News & Announcements

A Leader by Any Other Name

By Ashley Stewart posted 2 days ago
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“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Some of the most influential people in an organization are not managers. In a recent podcast interview previewing her keynote at the 2026 NSH Histotechnology Convention , Ritu Ward discusses how leadership often has less to do with titles and more to do with the qualities that inspire trust and action. They may not have direct reports, decision-making authority, or a leadership title, and yet people still look to them when work gets stuck, problems need solving, or the team needs someone to step forward. Ward's keynote explores five leadership attributes, self-awareness, ...
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AI and Patient Safety: Why Histology Professionals Need to Be Part of the Conversation

By Ashley Stewart posted 16 days ago
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Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in healthcare. It is rapidly becoming part of how laboratories, pathologists, and healthcare teams process information, identify patterns, and support clinical decision-making. As discussed in the NSH podcast conversation with NSH Convention Keynote, Dr. Quincy Gu, the future of histology is increasingly connected to predictive, explainable, and multimodal computational pathology, with patient care remaining at the center of the discussion. For histology professionals, this presents an important opportunity: helping others understand that AI is not replacing human expertise. Instead, it has the potential ...
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Michael Faraday: The Scientist Behind Technology in Today’s Histology Lab

By Ashley Stewart posted 07-23-2026
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When you think of the pioneers who shaped histology, names like Cajal Golgi, and Ehrlich may come to mind. But one of the scientists whose discoveries made the modern laboratory possible never processed a tissue sample, stained a slide, or looked through a microscope. His name was Michael Faraday. Born in England in 1791, Faraday rose from humble beginnings to become one of history’s greatest experimental scientists. With little formal education, he developed a lifelong passion for discovery and went on to make groundbreaking contributions in electricity, magnetism, and chemistry. So, what does electricity have to do with your histology lab? Faraday’s ...
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Thinking About Digital Pathology? Here’s What to Look for in a Scanner

By Ashley Stewart posted 07-09-2026
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For Dahl Chase Diagnostic Services in Bangor, Maine, adopting digital pathology was not just a way to keep up with technological trends—it became necessary to save a considerable amount of time and money. Thanks to the location of the group, and the fact that the company’s pathologists act as medical directors for 20 hospital laboratories, it was not uncommon for pathologists to spend far too much of their workday on the road. “Our pathologists at that time were traveling back and forth to this remote location one to two times a week to perform frozen sections,” Dahl Chase’s Director of Clinical Operations Michele Robinson, HTL(ASCP) CM , MBA, explained in ...
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How Histotechnology Plays a Role in Lung Transplant Technology Advancement

By Ashley Stewart posted 06-25-2026
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Lung transplantation has always been a challenge in the medical field as there is always issue in shortages of suitable donor lung for patients who are waiting for years with their deteriorating conditions with lung diseases. Even with patients who are fortunate to find the right donor lung, often there are complication with primary graft dysfunction and long-term chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). Ranked as the 2nd top hospital in the World, The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) at University Health Network (UHN) is a leading institute in lung transplant technology and research. In 2008, the Ex-vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) system was invented at TGH to ...
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A New Approach to Visualizing Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration

By Ashley Stewart posted 06-11-2026
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Understanding how substances cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains one of the most complex challenges in neuroscience and histotechnology. The BBB’s tightly regulated structure protects the brain from harmful agents—but it also limits access for diagnostic tools and therapeutic compounds. A recent article from the Journal of Histotechnology, “An optimized method for monitoring blood-brain barrier penetration of small-molecule fluorescent probes, ” introduces an innovative workflow designed to overcome long-standing limitations in BBB research. This study presents a practical, sensitive, and highly reproducible histological method that enhances how researchers ...
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Understanding Key Differences Between Histology and Mohs

By Ashley Stewart posted 05-29-2026
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Are you a histologist who wants to expand your career horizons and add skills to your repertoire? You may want to consider becoming a Mohs tech. Although this work is similar to what histologists already do every day, in the NSH webinar Basic Mohs Made Simple: Understanding the Process , presenter Camille McKay, M.Ed., BSHCA, HTL(ASCP) CM , CLT, explains the differences and walks you through the techniques that are used in this process. First and foremost, it’s important to understand what the Mohs process does. As a histologist, you’re used to doing work that is part of a diagnostic process. However, Mohs is actually a therapeutic tool that is designed to ...
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Two Is Better Than One… At Least When It Comes to Measures of Central Tendency

By Ashley Stewart posted 05-15-2026
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Warning: This blog contains extra nerdy feelings about data. Do not read while driving — it could make you drowsy! In grade school, I was taught the basics of mean, median, and mode. As the years went by, my favorite of the three — and the one I used the most — became mean, or the arithmetic average. The average class grade, the average SAT score, earned run averages, the average height and weight of my kid… mean became the baseline for how I judged data sets. And don’t get me wrong — mean is still helpful in gauging general direction when trying to answer questions. But since those early years, I’ve discovered that just a handful of outliers (very large ...
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Garbage In, Garbage Out: The Fixation Rule We Can’t Ignore

By Ashley Stewart posted 05-01-2026
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Histologists know this proverb by heart: “Tissues that didn’t fix well will not process well, will not section well, and will not stain well.” Everything in histology begins with proper fixation. When fixation is compromised, it creates a cascade effect through every subsequent step — processing, embedding, sectioning, staining, and ultimately interpretation. There’s another universal truth that is harder to digest but just as accurate: “Garbage in, garbage out.” We know this. We live this. And yet, fixation is often the one step we have the least control over. When the Fixation Didn’t Go Well Recently, our lab received several large pieces of swine heart ...
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How to Promote Quality Standards Through Effective Communication

By Ashley Stewart posted 04-17-2026
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Revamping the way your team works in the lab can be extremely challenging. Shortfalls in processes need to be identified. New standards must be developed. Goals should be created. Consistency has to be monitored. Updates should be made when necessary. Even with all that, the success of this quality improvement pursuit depends on how well leaders are able to communicate—especially when team members are resistant to change. During the NSH webinar The Pursuit of Quality: It’s Not the Beast You Think It Is , Elizabeth Krauth, HTL(ASCP) CM MBA, of Emory University Hospital describes her experience trying to make change when confronted with dissatisfied ...
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Understanding Multiplex IHC

By Ashley Stewart posted 04-03-2026
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IHC is an important tool that histology scientists use to obtain information on protein expressions needed for diagnostics and treatments. With multiplex IHC stains, more than one primary antibody is used on a single slide, so more information can be extracted during one test. In the NSH webinar, Multiplex IHC: The Advantages of Doubling Up , Christine Easson, Applications and Workflow Specialist/Canadian Marketing Coordinator at Agilent Technologies goes into detail about how multiplex IHC works and why it’s worth incorporating into your lab. Pros and Cons of Multiplex IHC Techniques Like any other technique that histologists use in the lab, IHC methods ...
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A New Approach to Bladder Cancer Detection

By Ashley Stewart posted 03-19-2026
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Bladder cancer remains one of the most challenging cancers to diagnose and monitor. Patients often undergo repeated invasive procedures, such as cystoscopy, which are uncomfortable, costly, and resource intensive. While urine cytology offers a non-invasive alternative, traditional methods have well-known limitations, especially in detecting low-grade disease and producing consistent, reliable results. A recent study published in the Journal of Histotechnology , titled “ Novel Liquid Immunocytochemistry with Machine Learning Analysis for Bladder Cancer Detection, ” presents a promising approach to overcoming long-standing challenges in bladder cancer ...
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Understanding the Tools of Embedding

By Ashley Stewart posted 03-06-2026
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Embedding is an instrumental part of histotechnologists’ work, since the process of enclosing tissues or specimens so they solidify to make blocks is important for tissue orientation. “Many tissues do require specific orientation at embedding, so that way we can see an area of interest within the specimen when we look at it under the microscope,” explained Shana Splawn, MBA, HTL (ASCP) CM , Supervisory Histotechnologist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Embedding is also used to provide resistance, so we can create those nice, thin sections at microtomy.” This is possible because of the tools histologists use during embedding. In ...
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The High Cost of Johne’s Disease

By Ashley Stewart posted 02-20-2026
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Johne’s Disease, which is caused by Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), is not just a disease that’s potentially devastating for the cattle, sheep, and goats that contract it. It can be a costly nightmare for farmers and may even have health impacts on humans. In the NSH webinar, Jonesing For Johne’s - AFB Control Tissue , presenters Kathryn Stoll, AS, HT (ASCP) CM of Newcomer Supply and Tori Smith, HT (ASCP) CM of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory give us a comprehensive look at the various effects of Johne’s Disease, as well as how histotechnologists use their expertise to confirm it. The Toll Johne’s Disease Can Take Since Johne’s ...
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Top 5 Traits of a Great Histotechnologist

By Ashley Stewart posted 02-06-2026
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Listen to Article Whether you’re trying to fill vacancies in your lab—or wondering if a career in histology might be right for you—consider this: ask any two histology professionals how they entered the field, and you’ll likely hear wildly different stories. There’s no single path into histology, but no matter who you talk to, you’ll notice strong common threads in personality that define a great histotech. Here are the top five traits nearly all successful histotechnologists share. Patient-Focused Mindset (Behind-the-Scenes Helping) You care about helping people, even if you’re not providing hands-on patient care. Every tissue slide you prepare ...
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Are Multiple GMS-Stained Levels Needed? Not Necessarily, According to Study

By Ashley Stewart posted 01-09-2026
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Listen to Article Gomori methenamine silver (GMS) stains are commonly used for esophageal biopsies in order to determine if a sample has fungal esophagitis. During this process, many labs require two GMS-stained levels, but is it necessary and cost effective? In an article published in the Journal of Histotechnology , researchers Michael Occidental from The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone Grossman School of Medicine; Andrew Dunn of Hattiesburg Clinic’s Department of Pathology and Dermatopathology; and Aaron R. Huber from the University of Rochester Medical Center tackled that question. In order to find the answer, the ...
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NSH Was Doing Distance Learning Before It Was Cool — Here’s Why It Still Works

By Ashley Stewart posted 12-12-2025
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Listen to Article NSH is the leading provider of histology education—from the NSH Annual Convention , to eLearn , our online learning center, to our online histology community, The Block . But there’s another NSH educational gem that’s been around since the days of kodachromes—one many members don’t even realize exists. The NSH Laboratory Webinar Series (formerly the Teleconference Series) has quietly delivered high-quality, histology-focused education for nearly thirty years, curated—and often taught—by NSH members themselves. Despite its long history, this program remains one of NSH’s best-kept secrets. Curious why ...
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The Hunt for the Perfect Slide

By Ashley Stewart posted 11-26-2025
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Listen to Article Every histologist has had some kind of adhesion slide mishap in the lab. Maybe you put a tissue on a slide and can’t keep it in place. Maybe you find a background stain on the slide as you’re working. Maybe some water gets trapped under the tissue and you can’t get a good scan when doing digital pathology. Whatever the case, you end up with a problem that means you have to start over—which will not make your colleagues happy. “Nobody wants to have an unhappy pathologist,” said Rachel Finn, MBA, HTL (ASCP)CM, Product Marketing Specialist at StatLab. “Nobody wants to take that extra time to have to repair that slide or to recut and restain ...
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From Professional to Patient: A Med Tech’s Organ Donation Journey

By Ashley Stewart posted 11-10-2025
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Listen to Article As a med tech with a medical laboratory science education, Natasha Leon, MLS(ASCP)SBB (sister in law of our 2025 Histotechnologist of the Year, Nicole Leon), of Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin feels very comfortable with healthcare procedures. She spent most of her career in a hospital setting doing transfusion service, and has since moved to the blood donor side of the field. However, when her personal and professional lives collided, she got a crash course in the organ donation area of healthcare, which Leon shares in the NSH When Worlds Collide Through Organ Donation webinar. While Leon understood what was happening when ...
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Dementia Demystified

By Ashley Stewart posted 10-31-2025
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Listen to Article According to the Alzheimer’s Association , there are currently over 7 million people around the country living with Alzheimer’s disease—and that amount is expected to skyrocket to 13 million by 2050. And as the number of people living with the condition increases, so does the price tag for their care. The organization also reports that the health and long-term care costs for dementia patients is currently $384 billion and by 2050, it will be $1 trillion. Despite this prevalence and cost, Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia are not as understood as they could be. One example of the consequences of this ...
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