Peter Louis, MD, JD

Peter Louis, MD, JD, MT (ASCAP) is a Vanderbilt Genomic Medicine Post-Doctoral Fellow. A large portion of pathology relies upon making sense of visual information, which is increasingly becoming digital. With the arrival of increased computing speed, rapid networking, cheap storage, and advancements in probabilistic modeling advancements, digital pathology applications have become increasingly utilized in pathology practices.

Digital pathology is the practice and science of turning digitized histopathological images from whole slide scanning into quantitative actionable information. It can be used for research and the development of clinical decision support systems such as rapid retrieval of prior cases, remote collaboration for interpretation of diagnoses, EMR integration, and image analysis.

The application of digital pathology image analysis via neural networks quantification of histologic and cytologic features, and tissue biomarkers allows for greater accuracy and reproducibility than human-based assessment alone. It will also enable the capture of subvisual morphometric phenotypes. This will enhance the scope and performance of precision medicine that aims at developing patient-tailored therapies.

The aim of his research is to configure deep learning neural networks for histopathologic image analysis that facilitate diagnosis, grading, prognostication, prediction of the response to therapy and the creation of large well-curated validation datasets. Other research interests include the development of end-to-end digital lab work including scanning, slide sharing, and annotation as well as the development of clinical decision support systems for both anatomical and clinical pathology.