title: Computational Pathology: A Path Ahead.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We define the scope and needs within the new discipline of computational pathology, a discipline critical to the future of both the practice of pathology and, more broadly, medical practice in general.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To define the scope and needs of computational pathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  A meeting was convened in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2014 prior to the annual Association of Pathology Chairs meeting, and it was attended by a variety of pathologists, including individuals highly invested in pathology informatics as well as chairs of pathology departments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The meeting made recommendations to promote computational pathology, including clearly defining the field and articulating its value propositions; asserting that the value propositions for health care systems must include means to incorporate robust computational approaches to implement data-driven methods that aid in guiding individual and population health care; leveraging computational pathology as a center for data interpretation in modern health care systems; stating that realizing the value proposition will require working with institutional administrations, other departments, and pathology colleagues; declaring that a robust pipeline should be fostered that trains and develops future computational pathologists, for those with both pathology and nonpathology backgrounds; and deciding that computational pathology should serve as a hub for data-related research in health care systems. The dissemination of these recommendations to pathology and bioinformatics departments should help facilitate the development of computational pathology.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Drs Louis, Dighe, and Gilbertson); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Dr Feldman); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Carter); the Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri (Dr Pfeifer); the Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (Drs Bry, Gerber, and Golden); the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York (Drs Almeida and Saltz); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (Dr Braun); the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Science, State University of New York at Buffalo (Dr Tomaszewski); the Department of Pathology, Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut (Dr Sinard); the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (Dr Galli); and the Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Dr Becich).
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: Alexis B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Anand S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Dighe
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bry
authors.forename: Jonas S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saltz
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Tomaszewski
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gilbertson
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sinard
authors.forename: Georg K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Becich
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D010338:Pathology, Clinical / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*