Thursday, September 24 – 09:00 AM
Jerzy Olszewski Invited Lecture
Dr. Craig Moore
Dr. Craig Moore is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, with a cross-appointment in Neurology, and a former Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Brain Repair. His translational research program investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying MS, neuroinflammation, and central nervous system injury and repair, integrating human clinical samples, experimental models, and cell-based approaches. His work has particular emphasis on glial and immune cell biology, myelination, biomarkers, extracellular vesicles, and the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Dr. Moore contributes extensively to scientific peer review and leadership within the MS community, including serving as Chair of MS Canada’s Biomedical Grants Review Committee, member of the Chair of the International Progressive MS Alliance Grant Review Committee, and as a reviewer for MS Canada, ACTRIMS, and other national and international research organizations. Dr. Moore has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and leads several nationally funded CIHR and NSERC-funded research programs aimed at improving the understanding, treatment, and well-being of people affected by MS.
COI Disclosure:
None to disclose
Can Biofluid Biomarkers Inform Neuropathology? Insights And Challenges From Multiple Sclerosis
This presentation will examine how biofluid biomarkers, particularly those measured in blood and cerebrospinal fluid, can provide insight into the underlying neuropathology of multiple sclerosis. It will highlight biomarkers associated with inflammation, glial activation, neuroaxonal injury, and disease progression, while also considering the extent to which these signals reflect pathological processes occurring within the central nervous system. The presentation will emphasize important limitations, including biological variability, compartmentalization, and instances in which biomarker changes do not align with clinical or pathological findings. Emerging approaches and future research priorities for improving the interpretation and application of biofluid biomarkers in multiple sclerosis will also be discussed.
At the end of this session participants will be able to:
- Describe how blood- and cerebrospinal fluid–based biomarkers can reflect key pathological processes in multiple sclerosis,
including inflammation, glial activation, neuroaxonal injury, and tissue repair. - Evaluate the strengths and limitations of commonly studied biofluid biomarkers as indicators of multiple sclerosis
neuropathology and disease progression. - Identify potential sources of discordance between biofluid biomarker measurements and pathological changes within the
central nervous system. - Discuss emerging approaches and research priorities needed to improve the interpretation and clinical application of biofluid
biomarkers in multiple sclerosis.
Target audience
Pathologists
Residents
Medical Students
Other – Write In (Required): Neuroscience Researchers
CanMEDS Roles
Medical Expert (the integrating role)
Collaborator
Scholar
Friday, September 25 – 0900 AM
Neuropathology in Practice Forum Invited Speakers
Dr. Kevin Wang, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Dr. Kevin Wang is a Medical Oncologist and Investigator at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He completed an MD/PhD and advanced training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto. He is a recipient of the The ASCO Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award. His translational research program integrates multi-omics, computational and systems biology, and early-phase clinical trials. His research leverages large-scale molecular and clinical datasets, paired with patient biospecimens, to identify actionable biomarkers, and develop rational novel strategies to improve the durability and safety of cancer therapies.
COI Disclosure:
I have a relationship with a for-profit and/or a not-for-profit organization to disclose.
Funded grants or clinical trials
Name of for-profit or not-for-profit organization(s) : AstraZeneca, Amgen, Servier
Description of relationship(s) : Clinical trial and research support
Dr. Stephen Yip, Vancouver General Hospital and BC Cancer
Stephen Yip completed his combined M.D-Ph.D. training followed by 4 years of neurosurgical training at UBC. He switched to neuropathology and obtained his Royal College certification in 2007. He completed fellowship training in molecular neurooncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital under the mentorship of Dr David Louis as a RC Clinician Investigator Program fellow and molecular genetic pathology at MGH/Harvard Medical School under the supervision of Dr John Iafrate. He is on staff at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Cancer (VCC).
COI Disclosure:
I have a relationship with a for-profit and/or a not-for-profit organization to disclose.
Membership on advisory boards or speakers’ bureaus
Name of for-profit or not-for-profit organization(s) : Amgen, AstraZeneca. Bayer, Pfizer, Roche, Servier
Description of relationship(s) : Member of Advisory board
Funded grants or clinical trials
Name of for-profit or not-for-profit organization(s) : BTFC, MSFHR
Description of relationship(s) : Recipient of grants
Focus: Clinical and practical implications of molecular testing of CNS tumors
At the end of this session participants will be able to:
- To gain broad exposure to systemic therapies utilized in neuro-oncology
- Understand new therapeutic approaches targeting mutant IDH
- Identify actionable targeted alterations in rare tumour subtypes
- Identify the impact of molecular features in the generation of precision brain cancer diagnosis
- Understand the technological and resource gaps in pursuing molecular diagnosis for labs
- Develop a rational and practical approach that bridge diagnostic needs with resource gaps
Target audience
Pathologists
Residents
Medical Students
CanMEDS Roles
Medical Expert (the integrating role)
Communicator
Collaborator
Leader
Health Advocate
Scholar
Professional
Saturday, September 26 – 0800 AM
David Robertson Lecture
Dr. Arie Perry, University of California
Arie Perry, MD is a Professor of Pathology and Neurological Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco, where he serves as the Director of Neuropathology. He received his MD and residency training at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas, followed by surgical pathology, neuropathology, and molecular cytogenetics research fellowships at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where he worked closely with his mentor, the late Dr. Bernd Scheithauer. His interests have focused mostly on classification, grading, and molecular characterization of both adult and pediatric brain tumors. He has authored over 700 publications and participated as an expert editor for the revised 4th, 5th, and 6th editions of the WHO CNS tumor classification schemes as well as an author for several other WHO blue books. He has also previously served as a chief editor for Brain Pathology (official journal of the International Society of Neuropathology), the Practical Surgical Neuropathology textbook (2 editions), and Greenfield’s Neuropathology (2 editions). Dr. Perry maintains an active consult service and is a frequently invited lecturer. He also enjoys creative modes of teaching making use of his longstanding passion for music. In this respect, he has been featured in several media stories for using “neuropathology songs” in medical education, including CD recordings and YouTube videos.
COI Disclosure:
None to disclose.
TBC
Experiences with the introduction of competency based medical training in Anatomic Pathology
Description to come
Learning Objectives:
1. TBC
2. TBC
3. TBC
COI Disclosure:
TBC
Get Presentation
Presentation to come
CNS Tumors: Updates and Advances: meningiomas
Meningioma is the most primary CNS tumor and its classification has evolved over time. A common histopathologic scheme has been utilized for over 20 years, though more recently, genetic grading criteria, such as TERT promoter mutations and homozygous CDKN2A deletions, were officially adopted for the first time in WHO CNS5 (2021). The recent cIMPACT-NOW update 8 consensus paper and the upcoming CNS6 expand this further with inclusion of chromosome 22q and 1p codeletion and other guidelines for incorporating molecular data into classification and grading. Besides the long-known role of NF2 in tumorigenesis, we now recognize other driver mutations, which are associated with either tumor location (e.g., skull base) or specific histologic variants. Despite these major advances in molecular pathology, the brain invasive otherwise benign (BIOB) meningioma has remained controversial for nearly a century; handling this scenario and others will be discussed.
At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Explain how meningioma grading has evolved over time
- List several changes to meningioma classification and grading in the upcoming WHO CNS6 (6th edition)
- Describe new developments in the molecular pathology of meningiomas and their associations with clinical behavior
Target audience
Pathologists
Residents
Medical Students
CanMEDS Roles
Medical Expert (the integrating role)
Scholar
Professional
Saturday, September 26 – 0900 AM
Invited Guest Lecture
Dr. Daniel Brat
Dr. Daniel Brat received his MD and PhD degrees from the Mayo Medical and Graduate Schools and then trained in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He spent the first 18 years after training at Emory University School of Medicine, where he practiced surgical neuropathology and developed a research lab that focused on the tumor micro-environment of glioblastoma, especially as related to the development of hypoxia and necrosis and their effects on glioma biology and growth. Most recently, he has focused on the polarization of macrophages and the emergence of glioma stem cells that occur in the peri-necrotic niche. He also help develop and became heavily engaged with the efforts of theTCGA projects on diffuse gliomas and helped develop a molecular framework for their diagnosis and grading, which continues today. In 2017, he moved to Northwestern University, where he is the Magerstadt Professor of Pathology, and continues his diagnostic practice and research program, while leading a large integrated academic healthcare department. He has had leadership positions in the USCAP, AANP, SNO, CAP and AJCC, and is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
COI Disclosure:
None to disclose.
A Contemporary Molecular View of Diffuse Gliomas
The diagnosis and grading of diffuse gliomas has undergone tremendous changes in the past 20 years and now incorporate molecular testing together with histologic features. The lecture will cover the evolution of this shift in diagnosis and grading and inform the audience of the most recent updates.
At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Define the molecular criteria used in grading IDH-mutant astrocytomas
- Define the molecular alterations that can be used to diagnose glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype
- Explain how diffuse gliomas involving midline structures should be approached diagnostically
Target audience
Pathologists
CanMEDS Roles
Scholar
Professional
Saturday, September 26 – 10:30 AM
Gordon Mathieson Lecture
Dr. Cynthia Hawkins
Dr. Cynthia Hawkins, is an internationally recognized Neuropathologist-Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto where she is Head of the Division of Pathology, Medical Director of Translational Molecular Pathology and a Senior Scientist at the Research Institute. She is a Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, holds a Garron Family Chair in Childhood Cancer Research and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Her research interests include molecular pathogenesis and therapeutics for pediatric glioma and clinical implementation of novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic markers for pediatric brain tumors. She has more than 400 peer-reviewed publications with 75,000 citations. Dr. Hawkins is also part of the editorial team for the WHO CNS tumour classification and contributes to multiple committees advancing precision medicine in pediatric neuro-oncology.
COI Disclosure:
I have a relationship with a for-profit and/or a not-for-profit organization to disclose.
Any direct financial payments including receipt of honoraria
Name of for-profit or not-for-profit organization(s) : Servier Canada
Description of relationship(s) : Honorarium
Updates and advances: Pediatric CNS tumours
This presentation will review discoveries since the 2021 WHO Classification of CNS tumours that have identified emerging entities and/or clarified the classification with emphasis on those that are encountered in the pediatric and young adult population.
At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Approach the diagnosis of high grade glioma in the pediatric age group and justify when methylation profiling and NGS are required
- Apply an appropriate IHC and molecular diagnostic algorithm to recognise replication repair deficient glioma
- Recognise emerging tumour types that may be encountered in the pediatric population
Target audience
Pathologists
Residents
Other – Write In (Required): graduate students, neuro-oncologists
CanMEDS Roles
Medical Expert (the integrating role)
Health Advocate
Scholar
Saturday, September 26 – 11:30 AM
Invited Lecture
Dr. Caterina Giannini, Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN
Native of Italy, Caterina Giannini received her M.D. degree (1984) and completed a Neurology residency (1988) at the University of Pisa, followed by a PhD in Neuroscience (1992) at the University of Verona. She completed postgraduate clinical training in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (1996). After spending 3 years in Treviso Italy, practicing as a surgical pathologist and neuropathologist, Dr Giannini joined the staff of Anatomic Pathology at the Mayo Clinic in 1999, where she remained until her retirement in January 2026. She is a Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Neurosurgery, Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN (USA). She was the Moderator of the Diagnostic Slide Session of the American Association of Neuropathologists from 2014 to 2025. Dr. Giannini is the Case editor of Under Your Microscope, the new Case Image section of Brain Pathology, the Official Journal of the International Society of Neuropathology. Her research interests have focused primarily in neurooncology, primarily diffuse gliomas as well as other primary CNS tumors. She has
actively participated in the Cooperative groups including NCCTG, RTOG, ECOG and is at present the cadre leader for Neurooncology in the Pathology Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. She has published over 300 original articles on diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. She has been invited to be an expert member of the WHO Blue Books Editorial Board, for the upcoming Central Nervous System Tumours volume.
COI Disclosure:
None to disclose
New Entities of the Upcoming CNS Who Classification Including Ependymomas and Their Subtypes
The presentation will review the classification of ependymal tumors in the upcoming WHO CNS6 classification, outlining the changes which have occurred since 2021 (WHO CNS5), describing new provisional entities and advances in the diagnosis of these tumors.
At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Describe the classification of ependymal tumors in the upcoming WHO CNS6 Classification
- List the changes, which have occurred from the 2021 WHO CNS5 classification
- Describe the advances which have occurred in the diagnosis of ependymal tumors
Target audience
Pathologists
Residents
Medical Students
CanMEDS Roles
Medical Expert (the integrating role)