Inside the Lab

In this episode of Inside the Lab, Patricia Delgado and Liz Etkin-Kramer explore the evolving landscape of cervical cancer screening amid recent guideline updates emphasizing primary HPV testing, self-collection, and revised screening exit criteria. The conversation examines the challenges posed by HPV-negative cervical cancers and highlights the importance of close collaboration between pathology and OB-GYN teams when screening results, clinical findings, and patient presentation do not align neatly. Through a detailed case discussion, the guests describe how ongoing communication and iterative review between specialties ultimately leads to improved diagnostic accuracy in difficult cases, underscoring the value of interdisciplinary partnership in complex gynecologic cases.
Key Takeaways
Recent cervical cancer screening updates are not yet fully harmonized across major professional organizations, creating a transitional landscape that clinicians and laboratories must navigate carefully.
HPV-negative cervical lesions and cancers can present significant diagnostic challenges, particularly when standard screening results do not match clinical suspicion.
Strong, iterative collaboration between OB-GYNs and pathologists can be critical for resolving complex cases and achieving accurate diagnoses, as illustrated by the discussion of lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia.

Recorded live at the 2025 ASCP Annual Meeting in Atlanta, this special episode of Inside the Lab brings together a diverse panel—a practicing pathologist, two medical students, and a resident—to explore one of the profession’s most urgent challenges: the pathology workforce shortage. Against the backdrop of ASCP workforce data showing a growing gap between supply and demand, the guests share firsthand perspectives on why students discover pathology late, how misconceptions persist, and what it takes to cultivate interest in a specialty that underpins 70% of medical decision-making. Their discussion spans everything from pipeline barriers and visibility gaps to influential moments of mentorship that sparked their own career trajectories.
The panel also delves into the future—how medical schools might better integrate pathology into mandatory curricula, how social media and community engagement can reshape public perception, and how pathologists can meaningfully mentor the next generation earlier in their training. From high-impact outreach efforts to the energizing role of professional communities, the group highlights actionable strategies for securing the future health of the field. The result is an inspiring, candid conversation about why pathology is a calling, what keeps trainees engaged, and how everyone in the profession can contribute to strengthening the workforce.

In this episode of Inside the Lab, host David Ritter kicks off a new series on corporate responsibility with a timely conversation about Green Labs. Joined by Dr. Ilyssa Gordon and Dr. Moira Larsen, the discussion revisits how far laboratory sustainability has come since Dr. Gordon’s 2021 appearance on the show and examines what has changed over the last four years. 
The episode explores what “green labs” really mean in the context of clinical and pathology laboratories, from life-cycle assessments that quantify the carbon footprint of common workflows to system-level strategies that integrate sustainability into corporate responsibility frameworks. Dr. Gordon shares insights from her research on the environmental impact of GI biopsy processing and discusses how data-driven approaches can influence decision-making at the bench. Dr. Larsen outlines how green initiatives must be built into lab’s missions and financials in order to truly take hold, as well as the importance of partnering with aligned partners when sourcing materials. 
Throughout the conversation, the guests emphasize practical, achievable actions—both at the institutional and individual levels—while addressing the realities facing today’s lab professionals. The episode concludes on an optimistic note, highlighting what’s currently inspiring leaders in laboratory sustainability and reinforcing the idea that meaningful progress is possible, even in resource-constrained environments.

The current landscape of testing for NSCLC is complex, with many new biomarkers emerging rapidly, more points during which testing is possible, and precision drug treatments available on the basis of findings from biomarker testing. While promising for patients, the result of this rapidly changing landscape is confusion from interdisciplinary care teams as to what testing is necessary and when, who in multidisciplinary care teams should be ordering new tests and when, and what workflows are necessary for labs. Host David Ritter, MA is joined by Dr. Ying-Chun Lo and Dr. Mamatha Chivuluka to discuss what things pathologists and lab professionals need to know about emerging biomarkers for NSCLC. 
In this conversation, the panel reflects on how NSCLC biomarker testing has evolved over the past decade, highlighting the shift from limited, sequential testing to guideline-recommended broad molecular profiling. Drs. Lo and Chivuluka explore the clinical relevance of emerging biomarkers such as HER2, TROP2, and HER3, and discuss how new targeted therapies are influencing testing strategies in real-world practice. They also examine practical considerations for laboratories, including platform selection across IHC, PCR, and NGS, approaches to tissue stewardship in small lung biopsies, and the growing leadership role of pathologists in multidisciplinary teams to ensure timely, guideline-concordant, and equitable access to biomarker testing for patients with NSCLC.

Host David Ritter, MA is joined by Lotte Mulder, PhD and Kamran Mirza, MD, PhD, FASCP to discuss their new book, Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer. The adventure follows Mia, a superhero and scientist, who uses laboratory science to explain why a friend has fallen ill with leukemia. The book targets children ages 5 to 9 years and balances striking entertaining and engaging tone with explaining scientific concepts accurately to a younger audience. Their conversation of the book expands into strategies for fostering engagement in laboratory science across age groups, how children’s literature can highlight the role of the lab to parents as well as younger readers, and how the format of a children's book fits into the undeclared student to laboratory professional pipeline ASCP is working to create. 

Additionally, there is currently a fundraiser underway to donate 1,000 copies of the book to pediatricians' offices, libraries, and schools under the hashtag #MissionMarvelous. If you would like to contribute to the fundraiser, you can do so here: miathemarvelous.com.  The fundraiser runs through February 16, 2026.