NextPo has become a staple at the ASCP Annual Meeting over the past decade. Created to address one of the root causes of the workforce shortage awareness, ASCP invites high school students from the host city to participate. NextPo is an interactive, educational, and career discovery event that pulls back the curtain on laboratory careers while students are starting to make choices about their future education and career paths.

While awareness is the first step, growing engagement and active exploration of laboratory careers is just as critical. To increase this engagement, NextPo created the NextPROs program. NextPROs are current medical laboratory students—near-peers closer in age—who can speak to the training and education needed for laboratory careers. These students infuse the event with relatability and build easier connections with the high schoolers.

“It was so cool to talk to high school students who weren’t familiar with the different jobs in a laboratory setting and to see those roles through their eyes,” shared ASCP NextPRO Alexis McCallar, a student in the Pathologists’ Assistant program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. “I’m from a small town. Kids there don’t realize how many jobs there are in the medical field besides being a doctor. I knew I wanted to go into medicine, but I didn’t want to focus on patient care. If I had gone to NextPo as a high school student, I would have decided on my career path much earlier.”

Phuong Huynh, an ASCP NextPRO and MLS student at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, GA, agreed. “Being a NextPRO was so much fun! I am always advocating for students to get into STEM and learning about the wide variety of careers they can work in. NextPo was such a cool way for high school students to discover jobs you wouldn’t think exist in the medical field.”

Reflecting on her academic journey, Ms. Huynh noted, “I started college in pre-med, but I realized being a doctor was not for me. I worked part-time in a hospital microbiology lab during college, where the lab techs explained what medical laboratory scientists were and the path to become one.”

St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center’s laboratory in Round Rock, Texas has been designated a Leading Laboratory by ASCP. 

Leading Laboratory status is the gold standard for laboratory excellence and signifies the laboratory has made meaningful achievements in improving patient outcomes. The designation also reinforces the critical role laboratories play in supporting accurate diagnoses and timely clinical decision-making by an integrated health care team.

In its application, St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center’s laboratory demonstrated a strong culture of quality and safety, engaged and empowered staff, and close collaboration within its clinical teams. St. David’s Round Rock laboratory consistently focuses on operational excellence, regulatory readiness, and continuous improvement; ensuring reliable and high-quality laboratory services that directly support patient care throughout the medical center. 

“This achievement represents an enormous, year long effort on the part of the entire laboratory team. Their exceptional professionalism and expertise, along with their devotion to being the best, made this possible. They are the best group of laboratory professionals I have ever had the privilege to work with and are well deserving of this honor,” shares Craig Peterson, MD, Laboratory Medical Director at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center.

The Leading Laboratories program launched in 2021, serving as a model and roadmap to help laboratories on their journey to achieve this designation. The program, created and refined with laboratory leaders, outlines the criteria each laboratory must quantify and demonstrate in their application. The program is coordinated by ASCP to support their mission of patient safety and quality, while providing another opportunity to build awareness of laboratories’ essential role in the continuum of care across all health care settings.

To learn more about the program, visit leadinglaboratories.org.

Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer is a new children’s book about pathology and leukemia. Co-authored by Kamran Mirza, MD, PhD, FASCP, of the University of Michigan and Lotte Mulder, PhD, ASCP’s Senior Education Program Manager, the book is both a passion project and a fundraiser. Published in November 2025, it serves as a meaningful way to positively impact a large number of children and the communities that support them. 

“Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer was born from a simple idea: children deserve to understand what is happening to them when they are sick,” says Dr. Mirza. “As a pathologist, I spend my days behind the scenes making diagnoses that shape care, yet most patients never meet us or understand our role. Mia was our way of opening that door for children and families, using wonder, storytelling, and science to make the invisible visible.” 

“Childhood cancer is especially complicated for parents and caregivers," noted Dr. Mulder. "How do you explain cancer to a five-year-old? We wanted to create a resource for kids, so they really understood what was going on, while also unburdening parents during a difficult time. The illustrations are both scientifically accurate and age-appropriate, helping children visualize exactly what is happening.” 

In addition to vibrant illustrations, the book includes guiding questions developed to help young children build understanding, empathy, and kindness. Because cancer diagnoses ripple out to affect families, friends, and entire communities, the book fills a need across the community. The questions can be used to facilitate group discussions in libraries, schools, and hospitals, helping families talk about how to include friends who cannot attend school or why a patient may experience hair loss. 

A few weeks after the book launch, the authors decided to launch a complementary fundraising campaign—#MissionMarvelous—to help get at least 1,000 copies of Mia the Marvelous into the hands of patients, clinics, hospitals, and libraries. Individuals and organizations can donate funds to purchase books for children with leukemia via the Mission Marvelous: Books for Kids with Leukemia GoFundMe page.

As of late January 2026, the campaign has reached 60 percent of its goal. The #MissionMarvelous fundraiser will conclude on February 15, 2026, in honor of International Childhood Cancer Day.

To learn more about the book and fundraiser, please visit Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer, Mission Marvelous: Books for Kids with Leukemia (GoFundMe), and Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer: The Case of Leo's Missing Energy (Amazon). 

ASCP launched the Medical Student Engagement Session at the 2025 ASCP Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. The session was designed to increase medical students’ exposure to pathologists, the role pathologists play on the healthcare team, and pathology career options for medical students.

The session, “Pathologists and Patients: A Career Exploration for Medical Students,” incorporated interactive, case-based activities that highlighted the essential role of pathologists in diagnostic decision-making, offering medical students a deeper understanding of pathology's contributions to patient care. 

Pathologists guided the audience of medical students through real-world clinical scenarios using compelling, human-centered stories from ASCP Patient Champions. These stories immersed students in the diagnostic journey and highlighted the interdisciplinary collaboration that is the foundation of pathology.

“The session displayed how the entire healthcare team works together on behalf of the patient. We stressed the importance that the medical team ensures patients understand test results and treatments, and to encourage patients to ask questions and bring an advocate with them to help process information and next steps,” shares ASCP Patient Champion, Patricia Ellinger, MSEd, MASCP, MLS^CMSBB^CM, who was paired with a pathologist, Vihar Patel, MD, FASCP, for one of the case studies.  

Unlike other specialties, because many institutions do not require a pathology clinical rotation, typical medical students often have little to no exposure to pathology careers. This lack of exposure contributes to workforce development challenges.

After the success of the inaugural medical student engagement session, ASCP’s Workforce Initiatives team plans to make this an annual must-attend for medical students and possibly high school students, thus ensuring students have opportunities to participate in this unique career exploration experience every year.

Learn more about ASCP Workforce Initiatives.

The 2025 Cell Bowl has a new champion! 

The winning team of MLS students are from Wichita State University, under the leadership of Katie Baskins, MLS(ASCP)^CM, clinical educator in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. The team has a reputation that precedes them as the Second Chance Showdown victors in 2023. But a missed deadline put them on the bench and out of 2024’s competition. 

“It is such a good competition! It is so accessible, the students have great information right at their fingertips [on the CellaVision app],” shares Ms. Baskins. When asked about the future, she was committed: “Generally we have many students in our cohort. My strategy is to be sure we go several players ‘deep’ into the bench. This will be important to defend our title this fall.” 

The competition is a gamified learning process created by YouTuber Medical Lab Lady Gill (aka ASCP member Tiffany Gill, MA, MLS(ASCP)^CM, coordinator of the Medical Laboratory Technology program at the College of Southern Maryland) to help medical laboratory students prepare for the ASCP Board of Certification exams and strengthen their knowledge. (ASCP is the top-tier sponsor and supporter of the Cell Bowl.) 

The Cell Bowl tests the scientific knowledge of MLS and MLT students, competing as university teams, to enhance their knowledge of blood cell morphology. The competition is played on a free smartphone app from CellaVision, which increases participation and decreases barriers to entry for competitors across the U.S. 

The competition is staged in rounds, crowning two victors, the varsity league’s Super Cell Bowl and the junior varsity’s Second Chance Showdown. The Super Cell Bowl winning institution receives a trophy, the ASCP BOC Study Guide and Interactive Practice Exam Bundle, individual participant certificates, as well as recognition on the social media channels of Medical Lab Lady Gill and ASCP.

Inspired by The Great British Baking Show’s low-drama competition style, Ms. Gill created the Cell Bowl for her students at the College of Southern Maryland. She wanted a different, new way to encourage her medical laboratory technician students to engage with the material, create healthy competition, and build community within the program.

Motivated by her own students’ engagement, she shared this fun, accessible competition with educators across ASCP’s membership, which evolved into the Cell Bowl as it is known today. Ms. Gill loves engaging medical laboratory students in learning and also educates through her YouTube channel, Medical Lab Lady Gill. 

Check here for details about the 2026 Cell Bowl.  

Morrill County Community Hospital in Bridgeport, Nebraska has been designated a Leading Laboratory, making it the first Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in the United States, and the first hospital laboratory in the State to receive this designation.  

The Leading Laboratory designation signifies a laboratory has achieved the gold standard for laboratory excellence and made meaningful achievements in improving patient outcomes.

In its application, Morrill County Community Hospital demonstrated high-value community care through long-term intentional systems building, implementation, and refinement. Their talent management cycle prioritizes and invests in their team members, retaining them through mentorship, training, and a culture of accountability and teamwork. 

“The Leading Laboratory designation reflects the dedication, teamwork, and most importantly the shared respect and commitment of our patient-centered community laboratory and our hospital team. Working together, we provide safe, high-quality care to the rural communities and patients we serve,” shares Rex F. Famitangco, MSc, MASCP, MLS(ASCP)^CM QLCCM, LPH-C, IFBA PC, RBP(ABSA), Director of Laboratory Services for Morrill County Community Hospital. 

Mr. Famitangco continued, sharing that, “Being a ‘Leading Lab’ isn’t defined by your geographical location, size, budget, or the number of team members. It means consistently showing up for your patients, even if your resources as a CAH are very limited or your budget is tight.” He also shared how his experience on ASCP’s Global Health Steering Committee informs his work at a critical access hospital, noting that if his medical center has certain resource limitations, he considers what a resource-limited country does to address those limitations.

The Leading Laboratories program launched in 2021, serving as a model and roadmap to help laboratories on their journey to achieve this designation. The program, created and refined with laboratory leaders, outlines the criteria each laboratory must quantify and demonstrate in their application. The program is coordinated by ASCP to support their mission of patient safety and quality, while providing another opportunity to build awareness of laboratories’ essential role in the continuum of care across all health care settings.

To learn more about the program, please visit leadinglaboratories.org. 

ASCP is asking pathologists and laboratory professionals to contact their federal legislators and urge them to oppose the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA). This federal legislation would wipe out existing Supreme Court precedent on patent eligibility, including the landmark case of the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) v. Myriad Genetics, in which ASCP was a co-plaintiff. This case involved a rare unanimous decision of the Supreme Court, affirming that "a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated."

This harmful legislation would allow patents on all biomarkers, including DNA, and their association with health status. The massive changes the legislation would impose risks undermining patient care, monopolizing life-saving medical innovations, and stifling competition.

ASCP has joined with more than 90 other medical associations, patient advocacy groups and others in opposing this legislation.

ASCP is partnering with the AMP on this issue, and we ask that you use this action alert to urge your elected officials to oppose PERA. Please share this alert with your colleagues. 

• ASCP Patient Champions and pathologists share patient perspectives and discuss real-life clinical scenarios in a special session at the 2025 ASCP Annual Meeting. 

 

At this year’s ASCP Annual Meeting, a new session dedicated to illuminating the essential role of pathologists—“Pathologists and Patients: A Career Exploration for Medical Students”—made its debut, spearheaded by Dr. Vihar Patel. Over the course of two days, ASCP Patient Champions Patricia Ellinger, Daryl Baker, Courtney Campbell, and Elise Occhipinti shared their stories, providing in-depth real-world patient perspectives through the diagnostic process to an audience of medical students, pathology residents and pathologists. This was complemented by pathologist-led case studies by Dr. Vihar Patel, Dr. Danielle Fortuna, and Dr. Jeanne Hendrickson, highlighting the diagnostic journey and interdisciplinary collaboration.  

Advocacy and outreach are a core part of ASCP’s mission to support patients, pathologists, and laboratory professionals. This session is part of ASCP’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the pathologist and laboratory professional workforce. Increasing exposure and recognition of active patient participation in their diagnosis and treatment process is vital to both empowering patients and deepening understanding of pathology’s contributions to patient care. Learn more about ASCP’s Patient Champions program.

• ASCP recently published a report outlining significant progress by MPHLWC members toward meeting a set of workforce development recommendations

 

ASCP, supported by a Cooperative Agreement funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently published the report Forging a Path Forward: Identifying Workforce Gaps and Coalition Strategies in Medical and Public Health Laboratories to determine how the Medical and Public Health Laboratory Workforce Coalition (MPHLWC) members have implemented activities in service of the nine recommendations set forth in ASCP’s 2021 edition of the “Blueprint for Action.” The findings demonstrate strong collective momentum in supporting education programs and clinical training, promoting professional development and job satisfaction, and increasing visibility of laboratory careers across high school, colleges, and professional settings. At the same time, critical gaps persist in early pipeline development, recruitment refinement, and expansion of structured on-the-job training. Coalition members also identified new workforce support gaps and defined a shared set of feasible, measurable activities focused on educator engagement, experiential student outreach, social media visibility, clinical education support, legislative advocacy, and structured career advancement pathways.

Recent joint outreach initiatives, including the Coalition’s collaborative presence at the 2025 American School Counselors Association Conference, demonstrate the tangible impact of unified national engagement in elevating the profession. Priority focus areas moving forward include strengthening federal advocacy, expanding financial support for laboratory education, advancing standardized occupational nomenclature, and making sustained, intentional investments in retention and workforce diversity. Together, these strategies reinforce the Coalition’s commitment to data-driven action, long-term workforce sustainability, and the advancement of patient-centered laboratory medicine. Read the full report here.  

For more information on our workforce resources, please visit the ASCP workforce webpage.

• ASCP opposed the agency’s salary-weighted visa selection process
• The proposal would worsen personnel shortages and could adversely impact patient care

On November 24, ASCP urged U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) not to adopt its proposal to create a salary-weighted H-1B visa selection process. Currently, USCIS uses a lottery system to award the 85,000 H-1B visas available each year.

Under the USCIS proposal, individuals with higher salary offers within their profession would be more likely to secure a visa. As individuals who are just beginning their careers typically earn less than individuals with more experience, pathologists and laboratory professionals who have recently completed their training programs would have a much harder time securing an H-1B visa to work temporarily in the United States.

ASCP opposed the proposal, arguing that it “would exacerbate the shortages of pathologist and laboratory professionals.” ASCP also noted that the USCIS proposal fails to reflect Congress’s intent that the H-1B program help address labor shortages in specialized, high-skilled fields, such as healthcare.

The H-1B visas is a temporary, non-resident visa (meaning it does not confer citizenship) for skilled professionals (generally individuals with at least a bachelor’s degree).

 

• The Pathology Section Council honors Dr. Donoghue’s tenure as Vice-Chair

ASCP’s AMA Delegates recently participated in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) 2025 Interim Meeting as part of the Pathology Section Council (PSC). The PSC is comprised of delegates from ASCP, the American Society of Cytopathology, the College of American Pathologists, the National Association of Medical Examiners, and the American Society of Dermatopathology. Dr. Donoghue was honored for his long tenure as Vice-Chair of the PSC, and 25 years of service as an ASCP AMA delegate. Dr. Donoghue has been a valued member of ASCP for many years and has a storied career in forensic pathology. He was appointed deputy chief medical examiner of Cook County (Chicago), Illinois, in 1977 and in July 1993, he became chief medical examiner of Cook County and served until his retirement in 2006.

Dr. Donoghue joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation from 2007 to 2022 as a Regional Medical Examiner and has served as president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the National Association of Medical Examiners, and the Chicago Medical Society. He also served as a Clinical Professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The ASCP AMA Delegation represents Pathology and Laboratory Medicine on the floor of the House, and is composed of the following ASCP members: Ed Donoghue, MD, MASCP; Jennifer Stall, MD, FASCP; ASCP Past Presidents Steve Kroft, MD, MASCP and William Finn, MD, MASCP; as well as Clifford H. Sullivan, MD, FASCP; Nirali M. Patel, MD, FASCP; and Peter DeRosa, MD, FASCP. Additionally, Ebruphiyo Okpako, MD, FASCP and Katerina Kearns, MD, FASCP, represent ASCP on the Resident and Fellow Section.

At the AMA HOD meetings, our delegation discusses pertinent issues, such as Medicare reimbursement policy, prior authorization policies, and workforce issues with partner organizations, and exemplifies leadership in representing the field to colleagues at the AMA. We encourage our pathologist members to join the AMA to share your voices in the overall House of Medicine.

• ASCP is calling on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to abandon a new policy that would penalize hospitals for using out-of-network physicians

ASCP has joined the American Medical Association (AMA) and more than 90 other medical societies in calling on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) to reverse a new out-of-network policy. The policy would reduce payment to participating hospitals when they use out-of-network physicians to provide patient care. The policy imposes unfair pressure on physicians to accept Anthem contracts.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, Anthem BCBS (Elevance Health) will penalize hospitals with a 10 percent reimbursement cut when out-of-network physicians are used. Anthem may also terminate hospitals from its networks for continued violation of its new policy.

In the letter, ASCP expressed concern that Anthem’s policy bypasses the federal No Suprises Act, which protects patients from surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers at in-network facilities. This law sets up an appeals process specifically intended to resolve payment differences between payers and providers. ASCP is concerned that Anthem’s policy could undermine patient access to care as well as the stability of pathology practices and clinical laboratories, especially in rural and underserved areas.