Training Mouse Pathologists: Five Years of Pathology of Mouse Models of Human Disease Workshops

Abstract

On September 10–16, 2006 the 5th annual workshop, Pathology of Mouse Models of Human Disease, for human and veterinary pathologists was held at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. In this report we outline the rationale for setting up this workshop series, summarize our experience in its development, and outline our main goals and perspectives. The laboratory mouse has been critical to biomedical research since Clarence Cook Little defied the thoughts of the day nearly a century ago by creating the first inbred mouse strain (1). By the end of the millennium just a few years ago inbred mice, and more importantly, genetically engineered mice (GEMs), became the primary tool (2) for major genetic based biomedical breakthroughs. The development of this tool created a problem that has been evident for decades but brought to a head in recent years; whereas the technology to create mutant mice has become more or less routine, there is a shortage of experts to do the requisite histopathologic phenotyping in which accurate comparisons are made with human diseases. Veterinarians are trained in the pathology of multiple species but have only limited knowledge of human pathology, and their experience with laboratory mice is generally restricted to the diagnosis of infectious disease. Many veterinary pathologists gain expertise in toxicologic pathology while evaluating rodent tissues for the pharmaceutical industry, but few are trained in the nuances of mouse genetic pathology and the validation of human disease models. Physicians have extensive knowledge of Homo sapiens, but many are not well versed in the intricacies of rodent anatomy and physiology. We have struggled to redefine training programs and services which integrate veterinary and physician pathologists into a cohesive interdisciplinary approach on an institutional basis (3); however, the traditional Hippocratean, mentor-student approach to teaching medicine remains one of the most effective approaches. In 1999, Drs. Jerry Ward and John Sundberg organized the first large meeting to focus on this topic that was held at the National Institutes of