CAP Review and Forecast: Scientific Affairs 2024/2025

Robert Johnson:

Leading the development of new proficiency testing programs for laboratories, the publication of new research and tracking threats to public health. These are at the top of the scientific agenda at the College of American Pathologists. This is your CAP review and forecast focused on scientific affairs in 2024 and 2025. I'm Robert Johnson. Thank you for joining us for this conversation about CAP scientific accomplishments and priorities with Dr. Bobbi Pritt, chair of the CAP's Council on Scientific Affairs and a member of the CAP's Board of Governors.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

I'm very pleased to say that we celebrated 75 years of providing proficiency testing products for laboratories in 2024, and in fact, the CAP created the first proficiency testing program before the federal regulations even began requiring it, and that's because our board certified physician leaders at CAP realized the need and met it 75 years ago, and we're still growing strong with over 700 proficiency testing programs. We launched 18 new ones in 2024, so that's one of our accomplishments. The other of many accomplishments I'd like to highlight is how the Council on Scientific Affairs and our 29 constituent committees continue to advance the science. We do that in a number of different ways, and one of them is by analyzing and publishing. We publish the results from our proficiency testing data. We also published best practice guidelines, so we had 15 manuscripts accepted in 2024, and we published two new evidence-based practice guidelines.

Robert Johnson:

Those are some great statistics I assume that we're trying to better those year.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Oh, yes, of course. We are aiming to beat those from last year. Now,

Robert Johnson:

Is there anything else on the list that you think is going to be top of mind for members of the council?

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Yeah, so we will continue to advance the science, so we plan to launch at least 14 new proficiency testing programs and also we'll continue to release manuscripts. We're also going to continue to monitor what is going on with potential threats like Mpox and H5 avian influenza. Our Council on Scientific Affairs does a lot of work monitoring the current situation and how it might impact our laboratories, and then publishing evidence-based guidelines and information for laboratories about how to test for these potential threats.

Robert Johnson:

We went through all of that with covid and now people really pay attention to it, rightly so. It's just another piece of the work that pathologists are involved in every day, and certainly the council is keeping an eye on that and helping to manage it. Yes.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Yeah, absolutely. Important issues to be sure.

Robert Johnson:

Well, let's talk about how important these issues are to members. Can you give us an idea of how they feel about these things that the council's doing?

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Yeah. Well, let me first start by talking about proficiency testing. It's really a cornerstone of clinical laboratory quality management and CAP's proficiency testing programs are widely regarded as the best in the field. That's due to the scientific rigor of the selection and analysis of the products that make up the PT programs, the breadth of offerings and the tailored support that we provide for clinical laboratories worldwide. And I would say that one of our major differentiators comparing ourselves to other PT providers is that our offerings are designed and overseen by pathologists and laboratory medicine experts, and in fact, we have over 525 pathologists and PhD volunteers serving on the CSA and our 29 committees. So I think that's very important to members because PT is such a significant part of our quality management programs for clinical laboratory medicine. Then I'll also mention the fact that CAP continues to serve as a trusted resource for updates on important topics in the field is very important to our members, especially when we talk about things like emerging pathogens, new biomarkers, things that our laboratories really need to know about so that we can provide the best care to patients.

Robert Johnson:

These things are important to members, but they're also driven by members. They're made possible by members. So how does a pathologist who belongs to the college get involved if they're not already?

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Great question. There's a number of different ways. First, people that are interested can apply to serve on one of our 29 committees that make up the Council on Scientific Affairs. Also, pathologists and other laboratory leaders are welcome to provide input to any of our CSA leaders at any time. They can also attend the Pathologists Leadership Summit. That's a great entryway point to advocacy and all of the work that is being done by all the councils. And then the last thing I'll mention is that they can participate in the comment for all of our center-based guidelines. For example, we just released a guideline on human papillomavirus testing for head and neck cancers, and that's where we really look for input from the community of practicing pathologists on these center-based guidelines.

Robert Johnson:

Here's hoping for even more success in 2025 and more members getting involved. Dr. Pritt, thank you for your time today.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt:

Absolutely. Thank you, Robert.

Robert Johnson:

Read more in the episode notes. That's where you'll find links to everything mentioned today. This has been your CAP review and forecast focused on scientific affairs in 2024 and 2025. In the days ahead, we'll visit with other CAP council chairs about their work and what's ahead for the College of American Pathologists. This is Robert Johnson. Have a great day.