College of Science celebrates its first graduates of unique AI-enhanced histotechnologist program

In May 2024, the College of Science celebrated its first graduates from the Histotechnologist Certification Program, offered in partnership with Inova Health Systems. Accepting four individuals per year, three George Mason University students, and another from Old Dominion University, joined family and friends to celebrate their accomplishment, punctuated further by all four having passed the required American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) board exam. 

George Mason alumnus Nicholas Hoo-Fatt, PhD BINF ’22 and Department of Biology assistant professor Anne Verhoeven led efforts to form this partnership to offer this certification for students seeking to give themselves the edge in the pathology workforce. The ten-month program taught by Inova Health System Pathologists, Certified HTs and HTLs, and Certified Cytologists, s is the only one in the United States to offer both digital and molecular pathology within its curriculum. Students study the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and molecular techniques to diagnose patients using a combination of methodology tools Hoo-Fatt pioneered. 

“Using multiple existing technologies, I helped to design a combination of molecular and AI-based digital scoring tool to cut down on the time needed to diagnose cancer patients,” Hoo-Fatt said.  “Instead of the 45 days it typically takes to diagnose patients, this workflow pattern reduces diagnosis time down to same day or 24 hours—an incredible difference for patients with advanced stages of cancer.” 

This work earned him a blue ribbon from the American Society for Clinical Pathology in 2022. Hoo-Fatt was also named one of the Top 55 Laboratory Professionals in the U.S. by Medical Laboratory Observer and received the 2024 Excellence in Whole Slide Imaging & Image Analysis Award, given by the National Society for Histotechnology.

In addition, to digital pathology, the program curriculum includes instruction in molecular pathology—which diagnoses disease by examining molecules within tissues and body fluids. It also encourages volunteering; Hoo-Fatt and students assisted the Inova Healthy? Plate Club which teaches grade-school children about cooking and nutrition. They also supported Girl Scout activities, local food drives, and DREAM B!G—an Inova program aimed towards facilitating a more diverse and inclusive health care workforce. 

Interested in this certification? Applications for the 2025-26 school year are being accepted through February 7, 2025. Contact histologyprogram@inova.org to learn more.