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This issue of Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine features abstracts presented at the 2009 biennial meeting of the Pulmonary Pathology Society held June 24 to 26 in Portland, Oregon. The meeting was a great success, and attended by more than 140 pathologists from many countries. In addition to abstracts, this 3-day symposium featured 45 internationally recognized speakers and moderators with workshops on many diverse topics including updates on pulmonary and pleural neoplasia, nonneoplastic lung disease, asbestosis, and asbestosis-associated malignancies. Covered topics emphasized practical diagnostic utility as well as the latest advances and controversies in lung pathology. The symposium featured interesting and stimulating debates on the pros and cons of the World Health Organization classification of neuroendocrine tumors as well as the role of asbestos exposure in lung cancer. David Dail, MD, gave a special dinner presentation entitled “The History of Pulmonary Pathology.” Dr Dail was also the recipient of the 2009 Pulmonary Pathology Society Lifetime Achievement Award (see accompanying tribute to Dr Dail).

The Pulmonary Pathology Society was founded in 1995 by William Travis, MD, as a collection of pathologists united by a shared interest in pulmonary pathology. Our aspirations are similar to other subspecialty pathology societies. We seek to advance the field of pulmonary pathology both as an educational and scientific endeavor and as a career for young pathologists. In the pursuit of these goals, the Pulmonary Pathology Society joins with other societies in promoting overall excellence in our fields.

For more information about the Pulmonary Pathology Society, please contact Donald G. Guinee Jr, MD (president) at [email protected].

The author has no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

Author notes

Donald G. Guinee Jr, MD, received his medical degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to his medical education he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut. During residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology at Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, he encountered Dr Dail's newly published book Pulmonary Pathology, which helped to foster an intense interest in pulmonary pathology. After a year in surgical pathology at Oregon Health Sciences University, he completed additional fellowship training in pulmonary pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC, and National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, under the guidance of William Travis, MD, and Michael Koss, MD. He was subsequently an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, and University of Utah, Salt Lake City, before moving in 1998 to Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.  Dr Guinee has more than 41 peer-reviewed publications predominantly in the field of pulmonary pathology. He has been a speaker or moderator at 17 national and international workshops including meetings of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, the American College of Chest Physicians, the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the International Academy of Pathology, and the Pulmonary Pathology Society. He is currently on the editorial board of Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, has served as a reviewer for numerous other journals, and has also served as a member of the abstract review board for the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. Past awards include the Arthur Purdy Stout Society for Surgical Pathologists (1995), the John Brinton Hill Award (1995), and the Charles Carrington Memorial Prize (1996) received for his work in lymphomatoid granulomatosis, the spectrum of p53 mutations in lung cancer, and the role of apoptosis in acute lung injury. Dr Guinee is currently serving as president of the Pulmonary Pathology Society of which he has been an officer for the last 8 years. In addition to his interest in pulmonary pathology, Dr Guinee also has an interest in and practices renal pathology, dermatopathology, and general surgical pathology.

From the Department of Pathology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.

College of American Pathologist
2010