Introduction Academic medicine has long faced the challenge of addressing health inequities, reflecting on how these contribute to structural racism, and perpetuating negative social determinants of health. Most recently, we have constructed opportunities for dialogues about racism, discrimination, and microaggressions (RDM). As such, we created a professional development program that encouraged participants to (1) openly discuss RDM and the impact they have in academia, (2) learn about tools to address and respond to RDM, and (3) move towards the creation of inclusive environments. The target audience included institutional leaders, faculty, trainees, professional staff, and health care teams. Methods We sought to meet workshop goals by integrating anti-racist dramaturgical teaching, introducing concepts knowledge, and practicing communication tools. To assess learning and evaluate our workshops, participants completed a pre- and postsurvey. Results Results showed that 30 participants were more comfortable with discussing issues related to race/ethnicity, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, and spirituality after participating in the workshops. Prior to the two workshops, the percentage of learners who felt confident initiating conversations ranged from 29% to 54%. After the workshops, the percentage of learners who felt confident ranged from 58% to 92%. The greatest increase, 100%, was observed in the levels of confidence in initiating conversations related to race/ethnicity. Discussion Despite medical education's commitment to cultural competence and institutional mission statements that value diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, professional development opportunities are limited. Participants strongly agreed their participation in such a workshop was relevant and important to their professional work.

The field of molecular pathology has advanced over the past 15 years with the integration of laser-based microdissection systems and a variety of associated biological assays and analysis methods (Bonner et al. 1997; EmmertBuck et al. 1996;Burgess and Hazelton 2000;Iyer and Cox 2010;Craven and Banks 2001;Mustafa et al. 2008;Lawrie and Curran 2005;Charboneau et al. 2002;Gillespie et al. 2004;Bichsel et al. 2001;Callagy et al. 2005;Kurihara et al. 2002) SummaryLaser-based tissue microdissection is an important tool for the molecular evaluation of histological sections. The technology has continued to advance since its initial commercialization in the 1990s, with improvements in many aspects of the process. More recent developments are tailored toward an automated, operator-independent mode that relies on antibodies as targeting probes, such as immuno-laser capture microdissection or expression microdissection (xMD). Central to the utility of expression-based dissection techniques is the effect of the staining process on the biomolecules in histological sections. To investigate this issue, the authors analyzed DNA, RNA, and protein in immunostained, microdissected samples. DNA was the most robust molecule, exhibiting no significant change in quality after immunostaining but a variable 50% to 75% decrease in the total yield. In contrast, RNA in frozen and ethanol-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples was susceptible to hydrolysis and digestion by endogenous RNases during the initial steps of staining. Proteins from immunostained tissues were successfully analyzed by one-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry but were less amenable to solution phase assays. Overall, the results suggest investigators can use immunoguided microdissection methods for important analytic techniques; however, continued improvements in staining protocols and molecular extraction methods are key to further advancing the capability of these methods. (J Histochem Cytochem 59:591-600, 2011)