The Digital Pathology Association (DPA), a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of digital pathology applications in healthcare, announces its formation and welcomes all members of the digital pathology community worldwide to join.
 
Goals of the DPA include supporting digital pathology education initiatives, defining best practices, influencing standards and interfaces, organizing an annual conference that addresses diverse needs within the industry, and more.          
 
“The DPA establishes a unified forum for digital pathology, which is essential due to the exponential growth of the market,” said Gene Cartwright, CEO of Omnyx and Gold Sponsor of the DPA. “While there is healthy competition between companies with digital pathology offerings, it is clear that clinicians, scientists, and suppliers of products in digital pathology and related markets could benefit by coordinating efforts and activities in the key areas that the DPA intends to address.”
 
Dr Ajit Singh, CEO of BioImagene and Gold Sponsor of the DPA, said, “We welcome the formation of the DPA as the voice of the emerging digital pathology community. We believe that digital pathology is bound to be the key driver of personalization in medicine. We look forward to enabling the DPA to help move pathology into the digital age.”
 
In addition to Gold Sponsor, membership levels include Corporate Affiliate, Association Affiliate, and Individual Member. Gold Sponsors will play an important role in the future of the association, and will appoint a representative to the DPA’s Board of Directors, as well as elect non-industry representatives to the Board. Corporate/Association Affiliates garner a seat on the Industry Council, which meets annually with the Board to share best practices, influence DPA activities, provide feedback and hold open discussion.
 
Current Gold Sponsors include Aperio, BioImagene, Omnyx, and Sunquest. Corporate Affiliates currently include McKesson and CRi, a list that is expected to grow in light of the interest that has poured in from around the globe.
 
The DPA will kick off the 2009-2010 membership year at its first annual meeting, Pathology Visions, September 13 to 15, in San Diego. The first face-to-face Board of Directors meeting will take place, in addition to the inaugural Industry Council meeting.

Source: Digital Pathology Association