A look back at 2024

Every year in PiV feels different. Unique because of the people who join us, the work packages that evolve, the spin-off projects that take us into new directions, the congresses we contribute to (and get inspired by), the ups and downs of grant applications, the products and publications finally coming to live.

What made 2024 especially rewarding was watching the team grow and push forward together toward shared goals. It felt like we were truly living up to what Patologi i Vest (PiV) was meant to achieve.

En gruppe personer i et møte — From left to right, top row: PiV’s students at Eitri (Kamil, Sander, Jennifer, Kathinka, Julie), Nazanin at her working desk, birthday celebration at Eitri (Hrafn, Justinas, Nazanin, Ralph). Middle row: Patrick at ECDP 2024, Radwan at ECDP 2024, Sander demonstrating the EMPAIA API, Hrafn at MMIV 2024. Bottom row: Emma with opponents (Mark Arends, Elisabeth Wik), Preparation of posters for the MMIV conference (Maya, Borghild, Mari), Hrafn at ECDP 2024, PiV retreat at Haukeliseter (Silja, Kjersti, Anders).

One of the year’s highlights was seeing Emma masterfully defend her PhD thesis in Stavanger wrapping up work packages 3 and 4 about proliferation markers in breast carcinoma and analysis of endometrial intraepithelial hyperplasia/neoplasia.

Meanwhile, work package 1 reminded us why research demands patience: Getting our paper about quantitative analysis of Ki67 in neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract published was and still is a bumpy road.

We took important steps forward in work packages 2 and 6 addressing non-neoplastic kidney diseases. A new approach to quantifying interstitial fibrosis has been promising, and we’ve seen the first fruits of our glomerular lesion classification efforts: a preprint is out, and we’re working hard on the next papers.

Rebuilding the team for work package 7 after the loss of Friedemann was a challenge but Patrick handled the situation. Process mining and modelling are now moving into exciting territory with simulation and optimization of pathology workflows.

Looking ahead, we are optimistic that by 2025, a regional center for computer-assisted pathology diagnostics, our “DADiVest – Datamaskin Assistert Diagnostics In Helse Vest” will become a reality.

And, finally, a warm welcome to Karl Oskar, who will take up again work package 5 about automatic classification of skin lesions.

Other highlights? Our phantastic students from diverse fields - data engineering, biomedicine, medical technology, and medicine – add so much energy and fresh perspective to the team. And hiring 2 data engineers was a game changer! Thanks to them, we’ve exported all our kidney biopsy slides and can finally also work on our very own datasets.

PiV was set to be active from 2020 – 2024. Because of various circumstances, not all work packages could be finished during the regular project period. We are keeping the momentum going, and some packages will carry over into the coming years.

In parallel, our spin-offs are flourishing. We are running an innovation project to implement commercial AI tools for breast and prostate cancer, collaborating with industry on colorectal polyp classification, and contributing to the NorPreM project on AI in pathology.

2024 taught us again that people and teamwork are the foundation of everything we achieve. A big thanks to everyone who believed in us and has supported us this year! We will do our best to continue our work on creating tomorrow’s pathology services.