Zubair W. Baloch, MD, PhD received the James W. Reagan Award from the International Academy of Cytology for his outstanding achievements in clinical cytology. The award is given every third year at the International Congress.

As described by the International Academy of Cytology, "Dr. James W. Reagan, MD, FIAC (hon) (1918–1987)  was chairman of Pathology at Case Western Reserve Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Born in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, he received his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Pittsburgh. He came to Cleveland as a fellow in pathology in 1946, the beginning of a distinguished 40-year career at the Institute of Pathology. He is remembered as an outstanding practitioner and investigator in the area of cervical pathology, and made great contributions in developing and refining a formerly simple method for cancer detection, into a mature discipline in pathology."

Dr. Baloch joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn in 1997. He has authored more than 200 peer reviewed publications in leading pathology journals on the subject of endocrine and head and neck pathology and has delivered numerous lectures, workshops and short courses both at national and international meetings. Dr. Baloch has co-authored 3 books and has served as co-editor of the most recent Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology. Dr. Baloch has also served as the chair of the terminology and morphologic criteria committee of the 2007 NCI sponsored thyroid FNA initiative which led to the development of the Bethesda Thyroid FNA Classification Scheme. Dr. Baloch also served on the international panel which recommended the renaming of encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma to non-invasive follicular tumor with papillary like nuclear features (NIFTP). He is the executive editor of Diagnostic Cytopathology and member of the editorial board of Cancer Cytopathology, Cytojournal, Endocrine Pathology and Journal of American Society of Cytopathology.

Dr. Baloch has served as the chair of ASCP and ASC annual meeting scientific program committee, member of USCAP education committee, ASC executive board, ASCP committee for continuing professional development, Papanicolaou Society scientific program committee, American Association of Endocrinologist thyroid nodule guideline task force and American Thyroid Association laboratory test committee.

For more information on the Reagan Award, please visit the IAC Awards webpage.