This issue of the Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, edited by Dr. Anil Parwani, is a special issue is devoted to topics in Pathology Informatics. Topics include but are not limited to: Basics of Information Systems (Hardware, Software); Networks, Interfaces and Communications; Databases; Data Representation, Coding and Communication Standards; Laboratory Information Systems; Enhancing and Customizing Laboratory Information Systems; Laboratory Management and Operations; Specialized Laboratory Information Systems; Middleware and Laboratory Automation; Bar Coding and Tracking; Molecular Pathology Informatics; Pathology Informatics and Project Management; Digital Imaging; Telepathology; Healthcare Information Systems; Data Security and Reliability; Role of Informatics in Patient Safety and Quality Assurance; Role of Pathology Informatics in IT Leadership; Selection and Implementation of New Information Systems; Biomedical Informatics and Research Informatics; Training in Pathology Informatics; and more.

This issue of Surgical Pathology Clinics takes a departure from its presentation of Differential Diagnosis, Histopathology, Staging, and Prognosis of tumors in different anatomic sites. This special issue is devoted to topics in pathology informatics as they relate to the practice of surgical pathology. Topics include: Basics of Information Systems (Hardware, Software); Networks, Interfaces and Communications; Databases; Data Representation, Coding and Communication Standards; Laboratory Information Systems; Enhancing and Customizing Laboratory Information Systems to Improve/Enhance Pathologist Workflow; Laboratory Management and Operations; Specialized Laboratory Information Systems; Middleware and Laboratory Automation; Synoptic Reporting in Anatomical Pathology; Bar Coding and Tracking; Molecular Pathology Informatics; Informatics and Autopsy Pathology; Pathology Informatics and Project Management; Digital Imaging Basics; Use of Digital Images in Clinical Practice; Whole Slide Imaging; Telepathology; Mobile Technologies for the Surgical Pathologist; Image Analysis; Advanced Imaging Techniques; Healthcare Information Systems; Data Security and Reliability; Role of Informatics in Patient Safety and Quality Assurance; Role of Pathology Informatics in IT Leadership; Selection and Implementation of New Information Systems; Biomedical Informatics and Research Informatics; Training in Pathology Informatics; and Building Tools for the Surgical Pathologist: Next Generation Pathologist. Editor of this issue, Dr Anil Parwani, is Professor of Pathology and Biomedical Informatics and Director of Division of Pathology Informatics. Dr. Parwani is well known as expert in the area of Anatomical Pathology Informatics, which includes design of quality assurance tools, tissue banking informatics, clinical and research data integration and mining, synoptic reporting in anatomical pathology, clinical applications of whole slide imaging, digital imaging, telepathology, image analysis and lab automation and workflow processes, such as barcoding and voice recognition.

This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine titled, "Conceptual Advances in Pathology" addresses the key factors impacting pathology and details the technology surrounding the field. The Guest Editor, Zoltan Oltvai, MD., splits the issue into three sections; Technological Advances, Process Advances, Educational and Practice Needs, and the Business of Pathology.

This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, edited by Dr. Dan Milner, will focus on Global Health and Pathology. Topics include, but are not limited to: Clinical Laboratory Volunteerism, Pathologists Overseas; Anatomic Pathology Volunteerism; Funding Strategies in Research and Global Pathology; Diagnostics for Cancer and Health Systems building through pathology laboratories; Training the next pathologists in global health; Maximizing internet resources for improving pathology/lab medicine in LMICs; Pathology-based research in Africa; HIV and Cancer: Role of Pathology in success; Lymphoma and Pathology in Africa: Current approaches and future diagnostics; Laboratory Capacity as a tool for building health systems; Building Cross Country Networks for Laboratory Capacity and improvement; Lab accreditation; Practical success in Telepathology experiences in Africa; Pathology and WHO vision of the future of LMICs; Breast Cancer in LMICs: Why we need pathology and clinical trial capability to solve this challenge; Cytopathology in LMICs: why and how to integrate to capacitate healthcare; and Biorepositories and Data Cores for Research in Global Health.

This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine will focus on Clinical Pathology and is edited by Geza S. Bodor. Topics include, but are not limited to, Steroid measurement / Salivary cortisol measurement, Protein testing by LCMSMS, LCMSMS in the Clinical Laboratory, Laboratory Standards for Clinical LCMSMS, The need to teach LCMSMS to clinical laboratory scientists, MALDI-TOF in the clinical laboratory, MALDI TOF MS in the clinical microbiology laboratory, LCMSMS method development consideration in clinical laboratory practice, Cancer diagnosis using mass spectrometry, Adulteration and LCMSMS drug testing, Diagnosis of inherited metabolic disorders using LCMSMS, Harmonization of LCMSMS protein assays, Vitamin D testing by LCMSMS versus by immunoassay, Pain management testing by LCMSMS, and Development of FDA approved clinical mass spectrometer.

This series is directed to healthcare professionals who are leading the tra- formation of health care by using information and knowledge. Launched in 1988 as Computers in Health Care, the series offers a broad range of titles: some addressed to specific professions such as nursing, medicine, and health administration; others to special areas of practice such as trauma and radi- ogy. Still other books in the series focus on interdisciplinary issues, such as the computer-based patient record, electronic health records, and networked healthcare systems. Renamed Health Informatics in 1998 to reflect the rapid evolution in the discipline now known as health informatics, the series will continue to add titles that contribute to the evolution of the field. In the series, eminent - perts, serving as editors or authors, offer their accounts of innovations in health informatics. Increasingly, these accounts go beyond hardware and so- ware to address the role of information in influencing the transformation of healthcare delivery systems around the world. The series also increasingly focuses on “peopleware” and the organizational, behavioral, and societal changes that accompany the diffusion of information technology in health services environments.

In the past 30 years, since the development of the first integrated Laboratory Information Systems, the clinical laboratory has provided diagnostic data on patients in vast amounts. However, only now is the inherent value of these data for the management of populations of patients across the continuum of care being been tapped. The Contribution of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine to Clinical Informatics explores the broad context of pathology and clinical laboratory data in the rapidly evolving healthcare system and focuses on the mechanism for fully incorporating these data into the management of patients and populations through pathology informatics. The Contribution of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine to Clinical Informatics begins with an overview of the informatics requirements of a 21st century integrated health system and the functional requirements for its information systems. It then explores both the mandatory requirements for integration of pathology informatics into the health system, and opportunities for value-added applications of pathology informatics. Topics include diagnostic reporting, mobile applications, disease surveillance and prevention, support of the physician practice, health information exchanges, metrics for accountability, digital imaging and artificial intelligence, parsing of anatomic pathology information, coding, genomics and microbiomics, safety and validation, patient-generated data, pathology data in the community, biorepositories, insurance benefits and design, and training in informatics. The Contribution of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine to Clinical Informatics is intended to help inform clinical pathology practitioners, pathologists-in-training, pathology researchers, and health care information specialists, and enable them to more fully realize the opportunities emanating from use of pathology and clinical laboratory data. Explores the broad application of pathology informatics within the context of rapidly evolving healthcare systems Offers a broad overview of how healthcare can be integrated across all data sources, especially those data streams coming from the clinical laboratory, imaging, and pharmacy, as well as from electronic health records, and financial and actuarial sources Develops a shared language for clinicians and researchers within pathology and laboratory medicine, managers of pathology and clinical chemistry laboratories, and healthcare information specialists