Council

Professor Kieran Sheahan, MB, BCh, BAO, BSc, FRCPI, FFPath, FCAP, FFRCPath.
Consultant Histopathologist at St. Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH), Dublin
Clinical Professor at University College Dublin School of Medicine

Professor Kieran Sheahan MB, BCh, BAO, B.Sc, FRCPI, FFPath, FCAP, FFRCPath, is a Consultant Histopathologist at St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), Dublin, and is Full Clinical Professor at University College Dublin School of Medicine. He is also Adjuvant Professor of Pathology at Boston University Medical School. Professor Sheahan is a Director of the Centre for Colorectal Disease, SVUH. He initiated the involvement of the Faculty of Pathology (RCPI) as a sustaining member of ICCR in 2018 and has been a Councillor and Board Director (ICCR) since. Professor Sheahan was a lead in developing the National Histopathology Quality Improvement Programme in Ireland in 2009 which included standardisation of cancer reporting. He is a member of the ICCR authoring committees for Colorectal cancer, Colorectal excisional biopsy (Polypectomy) and Liver resection metastases.

Professor Sheahan is author of over 200 original publications in peer-reviewed biomedical journals, and numerous reviews and book chapters. He is co-editor of Morson & Dawson’s Gastrointestinal Pathology (6th edition). Professor Sheahan’s research interests include prognostic and predictive markers in colorectal cancer, familial colorectal cancer, in particular Lynch Syndrome, the pathology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and the application of molecular genetic techniques and AI in colorectal pathology.

Professor Peter Schirmacher
Director of the Institute of Pathology (IPH) of Heidelberg University (Germany)
Chairman of the German Society of Pathology and Council Member of the European Association of Pathology
Board member of the National Center of Tumor Diseases

Professor Peter Schirmacher is Director of the Institute of Pathology (IPH) of Heidelberg University (Germany) since 2004, Chairman of the German Society of Pathology and Council Member of the European Association of Pathology, Board member of the National Center of Tumor Diseases, member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Principle Investigator in many national and international consortia.

Professor Schirmacher studied Medicine at Mainz University (Germany) and Molecular Biology at Albert Einstein College, New York, received training and board certification in Pathology and Molecular Pathology at Mainz University and was Professor of Pathology at Cologne University from 1998 until 2004.

Professor Schirmacher’s scientific interest centres on liver and molecular pathology with specific emphasis on molecular pathogenesis of hepatobiliary cancer; he has contributed to over 600 publications and numerous guidelines mainly centring on these topics. Professor Schirmacher is coordinator of the Coordinative Research Center ‘Liver Cancer’ of the German Research Foundation involving three University Centres and about 50 Researchers. IPH is a Centre of Excellence of the European Society of Pathology (ESP) for Liver and Molecular Pathology. He is a member of the ICCR authoring committee for Liver resection metastases.

Professor James Kench, MB BS, BSc(Med), FRCPA.
Local Pathology Director, Sydney Local Health District, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Head of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Professor James Kench, MB BS, DMedSc, FRCPA, graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1986. He commenced training in anatomical pathology in 1988 at Westmead Hospital then completed his training at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney NSW, before being awarded his Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in 1993. He is also a member of the International Academy of Cytology and International Fellow of the College of American Pathologists.

After working as a staff specialist at St Vincent’s and Westmead Hospitals, in 2009 Professor Kench became Clinical Director of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology (formerly Anatomical Pathology) at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where he is currently also Local Pathology Director-RPA. He was appointed as a Clinical Professor at University of Sydney in 2009 and has subspecialty expertise in prostatic, pancreatic and hepatic pathology. Professor Kench has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles plus several books and book chapters, including co-authorship of the Prostate Cancer chapter in the 2022 WHO Blue Book for Urinary and Male Genital Tumours. He has a longstanding research collaboration with the Prostate Cancer Group at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and is an Executive member of the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-NSW.

Professor Kench has been actively involved in structured reporting initiatives since 2008, including as lead author for the national pathology guidelines on prostate cancer, Chair of the National Structured Pathology Reporting Project for 4 years from 2014, member of the ICCR Dataset Steering Committee for 8 years and ICCR Board for 4 years. He is also a member of the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP) Scientific Advisory Committee, the Australian Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry Steering Committee and its Hepatobiliary Subcommittee, and the NSW Cancer Council Prostate and Colorectal Cancer Expert Advisory Panels.

Professor Annie Nga-Yin Cheung, MBBS, MD, PhD, FRCPath, FHKAM(Path).
Clinical Professor at the Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong (HKU); Honorary Consultant Pathologist, Queen Mary Hospital; and Honorary Consultant in Pathology, Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital

Professor Annie Nga-Yin Cheung is Clinical Professor and Director of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Cervical Cytology Laboratory and the University Pathology Laboratory (Molecular Pathology) at the Department of Pathology, HKU; Honorary Consultant Pathologist, and Laboratory Director, College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program, Hospital Pathology Service Laboratory and key pathologist for gynaecological histopathology in Queen Mary Hospital; as well as Honorary Consultant in Pathology, Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.

Professor Cheung was an HKU MBBS graduate and continued her studies at HKU for her MD and PhD. She received her postgraduate gynaecological pathology training in the University of Manchester, UK, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, USA. Professor Cheung’s research focuses on ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancers as well as gestational trophoblastic disease, aiming at investigating diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as molecular targets for better therapy. Professor Cheung has received awards on education and research. She has over 280 publications and has contributed to chapters in the various editions of the WHO Classification of Female Genital Tumours.

Professor Cheung is currently Chairman of the Genetics and Genomic Pathology Specialty Board, The Hong Kong College of Pathologists; Chairman of Medical Laboratory Technologists Board, and Member of the Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening, Hong Kong SAR. She is also the Advisor to Executive Board, Asian Oceania Research on Genital Infections and Neoplasia; Commissioner, Lancet Commission on Diagnostics and Member of the International Federation of Gynaecologic Oncology (FIGO) Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia Staging Subcommittee.

Professor Cheung has been Laurence L T Hou Professorship in Anatomical Molecular Pathology and Chief of Service of Pathology, HKU-Shenzhen Hospital. She has also been Standing Member, Editorial Board of 5th Edition WHO Classification of Tumours. Professor Cheung has been President of The Hong Kong College of Pathologists; President of Hong Kong Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology as well as Council Member of the International Federation for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy and Council Member at Large of the International Society of Gynaecological Pathologists.

Dr Katia Ramos Moreira Leite, MD, PhD.
Associate Professor and Chairman of the Laboratory of Medical Investigation of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Brazil
Past Vice-President and Past President-Elected of the Brazilian Society of Pathology

Dr Katia Ramos Moreira Leite, MD, PhD is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Laboratory of Medical Investigation of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Dr Leite was President of the Brazilian Society of Pathology (SBP) for the term 2020-2022 and councillor for South America of the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) from 2015 to 2019. She is currently in her second term as Standing Member of WHO/IARC Blue books 2022-2027.

Dr Leite is Associate Editor of the journal Surgical and Experimental Pathology and member of the Editorial Board of Modern Pathology, Journal of Carcinogenesis and International Brazilian Journal of Urology.

Dr Leite has 460 publications in peer reviewed journal articles plus several book chapters.

Dr John R. Srigley, MD, FRCPC, FRCPath, FRCPA [Hon.]
Professor and Consultant in Oncological and Urological Pathology

Dr John Srigley is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto with postgraduate training in anatomical and oncological pathology at the University of Toronto and MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston. Dr Srigley is currently senior consultant in Oncological and Urological Pathology in the Program of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics at Trillium Health Partners, one of the largest community-academic hospitals in Canada. He is also a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at University of Toronto. Dr Srigley is an international consultant and educator in surgical and urological pathology who has contributed extensively to literature. He is an editor/author of three textbooks on urological pathology including the Series 3 AFIP Fascicle on Tumors of the Prostate Gland.

Dr Srigley has been an author and member of international working groups for the 2004, 2016 and 2022 WHO Bluebooks on Tumors of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs and was a standing editorial board member for the WHO Series 5 tumour classifications. He has been a member of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Cancer Committee of the College of American Pathologists.

Dr Srigley is a Past President of the International Society of Urological Pathologists (ISUP) and Ontario Association of Pathologists and was the inaugural head of the Pathology and Laboratory Program at Cancer Care Ontario. He is a co-founder, Past-President and Executive Officer of the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) and has provided advice on population-level standardised cancer pathology reporting to the College of American Pathologists as well as groups in Australasia, Europe and South America. His research interests include clinical-pathological and translational studies in urological cancers, cancer reporting standards, population-level quality initiatives and the role of the diagnostic pathologist in cancer control.

Dr Filippo Fraggetta, MD.
President of the Italian Society of Pathology (SIAPEC)
Head of the Department of Pathology at ASP Catania (Italy)

Dr Filippo Fraggetta was born in Catania (Italy) in 1970; he studied medicine and became a surgical pathologist in 1998. Since 2021, he has been Head of the Department of Pathology at ASP Catania, whose headquarters are located at Gravina Hospital in Caltagirone.

Dr Fraggetta is President of the Italian Society of Pathology (SIAPEC).

He is particularly interested in lung and prostate tumours. In the last ten years he has focussed his interest on the field of molecular and digital pathology.

Dr Fraggetta strongly believes in the benefits of digital pathology and in the practical application of digital workflow, including the use of AI tools in routine practice.

Dr Luka Brcic, MD, PhD.
International Secretary, Austrian Society of Pathology/IAP Division Austria

Dr Luka Brcic completed his medical studies and pathology training at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia. From 2010 to 2015, he served as a consultant pathologist at the School of Medicine and University Hospital Center Zagreb, before joining the Medical University of Graz, Austria, in 2015. As of February 2025, he is working at the Department of Pathology at Hospital Graz II (LKH Graz II) and at the Department of Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

During his training, Dr Brcic undertook study visits with leading lung pathologists, including Professor Sanja Dacic (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA) and Professor Helmut Popper (Medical University of Graz, Austria). His primary expertise lies in thoracic pathology, with a focus on mesotheliomas and lung carcinomas. In 2019, he further expanded his experience through a study visit to the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, working with Professor Françoise Galateau-Sallé.

Dr Brcic has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to multiple book chapters, particularly in thoracic oncology and mesothelioma. Actively engaged in professional societies, he is a member of ÖGPath/IAP Austria, the European Society of Pathology (ESP), and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), where he serves on the Rare Disease Committee. He is member of the Education Committee of the International Academy of Pathology. He is also a member of the Pulmonary Pathology Society (PPS) Membership and Awards Committee and the International Mesothelioma Panel.

Dr Raed Al Dieri, MSc, PhD.
Director-General at the European Society of Pathology
Clinical Director at Synapse Research Institute, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Maastricht University, Netherlands

Dr Raed Al Dieri studied Pharmacy at the University of Damascus (Pharm 1991) and earned his master’s degree in laboratory Diagnosis in 1994 (MSc 1994). Dr Al Dieri earned his PhD degree at Maastricht University, Faculty of Medicine (in Coagulation, 2000) and trained as a biochemical coagulationist. He was a principal investigator in the medical biochemistry and pathophysiology of the coagulation system and the application of thrombin generation in fundamental and clinical settings (Maastricht University). He is a member of grant reviewing board for several organizations. He is a reviewer for several journals such as Blood, Journal of Thrombosis & Haemostasias, Thrombosis & Haemostasias, Thrombosis Research, and others.

In 2005, Dr Al Dieri was appointed as a Research Director and in 2011 as Clinical Director at Synapse Research Institute, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Maastricht University, Netherlands. He co-promotes and supervises PhD programs and is a lecturer at Maastricht University. Dr Al Dieri has co-developed and co-invented several tests to measure the coagulation system in normal subjects and patients of cardiovascular diseases, thrombotic events, and patients with bleeding disorders.

In 2015, Dr Al Dieri was appointed as Scientific Director and later in 2017 as Director-General at the European Society of Pathology (ESP), Brussels, Belgium. He is also the Operational Director of the ESP Foundation.

Dr James L Wisecarver, MD, PhD, FASCP.
Medical Director, Nebraska Medical Center Clinical Laboratories Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and as Medical Director for the Clinical Laboratories at The Nebraska Medicine
Director of the Human DNA Identification Laboratory at UNMC

Dr James L Wisecarver, MD, PhD, FASCP, received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, Neb. Dr Wisecarver earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Doane College, Crete, Neb., and a doctorate degree in physiology from Creighton University, Omaha. He completed a residency in combined anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and then joined the faculty in the Department of Pathology/Microbiology at UNMC as an Assistant Professor in 1990. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995 and to Professor in 2002. Currently, he serves as Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and as Medical Director for the Clinical Laboratories at The Nebraska Medicine. He also serves as the Director of the Human DNA Identification Laboratory at UNMC.

Dr Wisecarver is currently President-elect of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Directors. “My involvement in ASCP activities dates back to the Council on Continuing Education (CCE) when I became active with the section on diagnostic immunology and molecular pathology. Later, I was elected to the Board of Governors of the ASCP Board of Registry (now Board of Certification). While serving on the Board, I helped organize a new examination committee to develop the molecular biology examination and associated credential that is now being offered through the ASCP Board of Certification.” Dr. Wisecarver has also been a member of the ASCP Commission on Science, Technology and Public Policy, the Fellow Council, and the Pathologists Workforce Task Force. He has also chaired the Awards Committee.

Dr Wisecarver has organised and presented molecular diagnostics workshops offered both through ASCP and the United States and Canada Academy of Pathology (USCAP).

Dr Joseph Khoury, MD.
Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and
Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Dr Joseph Khoury is the Stokes‐Shackleford endowed Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is recognised internationally as a leader in the field of cancer pathology and hematopathology, in which he combines longstanding expertise in clinical diagnostics, teaching, and translational research.

Dr Khoury has authored over 350 publications, in addition to textbooks and numerous book chapters. He has received multiple awards for teaching, mentorship, research, and clinical achievements. Dr Khoury has lectured extensively at various venues and conferences, in addition to having organised multiple international and regional medical educational conferences. He is an active member of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and has served as Chair of the CAP Cancer Committee, which publishes CAP’s widely utilised protocols for cancer reporting.

Dr Khoury is a Standing Member and Chair Member of the Editorial Board of the WHO Classification of Tumours and has contributed significantly to multiple volumes of the 5th edition of the WHO Classification. He is the ICCR Series Champion for the Haematolymphoid Datasets series.

Dr Toyonori Tsuzuki, MD, PhD.
Chair of Department of Surgical Pathology (Japan)
Vice President of Aichi Medical University Hospital (Japan)

Dr Toyonori Tsuzuki, MD, PhD.
Chair of Department of Surgical Pathology (Japan)
Vice President of Aichi Medical University Hospital (Japan)

Dr Toyonori Tsuzuki, MD, PhD is full professor of Surgical Pathology at Aichi Medical University (Japan). He graduated in 1989 and obtained his PhD in 1994 at Nagoya University School of Medicine (Japan). He is board certified in Pathology, in Molecular Pathology, and in Cytopathology.

Dr Tsuzuki is the Chair of department of Surgical Pathology and then a Vice president of Aichi Medical University Hospital, one of the largest community-academic hospitals in Japan.

His research interest focuses on diagnostic and digital pathology, with a specific emphasis on oncology. Professor Tsuzuki is author of over 300 original publications in peer-reviewed biomedical journals and has contributed to WHO 5th edition as a standing member, and also contributed as an expert member to the 2022 WHO Classification of Urinary System and Male Genital Organs. His major interests are diagnostic pathology and oncology based on pathological findings. He is also interested in artificial intelligence in pathology.

Dr Tsuzuki is the President of the Japanese Society of Urological Pathology and the International Academy of Pathology, Japanese division for the term 2025-2027, Executive Director of the Japanese Society of Pathology, Executive Director of the Japanese Society of Clinical Cytology, Councillor of the Japanese Society of Urologic Oncology, Councillor for Asia the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP).

Dr rer nat Vanessa Kääb-Sanyal
Director of the Professional Association of German Pathologists (BDP)

Dr Kääb-Sanyal is a trained mathematician. As director of the Professional Association of German Pathologists (BDP) she represents the economic, social, and professional interests of the German Pathologists towards politicians and the public. Other tasks include promoting professional standards and continuing education, advising and supporting members, and shaping training and working conditions. She has profound knowledge of the healthcare system in Germany and its regulatory framework.

As former managing director of the head office of the German breast cancer screening program (Kooperationsgemeinschaft Mammographie) Dr Kääb-Sanyal had developed specifications for uniform documentation and evaluation of screening services as well as unified reporting procedures on a nationwide scale within the federal political system. Moreover, her experience with the implementation of the German breast cancer screening program and her insight in evaluating and interpreting its outcomes came to bear in several publications about screening effects and epidemiological findings.

Dr Kääb-Sanyal is a member of the executive board of the European Reference Organisation for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services (EUREF). Dr Kääb-Sanyal was and is member of several expert groups of the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) for the scientific assessments of benefits and harms of possible changes to the German breast cancer screening program. Furthermore, Dr Kääb-Sanyal was a member of the evaluation board of the First Evaluation Report on the Austrian Breast Cancer Screening Program and an associated member of the Quality Assurance Scheme Development Group of the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer.

Professor Zhiyong Liang, MD, PhD.
Director of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology Research Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science
Chairman of the Chinese Society of Pathology
Director of National Pathology Quality Control Center

Professor Zhiyong Liang, MD, PhD is Director of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology Research Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science since 2014, Chairman of the Chinese Society of Pathology, and Director of National Pathology Quality Control Center. He has been practicing anatomical pathology for thirty-five years.

Professor Liang subspecialties include molecular, breast, and endocrine pathology. He is Editorial Board Member of the journal Endocrine Pathology, Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Diagnostic Pathology and Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Pathology.

His research interest focuses on molecular pathology and digital pathology, with specific emphasis on molecular mechanism of pancreatic carcinoma microenvironment. Professor Liang is author of over 150 original publications in peer-reviewed biomedical journals.

Dr Michael Eden, MD.
Consultant Histopathologist and Cytopathologist
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Department of Pathology

Dr Michael Eden was appointed as a consultant histopathologist in 2016 and has been histopathology and mortuary clinical lead at CUH since 2020. He previously led the West Anglia Cervical Cytology Network and has experience working across a broad range of geographies and disciplines.

Dr Eden also brings a wealth of experience beyond pathology, including the RCPath, NHS Digital and Cancer Research UK.

Dr Sylvia Höller
Chief Physician of the Department of Clinical Pathology at the City Hospital of Zurich
President of the Swiss Society of Pathology

Dr Sylvia Höller is the Chief Physician of the Department of Clinical Pathology at the City Hospital of Zurich since 2021 and president of the Swiss Society of Pathology since 2023.

Previously, Dr Höller worked as a senior physician at the University Hospital Zurich and at the University Hospital of Basel. Dr Höller has broad clinical pathology experience, with a focus on molecular and surgical pathology. She is involved in research activities in the fields of haematological, paediatric, head and neck, bone and soft tissue, and lung pathology. Dr Höller has published 68 scientific journal articles with 2,375 citations.

Professor Iris Nagtegaal, MD, PhD.
Professor of Gastrointestinal Pathology at Radboud University, Nijmegen (the Netherlands)

Professor Iris Nagtegaal is a consultant gastrointestinal pathologist at Radboudumc, the Netherlands, since 2013 Professor of Gastrointestinal Pathology and since 2014 national pathology lead of the bowel cancer screening program. She is expert editor of the WHO Classification of Digestive system tumours and member of TNM global advisory group and American Joint Committee on Cancer lower gastrointestinal expert panel. Professor Nagtegaal is the Series Champion for the ICCR Digestive Tract datasets.

Professor Nagtegaal studied Biomedical Sciences and Medicine at Leiden University (the Netherlands). In 2002 she defended her PhD at the same university and graduated with honors. She commended training in pathology at Radboudumc and Leeds University. She subsequently obtained a research fellowship from the Dutch Cancer Society and worked at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Falu Lasarett (Falun, Sweden), Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA) and Queen Mary’s University of London (UK), after which she returned to Nijmegen.

Professor Nagtegaal has been actively involved in structured reporting initiatives as board member and chair of Palga (Dutch nationwide pathology databank), which resulted in national implementation of datasets for the majority of oncological specimens, that are aligned with the ICCR datasets. She supervised several PhD projects based on structured reporting. Her main research interest centers on colorectal cancer, which she studies in the Gastrointestinal Unit for Tissue Science (GUTS) at the Radboudumc. She has published over 470 peer reviewed papers and supervised over 30 PhD students. She is the current chair of the scientific committee of the Dutch Society of Pathology.