Masanobu Kitagawa , M.D.,Ph.D.
President of the 110th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathology
Professor of Comprehensive Pathology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences Tokyo Medical and Dental University

It is a great honor to preside over the 110th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathology (JSP), which is scheduled to be held at the Keio Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo from April 22 to 24, 2021. The Annual Meeting of the JSP is being held in Tokyo after two years. Moreover, the Tokyo Medical and Dental University is hosting the Spring Annual Meeting of the JSP for the first time. Although the nature of the meeting would change in accordance with the situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the current plan is to hold the meeting in a hybrid manner, involving both the conventional on-site meeting and the online seminars.

The fundamental objective of the JSP is to popularize and promote research concerning the scientific principles of pathology and its application in clinical practice. All medical fields have witnessed tremendous progress with regard to genomic medicine, artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and data analysis. Hence, the main theme of the 110th meeting is the “Challenges in pathology: from traditional morphology to intelligent pathology”. Traditional morphology is the fundamental basis of pathology. Incorporation of molecular biology and information technology into the morphological approach will positively enhance the power of pathological research. Moreover, recent advances in the field of therapeutics has allowed us to challenge the established treatment protocols pertaining to the management of therapy-refractory diseases. The conception of novel and attractive aspects of pathology might lead to a favorable change in the treatment goals. Therefore, we should generate a precise scheme of the disease entity of overall pathologic status, as well as the pathogenesis of multi-factorial diseases. The meeting also aims to encourage young pathologists to pursue scientific research and to promote the international/domestic communication among the members of JSP.

Focusing on the main theme of the meeting, the 110th Annual Meeting involves three special symposia, nine symposia, and seventeen workshops. The special symposia will focus on AI and digital medicine, topics related to regenerative medicine, and genomic medicine and pathology. General topics that will be discussed at the symposia include cancer and immunology, pathology of cancer stem cells, pathology of epigenomics, role of animal models in pathology, advances in morphological technology, role of innovation in establishing a pathology business, medical politics, systems harvesting pathologists, research ethics in pathology, and the standardization of pathological diagnosis. The workshops will focus on the recent advances in whole organ system pathology.

he Japan Pathology Award lectures will be presented by Prof. Takaaki Ito (Kumamoto University), Prof. Eiji Ikeda (Yamaguchi University), and Prof. Jianglin Fan (Yamanashi University). As usual, several educational programs and co-hosted seminars will be held during the meeting. I sincerely hope that many attendees will participate and enjoy the 110th Annual Meeting of the JSP.