2024 CAP Distinguished Patient Care Award

Established in 2006, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Distinguished Patient Care Award recognizes and honors a member who has made an outstanding contribution to patient care. It recognizes behavior that, when emulated, enhances the practice of pathology. In addition, this award reflects the mission, vision, and values of the CAP. The CAP presents the award when merited, not necessarily on an annual basis.

The College of American Pathologists honors Aaron Auerbach, MD, MPH, FCAP, and Vinita Parkash, MBBS, MPH, FCAP, with the CAP Distinguished Patient Care Award for their outstanding contributions to the CAP’s products of conception (POC) guidance page.

These contributions came in response to CAP member outreach regarding the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision and its potential impact on the practice of pathology. Together, Dr. Auerbach’s and Dr. Parkash’s contributions to the CAP’s POC recommendations provided structure and consistency to guide pathologists in the processing and reporting of pregnancy tissues and POC specimens. This much-needed guidance helped members appropriately care for and support their patients. The POC guidance page has been uniquely viewed more than 350 times since posting on the CAP's website.

Dr. Auerbach served as chair and advisor on the Surgical Pathology Committee, and Dr. Parkash is currently the vice chair on the Surgical Pathology Committee. Both are committed to advancing the specialty and role of pathologists through their dedicated leadership on the Surgical Pathology Committee.

Dr. Auerbach is the director of research, repository, and education and a senior hematopathologist at The Joint Pathology Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Dr. Parkash is an associate clinical professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine and a senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut.

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