Meet Jessica Hoane, Senior Pathologist at StageBio. Discover her journey in veterinary pathology and her work supporting preclinical safety studies.

Can you introduce yourself, share your role at StageBio, and what initially drew you to join the team?

My name is Jessica Hoane. I am a Senior Pathologist with the Systemic Tox group here at StageBio. I also help oversee our traveling necropsy team.

I originally intended on becoming an equine soft tissue emergency surgeon, but ultimately joined a mixed animal practice in rural Western Michigan primarily working with dairy cattle clients immediately after completing vet school. The clinic was not a great fit, and I chose to continue my education at the University of Kentucky, where I realized that research was also not a great fit. However, while in Lexington, I started observing necropsies at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and fell in love with pathology. Thankfully, I secured a spot for a veterinary pathology residency at Michigan State University supported by MPI Research that allowed me to train in toxicologic pathology for the third year of my residency, which gave me a leg up when coming back to a large dog study on my desk after completing my ACVP board exams in 2008. After a few years of working as a veterinary toxicologic pathologist, I realized that my toxicology knowledge was scant, so I pursued a non-thesis master's of Toxicology (MTOX) from North Carolina State University, which was completed in Dec 2016. In addition, I prepared for and passed the American Board of Toxicology exam in 2016 and have maintained my ABT status through diligent pursuit of continuing education opportunities, most often through the American College of Toxicology. In late November 2019, I left my position at a large CRO and joined StageBio as I was looking for a role at a smaller company with a diverse and skilled group of pathologists. The newly formed StageBio fit the bill.

What does a typical day look like for you at StageBio - from the moment you walk in to signing off on deliverables?

I am so thankful that my role can be performed in my home office. Once the dogs are walked and I am sufficiently caffeinated, I head to my office, check for any new emails, and log on to the appropriate data capture platform for the study and start reading slides. We have the flexibility to either put studies in our Provantis system or directly enter data into a client’s system. I have experience with Pristima, Provantis and TDMS (including the DOS version). Prior to starting a new study, I will go over any client-provided data, including body weights, organ weights, clinical pathology data, and in-life clinical observations. Once the slide evaluation is complete, a draft pathology report is completed and sent to the assigned research associate for QC. One of my favorite moments of work is cracking open the first slide box of a new study and uncovering the mysteries contained within. Once I am engrossed in slide reading, not much can pull me away from them!

What are your core responsibilities at StageBio, and how do you collaborate with clients throughout their programs?

My primary responsibility at StageBio is the histopathologic assessment of slides, creation of a set of microscopic data, and completion of an anatomic pathology report. The slides I evaluate are currently most often routinely (hematoxylin and eosin) stained glass slides, but occasionally I am tasked with the evaluation of slides with special stains, immunohistochemical stains, or very rarely, immunofluorescent labelling. Also, digital images of slides are becoming increasingly popular, and we have several different imaging software options for visualizing client-provided or StageBio-created digital slide images. For more routine non-clinical safety assessment studies, e.g.  28-Day rat studies, we are typically brought in only at the tail end of projects for the slide evaluation. We occasionally have meetings after report issuance to further discuss findings or address any questions or concerns of the client. We are more often brought into early discussions on more investigative type of work, or studies with unique tissue collection or sampling.

My other responsibility is attending necropsies at client locations, most often with a team of necropsy technicians. For necropsy trips, we have a pre-necropsy meeting with the client to go over the protocol tissue collection list, any unique procedures to be performed, and what tools/equipment are available from the client, and which we should bring along.

What do you enjoy most about working at StageBio?

I enjoy the variety of studies that I get to evaluate. I also really enjoy my coworkers. Fostering friendships and collaboration with my fellow StageBio employees is very rewarding. Getting to know the folks I interact with every day on a more personal level is super important to me and creates a more enriching work experience. The same concept definitely applies to clients. I enjoy developing strong working relationships with clients. Please don’t be afraid to ask for a meeting. We like putting a face to a name!

To learn more about StageBio, visit us here or contact our team.