as well as in healthcare diagnostics, prognostics and predictions. Chaith has extensive leadership experience with AI and Data analytics platform companies. He has also served in leadership roles in corporate strategy and management consulting in the US and Europe. He frequently writes and speaks on AI and Data Analytics for several media outlets including The Economist Group, CNBC and Bloomberg TV.

Jan von der Thüsen

Jan is a thoracic pathologist who received his medical training in the UK at the Universities of Cambridge (Trinity College) and London (Imperial College), and his specialist training at Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands. He has worked at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK). He currently works as lead thoracic pathologist, associate professor, deputy head of department, and molecular diagnostics liaison at the department of Pathology and Clinical Bioinformatics of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). His research interests include the pathology of neoplastic and non-neoplastic thoracic diseases, including mediastinal tumours and mesothelioma, with a focus on personalising treatments through integrated and computational pathology.

Adam Levine

Dr. Adam Levine is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow (Jean Shanks Foundation and Pathological Society (JSPS) Intermediate Research Fellow) in the Research Department of Pathology at UCL, and an Honorary Consultant Gastrointestinal Pathologist at UCLH. He graduated from the UCL MBPhD Programme in 2016, with his PhD and postdoctoral research focused on statistical genetics. During his histopathology residency, Dr Levine established a computational pathology research group, reflecting his growing interest in the integration of data science with diagnostic pathology. Since completing residency, he divides his time between diagnostic practice and research at the intersection of artificial intelligence (image and text analysis), genomics, and pathology.

Jon Griffin

Dr. Jon Griffin is a clinical academic pathologist in Sheffield, UK. He completed a PhD in androgen signalling in prostate cancer and an NIHR Clinical Lectureship as part of his pathology training. He was then appointed as Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Histopathologist in September 2025. He is currently pathology and translational science lead for the GUSTO, INVEST and IMPRoVE clinical trials. His research interests include digital and molecular pathology, with a focus on validation and implementation of these novel technologies.

Shamila Jabbar

Shamila is the NPIC lead Biomedical Scientist, working as part of the deployment team. Her main responsibility is supporting laboratories with their digital transformations journeys and incorporates areas such as workflows, training, troubleshooting and evidence for UKAS accreditation.

Shamila has been a Biomedical Scientist for over 15 years in various NHS Trusts, including the Leeds Histology laboratory as an Advanced Biomedical Scientist helping implement new technologies into the laboratory workflow. She was the lead Biomedical Scientist in the Muscle and Nerve laboratory, Non-Gynae Cytology, as well as the Routine laboratory was an end user of digital pathology for over two years prior to joining NPIC.

Donal O'Shea

Donal O’Shea is Chief Executive Officer at Deciphex, where he leads the company’s mission to transform global pathology through AI-enabled digital solutions. With over 20 years of experience at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and diagnostic pathology, Donal has been a pioneer in applying advanced AI technologies to solve critical challenges in pathology services. Prior to founding Deciphex, he held leadership positions at Leica Biosystems and other major life sciences organizations, where he gained deep expertise in digital pathology systems and clinical implementation. A serial entrepreneur who has founded three technology start-ups and successfully led two trade sales, his work focuses on developing AI-powered platforms that enhance diagnostic workflow, improve accuracy, and help pathologists deliver faster results without compromising quality. Under his leadership, Diagnexia has become the fastest-scaling pathology services provider in the UK, with innovations in digital pathology that have enabled pathology networks to scale subspecialty expertise and reduce diagnostic backlogs across international healthcare systems. He holds a degree in Biotechnology and a PhD in Computer Vision from Dublin City University.

Abhi Gholap

Abhi Gholap is a distinguished alumnus of IIT Mumbai and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, bringing over two decades of leadership in the medical devices industry. He founded one of the first Digital Pathology company, which was acquired by Roche Diagnostics in 2010, followed by a second successful venture in Flow Cytometry, acquired by Becton Dickinson in 2016. A prolific innovator, Abhi holds 21 patents and has authored 87 scientific publications. His current venture, OptraSCAN, is a Series B-funded Digital Pathology company delivering an integrated suite of devices, workflow solutions, and AI-powered analytics. With a global footprint spanning over 150 customers, OptraSCAN is redefining the industry through its disruptive “Pay-per-Use” model.

Norman Zerbe

Chris Polley

Chris Polley is the Digital Pathology Business Development Specialist for EMEA at Evident Scientific, where he leads strategic initiatives to accelerate digital adoption across clinical and research environments. With over 20 years of experience in pathology diagnostics, Chris has held senior roles at Leica Biosystems, Philips, and Diagnexia, consistently driving innovation in digital workflow integration and healthcare IT. His deep domain expertise spans histopathology, AI-enabled diagnostics, and laboratory transformation. At Evident, Chris works closely with stakeholders across hospitals, diagnostic labs, and research institutions to deliver tailored digital pathology solutions that improve efficiency, diagnostic confidence, and patient outcomes. At this year’s congress, Chris will share insights into how Evident is helping shape the future of pathology through cutting-edge technology and collaborative partnerships.

Ryan Powers

Ryan Powers is an experienced digital pathology professional with a background in both scanner technology and AI-powered pathology platforms. He focuses on workflow optimization, image analysis, and enabling pharma and biotech organizations to adopt digital and AI solutions across research, discovery, and toxicologic programs.

Sidney Ocanagil-Tunstall

Sidney Ocanagil-Tunstall is the Marketing Director at Pathology News, where he leads strategy, storytelling, and industry engagement across global digital pathology audiences. With a background in the research and development of cancer diagnostics and science communication, Sidney has developed Pathology News into a trusted platform connecting pathologists and diagnostic innovators. As well as marketing, he oversees editorial direction, from webinars and conference coverage to its Buyers’ Guide.
Sidney’s interests align with the publication’s goals of connecting networks and disseminating information, highlighting emerging innovations and the challenges shaping modern diagnostics.

Manu Sebastian

Dr. Manu Sebastian is a professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the world’s leading cancer hospital and research center, with more than two decades of scientific leadership across academia and industry. A board-certified pathologist and toxicologist, he has extensive experience in immunology, oncology, biopharma, medical devices, and digital health. Dr. Sebastian previously led translational medicine programs at a biotech company in Princeton and a CRO in Chicago and served as Chief of Comparative Pathology at Columbia University with a concurrent professorial appointment at Cornell. He is an advisor to multiple companies in digital pathology, robotics, computational pathology, med devices and biopharma. His current research focuses on immuno-oncology, genomic medicine, biomarker development, spatial biology, and AI-driven digital pathology for precision medicine.

Peter Caie

Peter Caie worked for 9 years as a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca before completing his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Cancer Pathology. He went on to run the Quantitative and Digital Pathology (QUAD) Lab at the University of St Andrews where his research focused on artificial intelligence, cancer prognosis, and diagnosis in the field of digital and molecular pathology. Currently, Dr Caie is a Senior Principal Scientist at Indica Labs where he manages the AI Diagnostics group who develop commercial AI products designed for deployment in both the clinical and life science fields.

David de Mena

David de Mena has a background as Telecommunications Engineering and a degree in Philosophy. He has developed his professional career in Health Informatics, both in the public and private sectors, and he has a strong presence in the standardization of Digital Pathology imaging, been part of the DICOM’s WG26 and IHE’s PALM group and participating in several publications. For the past few years, he has been part of Leica Biosystems’ Digital Pathology team, working as Sales Manager for the South of Europe. Currently, he supports the sales team globally as the Global Digital Pathology IT Content Manager.

Alyn Cratchley

Digital pathology (DP) is revolutionising histopathology by enabling faster, more accurate, and collaborative diagnostics that enhance patient care and laboratory efficiency. It is redefining how laboratories operate and collaborate. From experiences derived from the National Pathology Imaging Cooperative (NPIC) this presentation explores the laboratory perspective on implementing DP and AI. Biomedical scientists have been central to this transformation, embedding digital workflows, ensuring diagnostic quality, and driving innovation. We discuss key challenges in system integration, training, and change management, alongside successes in efficiency, collaboration, and AI-assisted tools. Lessons from NPIC highlight how laboratory teams can lead sustainable, AI-enabled digital transformation in pathology.

Mac (Robert) Macaulay

Robert (Mac) Macaulay CMgr MCMI is a recognised leader in digital pathology transformation, serving as Pathology LIMS Manager and Deputy Lead for Digital Diagnostics at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and the Sussex Pathology Network, one of the UK’s largest consolidated diagnostic services. He holds a Management Professional (Executive) in Health and Social Care degree and is a Chartered Manager with the Chartered Management Institute.
With over a decade of experience in Pathology and healthcare IT, Mac plays a central role in driving transformation across seven laboratory sites. He leads the delivery and optimisation of Laboratory Information Management Systems, ensuring safe, efficient, and future-proof workflows that support both clinicians and patients.
Mac has been instrumental in shaping the Network’s forthcoming joint LIMS and order communications implementation, as well as wider NHS digital health initiatives. Committed to collaboration and knowledge sharing, Mac works closely with clinical, scientific, and IT colleagues to drive adoption of digital solutions that enhance patient care.

Christopher Mills

Chris holds a PhD in developmental biology, with a focus on its application in tissue engineering, during which he gained extensive experience in spatial biology.

He joined Concept Life Sciences, a UK-based contract research organisation (CRO), in 2019 and now leads work across all aspects of Spatial Biology, specialising in advanced multiplex assays and the generation of high-value data to support drug discovery programmes and clinical trials. Chris is involved throughout the study lifecycle — from initial client engagement and proposal development to study execution and data reporting. He is passionate about exploring new techniques and actively engages with leaders in the field to evaluate and implement emerging technologies.

Paul Mesange

Clinical trials depend on digital pathology to accelerate timelines, support global review, and enable emerging biomarkers. Delivering on these goals requires an integrated workflow that reliably moves whole-slide images from scanners to reviewers to downstream analysis without introducing delays or compromising data integrity.

This presentation outlines a practical blueprint for modernizing pathology operations through unified image ingestion, cloud transfer, case assembly, and standardized digital review. It also highlights how centralized, file-agnostic storage and scalable compute resources prepare trial data for large-scale analytics, quantitative endpoint development, and future AI applications.

By showing how a streamlined digital pathology workflow reduces operational burden while improving consistency and readiness for advanced analysis, this session offers clear guidance for sponsors, CROs, and central labs seeking to modernize trial execution and unlock the full value of image-based data.

Wim Waelput

Wim Waelput, M.D., Ph.D., is a Faculty Member (Independent Academic Staff) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and a senior pathologist at UZ Brussel (University Hospital Brussels) in the Department of Anatomical Pathology. He specializes in breast pathology, cytopathology, and endocrine pathology, and has extensive expertise in immunohistochemistry and quality assurance. Dr. Waelput earned his medical degree and Ph.D. from Ghent University, where he contributed to research on protein-protein interactions and signal transduction at the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB). He is co-author of Digital Pathology (Springer, 2014), one of the first dedicated books in the field, which explores the transformative role of technology in pathology education and diagnostics. His academic work includes a wide range of publications on immunology, inflammation, and molecular pathology. He combines clinical diagnostics with research and education, advancing pathology through innovation and collaboration.

Orly Ardon

Orly Ardon is the Director of Digital Pathology Operations and an assistant member at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

She has expertise in microbiology, molecular, and digital pathology. Orly completed the degrees of BSc, MSc, and Ph.D. in Microbiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an Executive MBA from the University of Utah. Her postdoctoral training was in cell biology and virology at the University of Utah. Before joining MSKCC, Orly was heading the development of novel computer assisted diagnostic tools and the expansion of digital pathology collaborative initiatives at ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dr. Ardon career focuses on diagnostic test advancements and laboratory innovation. Her work in digital pathology is centered on operational aspects of the digital technologies and the clinical implementation of laboratory automation. Her interests also include process improvements and healthcare economics.

Stephanie Robinson

Dr Stephanie Robinson is a Research Fellow in the μ-VIS X-ray Imaging Department at the University of Southampton. With a background in Biomedical Sciences (BSc, 2015) and Biomedical Engineering (PhD, 2021), her work focuses on advancing 3D X-ray imaging and histology techniques, supporting interdisciplinary research across Medicine, Biological Sciences, and Engineering. Alongside coordinating collaborative projects, she leads studies integrating multiscale and multimodal imaging for clinical and preclinical applications. Her research focuses on approaches to preserve tissue architecture and link structural, mechanical, and molecular data. Stephanie is particularly interested in lung biology and lymphatic vasculature, aiming to use imaging technologies to uncover disease mechanisms and improve translational research.

Lorren Mitchell

Scheme Manager at UK NEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique since January 2024 and ensures the day-to-day management of the scheme from a technical and operational level. Prior to this role, Lorren was a senior Biomedical Scientist with over 15 years of Cellular Pathology experience, with a specialised interest in training and education as well as Digital Pathology implementation, helping drive her trust to being one of the first laboratories in the UK reporting from whole slide images.

David Brettle

Prof. David Brettle is the Chief Scientific Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Quality Theme Lead for NPIC, and an honorary professor at the University of Salford. Prior to this he was the Head of Medical Physics and Engineering at Leeds Teaching Hospitals for 11 years. During this time, he completed a term as President of the institute of Physics in Engineering and Medicine. In 2022 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England.

His current role includes the professional lead for the Healthcare Scientists in Leeds; research into image quality and the development of quality tools in digital pathology at NPIC; and leading on innovation and technology for the two new hospitals being built in Leeds.

His background is in radiology physics and his digital imaging experience spans over 30 years. Early work included developing some of the first digital mammograms and algorithms. From this work themes around image probity, digital display, imaging system evaluation and psychophysics have been developed and are re-applied in digital pathology through his role in NPIC.

Marco Janssen

Marco Janssen is Portfolio Management Lead at Philips, specialising in oncology and clinical informatics. With a background in Biomedical Engineering, he focuses on developing innovative tools and strategies that enhance patient care pathways and enable precision diagnostics.

Juan Retamero

Dr. Juan Antonio Retamero is a highly respected pathologist and prominent figure in Digital and Computational Pathology. He was instrumental in pioneering the digitization of the pathology operations in one of the first group of hospitals to achieve full digital transformation for primary diagnosis back in 2016. In 2021, Dr. Retamero joined Paige, the industry leader in AI-driven pathology solutions, as Medical Vice President, driving innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and pathology. With a global presence as a speaker, Dr. Retamero has participated at major conferences worldwide, sharing insights on digital pathology, AI applications, and the future of pathology. His expertise has helped numerous labs transition to digital pathology and AI adoption in clinical practice, optimizing efficiency and diagnostic accuracy. Dr. Retamero continues to shape the future of pathology through thought leadership, advocacy, and collaboration, advancing the role of AI in transforming pathology diagnosis.

Friedrich Preusser

Friedrich Preusser is a computational biologist with a PhD from Humboldt University Berlin. His work focuses on developing scalable workflows to extract meaningful insights from complex imaging and omics data, particularly in spatial and single-cell biology. He currently serves as a Principal Image Data Scientist at Vizgen where he leads the development of spatial data pipelines.

Sunil Kumar Mallick

Dr. Sunil Kumar Mallick is a pathologist and researcher serving as a Senior Resident in the Department of Pathology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. He earned both his medical degree and MD in Pathology from AIIMS, the country’s topmost medical institution.
His research interests focus on cardiac pathology, particularly cardiac transplantation, rejection biology, and sudden cardiac death. His research has been recognised at scientific forums of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR). His research has been published in national and international peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Mallick also contributes to emerging diagnostic innovation, including artificial intelligence in pathology, with emphasis on automated malignancy detection and precision diagnostics. He collaborates with multidisciplinary teams integrating computational science with histopathology. He aims to enhance precision medicine, diagnostic accuracy, and consistency in histopathological interpretation through AI-based techniques.