In October 2024, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) appointed Johnston-West Endowed Chair of Pathology Jiaoti Huang, MD, PhD, as a member of its steering committee for the inaugural AACR Pathology in Cancer Research Working Group (PCRWG). He has been a member of AACR since 2004 and a member of AACR’s Pathology Task Force, which recently evolved into the PCRWG, for the past several years.
The primary role of the steering committee will be to work with the group’s membership at large to conceptualize, plan, and administer AACR’s pathology-related programs and initiatives including special conferences and workshops as well as annual meeting programming.
The PCRWG represents the newest of AACR’s scientific working groups. Its mission is to convene a diverse set of national and international leaders and stakeholders engaged in pathology-focused research to analyze the current state of the field, identify opportunities for innovation to accelerate progress, and assist in guiding AACR’s ongoing and future programs and initiatives dedicated to supporting pathology in cancer research.
The group will strive to accomplish this mission by working to:
- Facilitate transdisciplinary approaches to the study of pathology in cancer research.
- Promote the incorporation of molecular concepts and techniques as well as novel data science tools into well-designed pathology-based studies.
- Provide an ongoing forum(s) for the scholarly discussion and development of effective approaches to the conduct and interpretation of pathology in cancer research.
- Foster collaborations with individuals engaged in other scientific disciplines.
- Recommend scientific and educational programs to be held in conjunction with AACR meetings, workshops, and conferences that will serve to advance the field.
- Assist with the professional advancement of early- and mid-stage investigators engaged in pathology-focused research.
- Expand the community of individuals who are expert in or interested in advancing progress in pathology in cancer research.
Huang is an internationally renowned prostate cancer pathologist and researcher who has spent over two decades studying strategies for targeting neuroendocrine cells to improve prostate cancer treatment. His research has been funded at a high level by the federal government and private foundations.