SEASON 2, EPISODE 19 - Keith Wharton Jr, MD, PhD - The Crossroads Between Immune-Oncology and Digital Pathology

The big trend in oncology over the past few years has been immunotherapy. this trend is converging with the digital transformation we are undergoing in pathology we seem to be at the crossroads of immune-oncology, digital pathology, image analysis, artificial intelligence, and the increasing ability to Multiplex. Our guest is Keith Wharton Jr., MD, PhD from Ultivue, a company looking to reveal actional biology through multiplex immunofluorescence to make immunotherapy a reality for patients with cancer. Keith is a board-certified anatomic pathologist with diverse achievements in research, drug and diagnostic development, and clinical investigation. He leads Ultivue’s Pathology and Biomarker Analytics team. We’ll be discussing what is the need for multiplexing. How much information can Multiplexing add above and beyond standard methods. When do we reach the point of diminishing returns? what are some challenges to implementation and risks of complexity and system failure? In addition, we'll talk about specific applications for immunofluorescence and multiplexing versus the current state of the practice including immunohistochemistry and quantifying tumor infiltrating lymphocytes on good old-fashioned H&E sections.