Join us for our Virtual Gala on October 22, 2026!
October 22, 2026
12:00 - 2:00 PM EST
Virtual - Join from anywhere
For 35 years, Pathologists Overseas has worked alongside laboratory professionals and partners around the world to strengthen access to quality diagnostics.
At this year’s Gala, we’re celebrating that history by honoring our founders, Dr. Heinz Hoenecke, Dr. Victor Lee, and Dr. Jack Ladenson, as well as our partners BD, Comp Pro Med, RCPAQAP, and Heart to Heart International. Join us as we celebrate 35 years of Pathologists Overseas, recognize the people and organizations who have helped make this work possible, and look ahead to what’s next.
Our Sponsors
Thank you to our 2026 Gala sponsors for supporting Pathologists Overseas and helping us continue strengthening laboratory medicine around the world.
Our Honorees
This year we recognize partners whose commitment has strengthened laboratory medicine far beyond their own walls.
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Becton Dickinson
Global Health Equity Champion Award
Recognized for a longstanding commitment to health equity and high-quality diagnostics in the world's most underserved communities — through clinical expertise, policy, and sustained investment in the organizations working on the ground.
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Heart to Heart International
Global Community Impact Award
A humanitarian organization whose disaster relief, healthcare programs, and community development work have helped restore millions of lives — and whose guidance helped establish and strengthen Pathologists Overseas itself.
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RCPAQAP
Institutional Excellence Award
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs donates materials and expertise to laboratories that could not otherwise access them — ensuring every patient benefits from the same standard of diagnostic quality, wherever they live.
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Comp Pro Med
Industry Leader and Innovation Award
A steadfast champion of our health-systems work, providing the laboratory software, technical expertise, and hands-on support that make an information system a sustainable tool for lab management.
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Heinz Hoenecke, MD
Founders' Award for Global Health
Founded Pathologists Overseas in 1991 and served as its first President. In retirement, he and his wife, Alice, raised funds and recruited volunteers for PO's earliest projects in Kenya, Eritrea, Nepal, Madagascar, El Salvador, Peru, and Ghana — building the volunteer-driven model that defines PO today.
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Jack Ladenson, PhD
Founders' Award for Global Health
Jack Ladenson Ph.D is now Professor Emeritus in Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine. He joined Pathologists Overseas in 1996 and established and led our clinical pathology programs. He has also served on our Board of Directors ever since. He helped evaluate more than 20 sites and coordinated the efforts of numerous volunteers in Eritrea, Bhutan, Uganda, and Malawi.
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Victor Lee, MD
Founders' Award for Global Health
Co-founder, among the first volunteers on PO's Kenya project, and Secretary/Treasurer for 20 years. He played an active role in initiatives across Madagascar and Bhutan and oversaw PO's project in Nepal, all alongside his pathology practice at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California.
Become a Sponsor
Partner with Pathologists Overseas at our 2026 Gala to strengthen diagnostic systems worldwide. Your sponsorship supports training, quality assurance, and laboratory information systems that help laboratory professionals deliver accurate, timely diagnoses to their patients.
Join the celebration!
