Abstract: I am pleased to introduce you to Derek Allison, MD, a rising star in cytopathology. Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Dr. Allison studied biochemistry at Lipscomb University in Nashville. After the completion of his bachelor's degree, he attended Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he was on the medical education scholar track and earned membership in Alpha Omega Alpha. His experiences at Georgetown fostered an interest in pathology and led to training in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM). Dr. Allison served as a chief resident at JHUSOM and was instrumental in creating optional curriculum tracks in the residency program; these tracks allow residents to focus on specific areas (such as education, informatics, or global health) during residency. He also created a biweekly teleconference between pediatric pathologists at the Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and the JHUSOM pathology residents. In 2018, Dr. Allison stayed at JHUSOM to complete his training with a cytopathology fellowship. In addition to his local program building, Dr. Allison as a trainee was academically productive and active in national and international professional societies. He served as a College of American Pathologists inspector and as a junior member of the Scientific Program Committee of the American Society of Cytopathology. His work during training led to more than 25 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters in addition to several departmental research awards, including our esteemed Mabel Smith Resident Research and Education Award. After his fellowship, Dr. Allison joined the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UKCOM), where he signs out both cytopathology and surgical pathology. Dr. Allison has an academic focus in genitourinary pathology—especially genitourinary cytopathology—and he is the Medical Director of Genitourinary Pathology at UKCOM. Along with his clinical research, Dr. Allison has obtained translational research support as a principal investigator and coprincipal investigator from several sources, including a Prostate Cancer Alliance Pilot Grant and a grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Dr. Allison continues to be active in professional societies by serving as a member of the Product Innovation Committee of the American Society of Cytopathology, as a member of the Cytopathology Committee of the College of American Pathologists, and is also a subcommittee member of the Paris System for Reporting Urinary Cytology. He continues to publish papers and recently authored a popular textbook, Atlas of Cytopathology: A Pattern Based Approach. An ever-dedicated teacher, Dr. Allison won the Anatomic Pathology Faculty Teaching Award at UKCOM in his first year as faculty. Perhaps more important than all the aforementioned accomplishments, Dr. Allison is an excellent colleague who greatly enhances his work environment and makes the work much more pleasant. —Christopher VandenBussche, MD, PhD I was introduced to cytopathology as a medical student while working with Dr. Mary Sidawy. At that time, I was mostly drawn to the field because I thought the Papanicolaou and Diff-Quik stains made cells look like art. When I became a resident, I was mentored by Dr. Chris VandenBussche and Dr. Syed Ali. Under their guidance, I saw firsthand how cytopathology is often the first chance at making a critical diagnosis. This was intellectually satisfying, but more importantly, it showed me that the practice of cytopathology helps patients avoid more invasive or morbid procedures. I see cytopathology playing a larger role in obtaining diagnostic material for ancillary and molecular testing to advance precision medicine. In addition, we will see progression in technology that may make telecytology and digital cytopathology cheaper, better, and more widely adopted. The future of cytopathology is bright, and we need more ambitious doctors dedicated to providing the best patient care possible with the smallest specimens available. Mentorship is incredibly important. Regardless of where you go to practice, keep in touch with those who trained you and identify a local mentor as well. I have been fortunate to have colleagues and mentors that are inquisitive and are always trying to push the field forward. Notably, Dr. VandenBussche and Dr. Ali have been invaluable resources and continue to mentor me professionally and personally, despite being at different institutions hundreds of miles away. Locally, I am mentored by Dr. Therese Bocklage, who guides me daily and is always teaching me something new. I rely on a combination of resources that I mostly access electronically, including abstracts from conferences, journal publications, the “systems” books, and other well-regarded textbooks. I also benefit greatly from conversations with my peers and mentors in the field. I have many interests, which include multi-institutional collaborations for providing more generalizable findings regarding common diagnostic dilemmas and rare diagnostic pitfalls. In addition, I have an interest in more translational methods, such as the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) as it pertains to translational and diagnostic pathology. I hope to contribute meaningfully to the field of cytopathology in ways that are immediately relevant to the diagnostic cytopathologist, while also continuing to drive the field forward with more innovative techniques, such as MALDI-MSI.