International regional advisors

Country Advisor for Hong Kong

Dr Brian Lam received MBBS from the University of Hong Kong with Gold Medal in Pathology. He completed his Anatomical Pathology training in Hong Kong, and was awarded FRCPath in 2018. He also holds Fellowships at the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA), Hong Kong College of Pathologists (FHKCPath), Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (FHKAM), International Academy of Cytology (FIAC), Faculty of Pathology in Ireland (FFPath RCPI) and Faculty of Public Health in the UK (FFPH). He completed MSc in Precision Medicine at the University of Oxford with Distinction in 2022.

Dr Lam is a registered Pathology Specialist in Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. He is now Consultant at the Department of Pathology, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Hong Kong, where he practices general histopathology with subspecialty interests in head and neck pathology, breast pathology and cancer genomics. He also serves as Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently Examiner in Histopathology and Country Advisor for Hong Kong SAR at the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath), as well as panel member of the Anatomical Pathology Advisory Committee at the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA). Between April to June 2024, he undertook his subspecialty training in head and neck pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where he worked under the mentorship of Professors William Faquin and Vania  Nose  of Harvard Medical School.

Dr Omar Layth Qassid is a highly accomplished Consultant Anatomic Pathologist and Lead Breast Pathologist at Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi. With over 12 years of expertise in breast pathology, he has served at leading breast screening units across London and the East Midlands. A graduate of Iraq’s prestigious MBChB program in 2005, Dr. Qassid refined his skills through histopathology training at renowned institutions in London, achieving consultant status in 2015.

Throughout his career, Dr. Qassid has held prominent leadership roles, including Clinical Director of Pathology, Haematology, and Oncology, as well as Lead Breast Pathologist in the UK. His work in multidisciplinary care and diagnostic excellence has earned him recognition as a leader in breast pathology. He is an International Fellow of the American College of Pathologists (iFCAP).

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Qassid holds an honorary senior lectureship in Cancer Studies in the University of Leicester and has contributed to several publications. His interests in breast and skin pathology, digital pathology, and medical education have driven his efforts to advance diagnostic techniques and training. His innovative contributions to digital pathology, particularly through the ‘iHistopathology’ channel, earned him the prestigious Royal College of Pathologists’ Achievement Award in 2022.

Dr. Ranganathan N Iyer passed his MD from the Armed Forces Medical Coilege Pune India. Following a brief period of lecturership at the Department of Microbiology, KEM Hospital Bombay, he was appointed as a Consultant Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control Prevention at the Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay, India for over 8 years. At the present time, he has been affiliated as a Consultant Clinical Microbiology & Infection control at the Gleneagles Global Hospitals and Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Hyderabad, India. He has been a Chairperson for the Infection Control and Prevention at both the hospitas for over a decade. He completed his DNB Microbiology and Diploma In Pathology and Bacteriology in 1997, the FRCPath (UK) in Medical Microbiology and Infection control in 2007.

He has been interested in Antimicrobial Therapy for the management of Infections in Solid organ transplant recipients, paediatric and neonates patients as well as Infection control and prevention in these patients. He has been associated with teaching responsibilities over 10 years as a postgraduate teacher for DNB Microbiology conducted by the National Board of Examinations. He has been associated with the Royal College initially as a Country Lead Coordinator for India, and additionally as a Associate Regional Advisor SE Asia since 2021.

He has over 40 national and Internationa Publications to his credit with contributions to 4 textbook chapters, including a chapter on Beta Lactam antibiotics to the acclaimed 'Comprehensive Pharmacology’ published by Elsevier in 2022.

Professor Medhat Askar, MD, PhD, MSHPE, FRCPath, F(ACHI), D(ABMLI), HCLD(ABB) is a laboratory medicine physician scientist and an academic executive specialized in transplant immunology and cell and gene therapy. He holds clinical and academic positions in USA and the Middle East. He Askar serves as the National Advisor for Clinical Services at the NMDP, Minneapolis, MN, and a Clinical Professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan, TX, USA. In the Middle East, Prof. serves as the Clinical Advisor, Vice President for Medical & Health Sciences and Professor of Immunology at Qatar University College of Medicine and leads the Division of Clinical and Transplantation Immunology at Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. He also is the Project Lead of the Research & Development Talent Attraction and Support project under the Qatari Ministry of Public Health National Health Strategy 2030 (NHS-3), the Chair of the WHO Committee and a member of the executive committee of The Transplantation Society (TTS) and a Board Member of the Worldwide Network for Blood & Marrow Transplantation (WBMT).

Professor Danny David Jonigk is currently the Director of the Institute of Pathology at RWTH Aachen University and the Head of the National Reference Center for Thoracic Pathology, as well as the Head of the outpatient unit of the University medical Center of RWTH Aachen. Previously, he was the Head of the Lung Research working group at the Institute of Pathology, MHH. In his career has has been one of the finalists for the 'Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2022'.

Currently Professor, Vice-Chair and Director of Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas Houston, McGovern Medical School, USA, providing oversight for the quality performance of Anatomic Pathology. She has board certifications and fellowships of: National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, West African College of Physicians, Royal College of Pathologists, and Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology and Cytopathology with extensive experience in surgical pathology and cytopathology.

Her undergraduate medical education was at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan with distinctions in Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology (June 1977). This was followed with residency and fellowship training in Pathology in the following institutions: University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, Southampton General Hospital, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital, UK, St Barnabas Hospital, NJ and University of Kansas, USA. She has extensive pathology teaching and practice experiences in different parts of the world, including Nigeria, UK, USA, Saudi Arabia. She has been involved with mentoring generations of medical students, residents and fellows over the years. Her numerous collaborative research and studies have resulted in several publications/articles in various peer-reviewed journals.