Running as part of National Pathology Week (NPW) 2026, the event celebrates the NPW 2026 theme, 'Welcome to the Lab' by inviting anyone with an interest in working in medicine or science to join our expert speakers to find out what it’s like to work in anatomical veterinary pathology.

This free webinar explores careers in anatomical veterinary pathology.

Veterinary pathology is one of 17 specialties in pathology, and is the study of animal disease. Veterinary pathology can be divided into 2 sub-specialties: clinical and anatomical.
Veterinary pathologists work in animal disease surveillance, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. 

Chaired by RCPath's Undergraduate and Foundation Lead, Dr Matthew Clarke and co-hosted by undergraduate veterinary student, Christian Atkins, this webinar features two speakers: Professor of Veterinary Anatomic Pathology, Professor Kate Hughes and Resident, Dr Catherine Wilson.

The speakers will explain what anatomical veterinary pathology is and why it is important to healthcare. They’ll also share their personal journeys into the specialty including their education and training, as well as their day-to-day work including any research they do.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask speakers questions. This online event is free, but registration is essential. Book your place via the booking button to the right.

There are 12 webinars on different careers and topics in pathology running during NPW 2026. See more details on the NPW page.

To find out more about careers in pathology visit our careers pages.

Meet the speakers

Chair: Dr Matthew Clarke

Matthew is a Clinician Scientist and Consultant Paediatric Neuropathologist based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children for his clinical work, and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) for his research. He undertook his medical training at Keele Medical School, originally choosing a career in surgery before changing to pathology. He completed a PhD in the molecular pathology of infant gliomas at the ICR. Matthew was Chair of the RCPath Trainees’ Advisory Committee from 2018-2023 and the Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Trainee Doctors’ Group (ATDG) from 2021-2024. Matthew is actively involved in different pathology societies, including being ‘Deputy Meetings Secretary’ of the BDIAP, a former Editor of ‘ACP news’ and the Trainee Representative for the British Neuropathological Society. He has been the recipient of awards for public engagement, research, and science communication. He featured in the Pathology Power List 2021. He is the current RCPath lead for foundation and undergraduate pathology. 

Co-host: Christian Atkins

Christian is a final year Veterinary Medicine student at the University of Surrey with a passion for anatomic pathology and a desire to have a career in this fascinating field.

Speakers: Professor Kate Hughes and Dr Catherine Wilson

Dr Catherine Wilson: biography: Catherine Wilson is a second-year Senior Clinical Training Scholar (resident) at the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital (QVSH), University of Cambridge. Catherine graduated from the University of Cambridge as a vet in 2010. Prior to her residency she has worked in mixed and small animal first opinion and referral practices for over seven years, gaining a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (small animal internal medicine) and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Animal Health. Catherine subsequently moved to the University of Liverpool to complete an MPhil, investigating the carriage of Salmonella by pigs in Kenya and Malawi, followed by a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD, also based at the University of Liverpool, Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Research Centre and Wellcome Sanger Institute, investigating the epidemiology of non-typhoidal Salmonella within households in Malawi.  Following a year as a Research Associate at the Wellcome Sanger Institute within the Bacterial Genomics and Evolution Group of Professor Nicholas Thomson, Catherine commenced her anatomic pathology residency at the QVSH in January 2024.