Magnifying The Power of Pathologists | PATH News Network Daily Edition

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February 26, 2026

House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit 2026

Blood Test Uses Donor DNA to Track Transplant Health | Utilizing Cell-Free DNA Technologies for Clinically Significant Biomarkers in Solid Organ Transplantation

Deep Dive into Molecular Testing to Improve Diagnosis of Difficult Tumors

Collaborative Negotiations with the C-Suite with Dr. Ranna Parekh (American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE))

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Transcription

SB
Magnifying the Power of Pathologists at HOD PLS 2026, a blood test using donor DNA to monitor transplant health, and how molecular testing is helping resolve some of the most difficult tumors in practice. Coming up next, this is the Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Stevon Burrell. It's Thursday, February 26th. Magnifying the Power of Pathologists sets the tone for this year's House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit. The event returns in April with a focused week of education, governance, and advocacy designed to strengthen how pathology leaders influence their organizations and shape health policy. On Saturday, April 25th, Education Day features collaborative negotiations with the C-Suite, a six CME credit workshop, offered in partnership with the American College of Healthcare Executives. The session is led by Dr. Ranna Parekh with support from CAP members, Dr. Emily Volk and Dr. Guillermo Martinez-Torres. Dr. Padik says the foundation of strong leadership begins with empathy.
Dr. Ranna Parekh
I just intuitively use my skill sets as a physician, which is empathy, collaboration, and I kept scratching my head and thinking, Why didn't I get this in med school? Why didn't I get this in residency? Why didn't I get this actually in college and high school? Like, this should be the forerunner for anybody who wants strong relationships, wants to be working with people, wants to work together so that you get a better outcome together and a stronger relationship.
SB
Later in the show, we'll hear more from Dr. Parekh on why collaborative negotiation is essential for today's physician leaders. And also... A simple blood draw may change how transplant teams monitor organ health. A CAP article highlights donor-derived cell-free DNA, or DDCF DNA, a test that measures fragments of donor DNA released into the bloodstream when a transplanted organ is injured. Dr. Annette Sunhi Kim, chair of the CAP Personalized Health Care Committee, explains, When the organ is healthy, donor-derived DNA levels remain low. Elevated levels signal possible injury from rejection, infection, or reduced blood flow. Professional guidelines now support DDCF DNA testing in kidney and heart transplant recipients. Studies show the test can reliably rule out rejection, helping clinicians avoid unnecessary biopsies, while identifying patients who may need closer monitoring. Researchers are also evaluating its use in additional organ types, including liver and lung transplantation. When clinical history and morphology leave unanswered questions, molecular testing can provide critical clarity. A Q&A in Medical Laboratory Observer features Dr. Jie-Fu Chen and Dr. JinJuan Yao discussing how genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic profiling are helping doctors better identify hard-to-diagnose cancers. Their central point, molecular data must be interpreted within clinical and histologic contexts. Some genetic changes can clearly point to a diagnosis, but in most cases, physicians need to look at a mix of genetic signals to be sure what type of cancer they're dealing with. They also examine the growing role of artificial intelligence-based classifiers. These tools show strong predictive potential, but they are intended to support pathologists, not replace judgment. Careful validation, transparency, and correlation with morphology remain essential. And finally, as HOD PLS approaches, one Education Day workshop focuses on skill many physicians use daily but were never formally trained to master. Negotiation. Collaborative negotiations with the C-suite offers a case-based interactive approach to building influence, managing conflict, and engaging effectively with executives and senior leaders. The workshop is led by Dr. Ranna Parekh in partnership. with the American College of American Executives. Hi, Dr. Parekh. From your perspective, why are negotiation and conflict resolution skills especially important for pathologists in today's healthcare environment?
Dr. Ranna Parekh
For physicians and physician leaders, this is a core leadership skill. It's not nice to have. It's essential. Physicians, by definition, are leaders. They're running. teams, multidisciplinary teams, people with differences of opinion. always building relationships, always thinking about patients and families. You know, health care is constantly changing. The environment around us is constantly changing, politically, economically, but also the expectations of our patients and families is radically changing. And I think in many ways, this is a positive thing that physicians are very comfortable with these skill sets that require an artistic. as well as a scientific component. And so it was medicine and artistic and scientific components were kind of ideal to be leading the field of negotiation and collaborative negotiations. Specifically, I was a practicing child, adolescent family psychiatrist in Boston, and had this opportunity to join a collaborative negotiations company that was based in DC at the time. It resonated on so many levels. It gave me confidence. It gave me methodology. The more I practiced, the better I got at it. It allowed me to just intuitively use my skill sets as a physician, which is empathy, collaboration. And I kept scratching my head and thinking, why did I get this in med school? Why did I get this in residency? Why did I get this actually in college and high school? Like, this should be the forerunner for anybody who wants strong relationships, wants to be working with people, wants to work together so that you get the best. better outcome together and the stronger relationship.
SB
How does negotiating with the C-suite look different for pathology leaders?
Dr. Ranna Parekh
There's some foundational work in negotiations and having a couple of conversations under my belt with some of the folks at CAP, which has been phenomenal because we certainly don't want to do a generic talk. There's a component, I think, maybe the first hour or so, maybe an hour and a half. that's basic, it's foundational, just to bring a level playing field, given that people are different developmental stages of understanding. There's a few terms that I introduced just so that we're all speaking the same language, though the meaning behind those four or five terms is probably more important than the actual term. What I think the most valuable are the curated cases. So we build up, and that's the hope, is that, for example, after the first hour and a half, there'll be a small, very relevant case that... everyday pathologists will likely encounter. And they get a chance to operationalize those skill sets with that case that's been curated with the help of two leaders in CAP. There's five stages to collaborative negotiations. People think of negotiations, they think, okay, Stefan and I are going to be like face to face. I don't even know him. I don't know anything about him. And we're going to argue. And I'm going to try to take as much as I can out of this situation. Actually, no. Collaborative negotiations is doing a lot of preparation. And these days, you've got all kinds of access to information. That information also includes, well, I really want and who do I need to negotiate with? Who's the person that has something that I need? And what's Devon like? What's he like in advance? Then there's stage two, where you begin the interaction with the party that you're about to negotiate with. And I always make the point that that's probably one of those critical stages often overlooked. So again, two stages. before you get to the face-to-face. And then you have stage four, which is sort of the conclusion. And then I always say to people, as you're going through stages one through four, you're thinking about stage five, which is implementation. Because if you don't have a mindset of win-win, if you don't have that mindset that I want Stefan to also get a lot of what he wants, but I need him to hear what's important to me, I also need to build this relationship because if we get to a conclusion and you don't like me, You're going to filibuster, so I can't implement. All I got to do is go to Washington, D.C. and get in Congress for me to make that point. So there's so much science and thought behind each of the stages. And I really think that science is going to attract this. I think that in the artistic part, which comes with leadership, is when people will really see, yes, you practice this. And yes, I have the skills. I'll have the confidence. And knowing that this will really achieve positive results and they'll see it in that practice case that we have. They'll see the results right then and there.
SB
Now, this summit prepares pathologists to lead within their organizations and advocate on Capitol Hill. How do negotiation and influence skills strengthen their effectiveness in both settings?
Dr. Ranna Parekh
So I think that's one of the things about collaborative negotiations that's really great. There is an ability to export it across different settings, personal settings. clinical everyday settings or research, but also in sort of this advocacy lane. But I think the most important thing is, as you said, practicing it, but also enhancing those skill sets because there's constantly new literature in this space. One of the other things I think is amazing about being a physician is that we've always signed up the day we walk in to lifelong learning. We do that because, you know, the medicines change, you know, health practices change. So in that same vein that we keep up with the literature for our patients with regards to that, you've got to keep up with the literature on collaborative negotiations. And it is just, you know, there's so much information out there to continue to work on your skill set. So I think that has to be an intentional. focus, that you're committed to this lifelong learning. But again, the same basic tenets, five stages, having that mindset of win-win. The other thing I should say too, and something about your question made me think of this, we are so often in the position of modeling leadership. And so when they see your mindset of being win-win and collaborative, it will pull the other party into that mindset. It speaks to your leadership skills to walk in with that collaborative mindset that you're going to be truly listening and being open to what the other party has to say and what's important to that. And being vulnerable to say what's really important to you. And that's how you get to creative, innovative solutions. But I do think our role so often is to model good behavior, best practices, leadership skills. And so we have to be oftentimes in the position. of bringing the other party on board with that collaborative mindset and maintaining that posture, I think, to help people understand that this is really what long-term relationships and the best outcomes are.
SB
That's all for today. Check out the show notes for links to stories we covered. You can find Path News Network on Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Subscribe on your favorite platform and look for more updates in our weekly newsletters. published every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll be back tomorrow at 5 a.m. Eastern with more CAP News. For Path News Network Daily Edition, I'm Stevon Burrell. Have a good day.