Advances in Understanding of Brain Disorders
and Advances in Digital Pathology and Clinical Laboratory
Chicago, IL May 19-22, 2026
Wednesday and Friday Sessions: Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile
633 North Saint Clair Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Thursday Sessions:
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
303 E. Superior St. Chicago, IL 60611
CME Sponsor: College of American Pathologists (CAP)
ACCENT Sponsor: Association for Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine
(formerly AACC)
Tuesday, May 19
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel
| 2:30 pm | Registration (Grand Ballroom Prefunction) |
| 3:00 pm | Executive Committee Meeting (Ontario room) |
Wednesday, May 20
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel | Grand Ballroom AB
| 7:00 am | Complimentary Breakfast (Grand Ballroom C) |
| 7:00 am | Registration (Grand Ballroom Prefunction) |
Session A
Advances in Understanding of Brain Disorders I: Neoplasia
| 8:00 am | Welcome remarks: Jonathan B. Hoyne, PhD, ACS President, and Christopher Crutchfield, PhD, Annual Meeting Program Chair |
| 8:15 am |
[1] Claude P. Brown Memorial Lecture: A Contemporary View of Diffuse Gliomas: Two Decades of Data-Driven Evolution. Daniel J. Brat, MD, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 9:15 am |
[2] The Next Generation of DNA Methylation Classification. Lawrence J. Jennings, MD, PhD & Lucas Santana dos Santos, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 10:15 am | Refreshments |
| 10:45 am |
[3] AI-based prognostication of meningiomas. Marina Ayad, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 11:15 am |
[4] Beyond Point Mutations: Harnessing Structural Variant Detection for Improved Pediatric Brain Tumor Characterization. Miriam A. Bornhorst, MD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 11:45 am |
[5] Managing Newly Diagnosed CNS Tumors When Systems Go Offline. Nitin R. Wadhwani, MD — Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL |
| 12:15 pm | Adjournment |
Session B (Luncheon)
Grand Ballroom AB
| 12:30 pm |
[6] Adaptive Leadership. Adam Goodman, PhD — Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering, Chicago, IL |
| 1:30 pm | Adjournment |
Session C
Advances in Digital Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Informatics
| 1:45 pm |
[7] Informatics Perspectives on Interfacing Clinical Laboratory and Ambulatory Medicine. Steven M. LoBue, MD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 2:15 pm |
[8] Practical applications of AI in pediatric lab medicine. Shannon Haymond, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 2:45 pm | Refreshments |
| 3:15 pm |
[9] Implementation of Digital Pathology in the Clinical Lab: Experiences of an Academic Health System. Jeffery A. Goldstein, MD, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 3:45 pm |
[10] The current state of artificial intelligence in pathology. Lee A. Cooper, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 4:15 pm | Adjournment |
| 4:30 pm | Welcome Reception (open to all participants and accompanying persons) Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel, Grand Ballroom Prefunction |
| 5:15 pm |
Vendor Night Presentations Platinum Sponsors: Abbott Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics Gold Sponsors: Beckman Coulter, Fujirebio Grand Ballroom AB |
| 8:00 pm |
Young Fellows Event (open to all participants age ≤ 45, and accompanying persons) Hosted by Jessica Claus, MD, Chair Young Fellows Section, and Jonathan B. Hoyne, PhD, ACS President Ramen-San Deluxe Streeterville, 165 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611 Meet at hotel lobby at 7:45 pm |
Thursday, May 21
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | SQBRC Simpson-Querrey Auditorium
303 E. Superior St. Chicago, IL 60611
303 E. Superior St. Chicago, IL 60611
Session D
Advances in Understanding of Brain Disorders II: Neurodegeneration
| 7:00 am | Walking guide from the hotel to Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine |
| 7:00 am | Breakfast at Simpson-Querrey Auditorium |
| 8:00 am |
[11] Northwestern's Mesulam Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease. Robert J. Vassar, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 8:30 am |
[12] An Introduction to Clinicopathologic Heterogeneity in Neurodegenerative Dementias. Tamar D. Gefen, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 9:00 am |
[13] Neuropathological phenotyping of major neurocognitive disorders and the aging process. Rudolph J. Castellani, MD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 9:30 am | Refreshments |
| 10:00 am |
[14] Mechanisms of amyloid clearance in immunized Alzheimer's disease patients. David M. Gate, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 10:30 am |
[15] From discovery to translation: mass spectrometry-based proteomics in Niemann-Pick type C. Stephanie Cologna, PhD — University of Illinois Chicago College of Liberal Arts & Sciences |
| 11:00 am | Laboratory Tour of Northwestern Memorial Hospital Clinical Laboratories |
| 12:00 pm | Adjourn |
Tour: Cultural Tour (ticket required)
| 12:00 pm | Depart for Gino's East |
| 12:15 pm | Lunch at Gino's East |
| 1:15 pm | Load Bus & Depart for Navy Pier |
| 2:15 pm | Boat Departs for Architecture Tour from Navy Pier |
| 3:45 pm | First bus departure for return to hotel |
| 4:45 pm | Second bus for return to hotel |
| 5:00 pm | Bus arrives to hotel |
Annual Reception and Awards Banquet
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile | 633 North Saint Clair Street, Chicago, IL | Grand Ballroom AB | (black tie optional)
| 7:00 pm | Cocktails before the Banquet (Grand Ballroom Prefunction) |
| 7:30 pm |
Awards Banquet and Presentations Jonathan B. Hoyne, PhD, DABCC, FADLM, FACSc — ACS President and Banquet Toastmaster Awards presentations by Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich, PhD, President Elect Young Clinical Scientist Award presented to Rivka (Rita) Hayes, MD (Cleveland, OH)
Banquet Address: The Science of Suds: GMO Yeast in Beer. Lance Shaner, PhD, JD (Omega Yeast Labs, LLC) |
Friday, May 22
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel | Grand Ballroom AB
| 7:00 am | Complimentary Breakfast (Grand Ballroom C) |
| 7:00 am | Registration (Grand Ballroom Prefunction) |
Session E
Advances in Clinical Pathology
| 8:00 am |
[16] Implementation of Alzheimer's disease blood biomarkers in clinical practice. Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich, PhD — Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 8:20 am |
[17] Quantitative Assessment of the Effect of Chronic Kidney Disease on Alzheimer Disease Blood Based Markers. Joshua Bornhorst, PhD — Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 8:40 am |
[18] Clinical implementation of biomarkers for renal delayed graft function. Annalara G. Fischer, PhD — University of Louisville, Louisville, KY |
| 9:00 am |
[19] When toxicology report is negative in a suspected drug overdose patient: Date rape drugs and the world of designer drugs. Amitava Dasgupta, PhD — University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS |
| 9:20 am |
[20] Optimized whole blood phosphatidylethanol extraction for efficient, automatable detection of alcohol consumption. Sarrah Lahorewala, PhD — Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX |
| 9:40 am | Refreshments |
Session F
Advances in Esoteric Testing
| 10:10 am |
[21] Chronic myeloid leukemia harboring atypical BCR::ABL1 fusion – Pitfall of RT-PCR Assay. Shuko Harada, MD — University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL |
| 10:30 am |
[22] MRD detection in B-ALL: comparison of flow cytometry, ClonoSEQ and RT-PCR. Yijie Liu, PhD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 10:50 am |
[23] Variant allele frequency thresholds enable triage of multi-driver lung adenocarcinoma. Stanislav Fridland, MD — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 11:10 am |
[24] Longitudinal immunophenotyping for characterizing acquired resistance during immune checkpoint therapy in melanoma. Hunter A. Miller, PhD — University of Louisville, Louisville, KY |
| 11:30 am | Adjournment |
| 11:45 am | Lunch and ACS Business Meeting (Grand Ballroom AB) Note: all attendees are invited to attend the ACS Business Meeting, although only members of the Association may vote. |
| 1:15 pm | Adjournment |
Session G
Advances in Anatomic Pathology | Lakeshore Ballroom West
| 1:30 pm |
[25] Common Variable Immunodeficiency Initially Presenting as Granulomatous Interstitial Nephritis. M. John Hicks, MD, PhD, DDS — Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX |
| 1:50 pm |
[26] Polymorphous low-grade neuroepithelial tumor of the young (PLNTY): a cautionary tale. David M. Berger, MD — Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA |
| 2:10 pm |
[27] Intracranial Meningioma Presenting as a Midline Forehead Mass Diagnosed by Fine Needle Aspiration. Neda Zarrin-Khameh, MD — Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX |
| 2:30 pm |
[28] Markers of Accelerated Vulvar Skin Aging and Cellular Senescence. Jessica Claus, MD — The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI |
| 2:50 pm |
[29] Beyond Morphology: New Immunohistochemical Markers in Placental Mesenchymal Dysplasia: A Series of Three Cases. Bushra Al-Tarawneh, MD — Mutah University, Alkarak, Jordan |
| 3:10 pm | Poster Viewing and Refreshments |
Session H
Advances in Laboratory Management | Lakeshore Ballroom West
| 4:00 pm |
[30] Barriers to retrospective hematology reference range verification studies. Emily L. Ryan, PhD — Atrium Health, Navicent Macon, GA |
| 4:20 pm |
[31] Retrospective review post reference laboratory outpatient acquisition: a microbiology laboratory's perspective. Rivka WangJie Hayes, MD — University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH |
| 4:40 pm |
[32] Clinical evaluation of ACR and PCR agreement in proteinuria assessment. Emily Cobb, MD — The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL |
| 5:00 pm | Adjournment |
| 7:00 pm | Musicale and Art Show at Thorne Auditorium on Northwestern Campus 420 E. Superior St. Chicago, IL 60611 — with wine and hearty hors d’oeuvres reception Organized by Mark Ball, PhD, and Christopher Crutchfield, PhD, Program Chair |
Friday, May 22 — Poster Session
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel | Grand Ballroom Prefunction
3:10 pm – 4:00 pm | Adjournment: 4:00 pm
| [P 1] | Mucinous Lesions in Ovarian Mature Cystic Teratomas: Case Report of an Appendiceal-Type Mucocele and Literature Review. Bushra Khalaf AlTarawneh1 and Waheed Al-Jabary2. 1Mutah University and 2Specialty Hospital, Amman, Jordan |
| [P 2] | Do routine doctor visits correlate with health outcomes? A community-level study. Rongyi Chen1 and Lucy Fu2. 1Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and 2Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| [P 3] | Large B-cell lymphomas of the Brain – An institution experience. Ilaria Tarozzi, Elena T. Puscasiu, Dragos C. Luca, Diana O. Treaba — Brown University Health, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI |
| [P 4] | Immunohistochemistry markers of secondary central nervous system involvement by large B-cell lymphoma. Tara O'Shea, Madina Sukhanova, Lucy Fu, Kristy Wolniak, Juehua Gao, Yi-Hua Chen, Qing Ching Chen, and Hamza Tariq — Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL |
| [P 5] | Salivary microRNA biomarkers in sports-related concussion. Kassidy Felsinger and Carolyn Banister — Clemson University, Clemson, SC |
| [P 6] | Comparing ICP-MS vs. HRMS methodologies for thyroid carcinoma identification in serum samples. Richard G. Lahr, David Eaton, Jenni Kemp, Sandip Chavin, Paul J. Jannetto, Joshua Bornhorst, Stefan Grebe, Tony Maus — Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| [P 7] | CSF Proteomics Alterations in Individuals with Niemann-Pick Type C1 Treated with Intrathecal 2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-Cyclodextrin. Wenping Li, Zachary Goldberg, Dariusz Kunecki, Nicole M. Yanjanin, Hajwa Kim, Elizabeth Berry-Kravis, Forbes D. Porter, Stephanie M. Cologna — University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL |
| [P 8] | Mitochondrial hexokinase-1 regulates acetyl-CoA production and IFN-γ output in CD8+ T cells. Amir Mahmoodzadeh — Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute and Department of Medicine (Cardiology), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL |
| [P 9] | Novel analysis of volatile biomarkers in breath with diagnostic utility. Roland Jones — University of Louisville, Louisville, KY |