Renowned Speakers to Broaden Your Perspectives, Challenge Your Assumptions

ASCP 2024 will host several renowned thought leaders at the named lecture series who will share their knowledge to help advance pathology and laboratory medicine and inspire you to make a difference in serving your profession. Here is a list of the guest speakers for the 2024 named lectures:

Cindy S. Johns Lecture

Speaker Patricia Ellinger will present “Cindy’s Work is Never Done” on Friday, Sept. 6 from 9:15-10:15 a.m. This lecture pays tribute to the memory of longtime ASCP member Cindy Johns who passed away in December 2017 after a lengthy battle with cancer. A champion for laboratory medicine, Ms. Johns worked tirelessly as an ASCP volunteer for more than 30 years.  

Ms. Ellinger, a tireless leader for more than 50 years, has forged new pathways in the education and certification of medical laboratory professionals, elevating the stature of the profession. A nationally recognized medical laboratory leader, she exemplifies a commitment to service—as an educator, supervisor of a major blood bank laboratory; and as a 35-year ASCP volunteer.

Even after she retired more than a decade ago, she returned to full-time work developing an innovative new program—the Medical Laboratory Technician-to-Medical Laboratory Scientist degree at St. Cloud State University, in St. Cloud, Minnesota—to address the workforce shortage. Now retired, Ms. Ellinger advises colleague to “get outside our comfort zone and share our talents in our communities.” 

Michele D. Raible Lecture for Residents

Speaker Kurt Schaberg, MD, associate clinical professor at UC Davis Health, will present “Learning Anatomic Pathology and Preparing for the Boards” on Thursday, September 5, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. The Michele D. Raible Lecture honors Dr. Raible’s commitment to delivering superior medical education and creating a lasting impact on the lives of medical students during her career.

In his presentation, Dr. Schaberg will discuss methods for learning anatomic pathology, with an emphasis on list learning, effortful study, and the importance of clinical knowledge. The faculty will discuss studying strategies for residency, the boards, and for practice.

Dr. Schaberg, who is also director of the Pathology Residency Program at UC Davis Health, is an anatomic pathologist with specialized training in surgical pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. He also practices general cytopathology and performs ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirations, and has a special clinical interest in inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Dr. Schaberg's research focuses on gastrointestinal surgical pathology and cytopathology, particularly of the liver and pancreas.

Castleberry: it is about a voyage with her work, focus on indigenous population, culturally signif, underserved population. Learn how her voyage thru has allowed her to bring health to underserved population. Very unique and how it has informed her perspective on the lab profession in a way to support underserved populations.

Barbara M. Castleberry Lecture for Laboratory Professionals

Speaker Susan Johnson, MSTM, MLS(ASCP)SBB^CM will present Oh! The Places You May Go! on Wednesday, September 4, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. This lecture is named in honor of Dr. Barbara Castleberry, who served for 18 years as vice president of the Board of Registry (now known as the ASCP Board of Certification). Through her innovative leadership, Dr. Castleberry strategically positioned the BOC for the competitiveness of the 21st century.

Ms. Johnson is the director of Clinical Education at Versiti as well as the director of the Transfusion Medicine Program at Marquette University and associate director of the Indian Immunohematology Initiative. Prior to this, Sue worked in an immunohematology reference laboratory for 25 years, developing a special interest in autoimmune hemolytic anemia, particularly drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia. In her presentation, she will share her journey because of her involvement with professional societies and talk about how attendees may become involved in their own professional societies. .

Ms. Johnson has a lengthy history of volunteer services, including active involvement with the ASCP Board of Certification. From 2014 to 2023, she has served on the ASCP Board of Certification Board of Governors, including as Chair from 2019 to 2021. More recently, she has taken the lead on the BOC’s Nomenclature Task Force. She continues in her role as Task Force Chair and leads the campaign to encourage everyone to use MLS(ASCP) credential instead of MT(ASCP), as well as working to heighten awareness that we should be using the terms cytology and cytologist instead of cytotechnologist and cytotechnology.

Arthur Purdy Stout Lecture for Pathologists 

Speaker John Hart, MD, will present “Steatohepatitis Diagnosis for the Surgical Pathologist: New Developments in 2024” on Wednesday, Sept. 5, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Dr. Hart is a professor of pathology and professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, Department of Pathology. He is a gastrointestinal and hepatic pathologist with expertise in the full range of neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. His clinical interests include Barrett’s esophagus, IBD-related cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer.

Please mark your calendar for these informative lectures! For more information, visit https://www.ascp.org/annualmeeting/2024