A week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan in late Spring may sound too good to be true, but for 30 fortunate undergraduate students from around the United States and its territories, this becomes a reality when they are accepted into the annual Developing Future Biologists (DFB) short course.

Michigan Medicine's Youth Summit at the Big House 2023

Dr. Xinna Li's story.

The ever-popular annual Clinical Pathology Symposium returned to an in-person format this year in honor of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week and was a hit! The theme for this year’s Symposium was Resilience. Rebound. Readiness. Held in the football-shaped Dining Hall at the NCRC [...]

Dr. Lee Schroeder shares his story.

Please join us in congratulating him on this honor!

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Alexey Nesvizhskii on this outstanding recognition!

Some exciting news is breaking in the Department of Pathology specifically for our laboratory professionals. Medical Laboratory Professionals week is coming soon – the week of April 23, 2023, and with it, a new opportunity is being presented to our phlebotomists, laboratory technicians, and medical laboratory scientists working on the frontlines of our clinical laboratories.

This year, thanks to the generosity of Ms. Suzanne Butch, laboratory professionals through the Senior Technologist level will be eligible to have their certification or recertification fee reimbursed. Laboratory professionals will need to sign-up HERE no later than Monday, May 8th at 8:00 am to be selected at random to have their fees reimbursed. Anyone who’s certification or recertification fees have or will come due in 2023 is eligible to enter. Up to $5,000 in fees will be covered across those whose names will be drawn on May 9th*.

If you wish to help ensure more of our frontline staff have their certification fees covered, and can obtain ongoing professional education, you can contribute to this fund. Certification fees range from $170-$240 and recertification from $95-$110. Larger gifts can help multiple individuals or be used to grow the fund for future use. Even a small contribution can make a big difference to our frontline staff, so make a gift today!

*This story was updated on 4/12/23 to extend the deadline for submission and the drawing date, which were originally April 27 and April 28.

Saturday, March 11^th dawned as a typical early Spring day in Michigan, but the day was anything but routine! The North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) at the University of Michigan was teeming with high school students and their parents or guardians, eager to learn more about careers in cancer research. Students learned from career panels as well as through mock tumor boards, DNA extraction activities, and tours of research laboratories [...]

After several decades of hard work by many scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School and elsewhere, an antibody (anti-C5a) has just been approved by the US FDA for treatment of humans who are septic and have developed lung infections with COVID-19, resulting in severe pulmonary dysfunction requiring external lung support. The antibody, anti-C5a, was originally developed in the Dr. Peter Ward laboratory in the early 2000s. The mAb was shown to dramatically reduce lung infections in polymicrobial sepsis in mice. 

A recently published research study led by Drs. Sem Phan and Tianju Liu from the Department of Pathology reported new findings that could help scientists predict disease progression and suggest a new immunotherapy target for the treatment of IPF and other fibrotic lung diseases.

These findings uncovered a new role for the immune checkpoint marker (B7-H3) in lung fibrosis that can potentially serve as a novel target for immunotherapy to slow down or abort the progression of lung fibrosis in patients with IPF and other chronic lung fibrotic diseases. In addition, sB7H3 levels in the plasma could serve as a potential marker to predict how quickly the disease progresses in patients and assess responsiveness to therapy, allowing for more informed treatment decisions.

A perspective from four lab managers.

Congratulations to the Department of Pathology faculty who were honored on Thursday, March 16th by the Medical School for being appointed to named professorships in 2022. This included Dr. Ulysses G. J. Balis, Director of Pathology Informatics, who was honored for his appointment as the A. James French Professor in Pathology Informatics, and Dr. Jolanta Grembecka, who was honored for her appointment as the Richard and Susan Rogel Professor in Cancer Therapeutics. Balis and Grembecka were among 51 Medical School faculty members honored [...]

Match day is when medical students find out where they will be going for their residency training programs and the training programs find out who is coming.  In this year’s match, the Department of Pathology discovered that the following medical students will be coming to Michigan on July 1, 2023 [...]

The Pathology Trainee Wellness Committee offers wellness support in all forms: personal, professional, mental, and physical. 

Dr. Steven Hrycaj discusses his role as the Technical Director of Immunohistochemistry Laboratory

An Interview with Rodney Barber in honor of Histotechnology Day

The Department of Pathology offers the Molecular and Cellular Pathology Graduate Program (MCP) for students who are interested in translational research – the step between basic science research and clinical care, the “bench-to-bedside” transition. Sahiti Marella is a graduate student in the MCP who was recently awarded her first F31 grant. This is an NIH-funded predoctoral grant that provides awardees with a monthly stipend to support tuition and fees, and funds for training-related costs while they conduct their PhD research project, for up to five-years of funding.

Giving Blueday, March 15, 2023

Drs. Corey Post and Nathan McCammon, 2023-2024 Chief Residents in the Department of Pathology, are pleased to announce that Dr. Ashley Brent will be joining the chief resident team as the Assistant Chief for the 2023-2024 academic year. Please join us in welcoming her into the new role!

Researchers from the Department of Pathology recently published a fascinating study into clinician’s perspectives on integrating pathologists into the patient’s care team in the form of pathology explanation clinics (PECs) [1]. Clinicians were asked, “How interested would you be in having your patient meet with a pathologist to discuss their pathology report and see their tissue under the microscope?”

It is with great pleasure that we announce Dr. Lakshmi (Priya) Kunju as our new Director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology (AP) effective Wednesday, March 1, 2023. We are grateful for all that Dr. Kunju brings to the table including her considerable experience with operations across the division and her willingness to jump in on short notice to ensure stability during this transition. She will work with department leaders and others to identify and recruit to her role as Section Head for Surgical Pathology and Medical Director of our gross room and histology laboratory. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Priya Kunju on her appointment as AP Director. Please also join us in thanking Dr. Liron Pantanowitz for his nearly 3 years as AP Director. He has been remarkably productive in his role and can be proud of a division that is among the VERY BEST team of AP faculty, staff, and learners in the world!

Hsiang-Yu (David) Hu, a Molecular and Cellular Pathology graduate student in the lab of Dr. Andrew Muntean recently published his first first-authored article in Leukemia.

Kidney donor Cheryl Wonch shares her story.

New space at University Hospital as we celebrate Phlebotomy week.

At Michigan Medicine, many of our faculty serve across multiple departments, which opens up opportunities for students to also experience not just Pathology, but also other disciplines. The Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics is one of the departments with which several of our Pathology faculty and students collaborate. In honor of the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the DCMB featured one of our joint students as shared below.

Brief overview and photographic highlights from 2022

Congratulations are due to Dr. Asma Nusrat, F. Peyton Rous Professor of Experimental Pathology and Director of Experimental Pathology, and Dr. Charles Parkos, Carl V. Weller Professor and Chair of Pathology, on being named 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows. The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. The 2022 class was comprised of 505 scientists, engineers and innovators from around the world and across all disciplines.  Being selected as an AAAS Fellow is one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community. The newly elected Fellows are being recognized for their scientific and socially notable achievements spanning their careers.

The laboratory of Dr. Chang Kim, recently published a high-impact study that elucidates the bone marrow niche and mechanisms by which innate lymphoid cells differentiate between those which remain in the bone marrow and those which emigrate to the rest of the body.  Read more[...]

Lizbeth Harcourt, MSW and LaTresa Wiley, MSW share their experiences supporting Michigan Medicine families

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate over time and new booster vaccines become available, the question arises, are the multivalent boosters more effective at improving immune response than the monovalent vaccines with which we began? This question was addressed by a multi-site group from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York) and from the University of Michigan Medical School Department of Pathology. Drs. Riccardo Valdez, Carmen Gherasim, and Aubree Gordon represented the Immunity Associated with SARS-CoV-2 (IASO) research team at U-M[...]

The American Board of Pathology (ABPath) is pleased to announce the appointment of May Chan, MD to the ABPath’s Test Development and Advisory Committee (TDAC) for Dermatopathology beginning in 2023. The TDACs are responsible for developing and reviewing the ABPath certification exam questions that assess and certify a physician’s education, knowledge, experience, and skills in order to provide high-quality care in the pathology profession. "As an established subject matter expert in dermatopathology, the contributions of Dr. Chan will be highly valued," commented Bonnie Woodworth, ABP Communications Director.

The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center researchers received one of the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s four inaugural Class of 2022 TACTICAL (Therapy ACceleration To Intercept Cancer Lethality) Award. This $30 million program will support cross-disciplinary pioneering research toward the goal of developing 21st Century therapies for the most life-threatening form of prostate cancer [...]

One of the most fascinating aspects of a career in cancer research is that one never knows when or where the next great discovery will occur. This was true of a recent breakthrough discovery made by the Dr. Russell Ryan laboratory at the University of Michigan Medical School. They were shocked to find that active regulatory elements in B-ALL contained not only typical protein binding sequences but also simple repeats of the sequence “GGAA”, usually considered a form of “junk DNA” with no regulatory function [...]

Members of the University of Michigan Department of Pathology and Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, in collaboration with the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, recently published a large study on clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs), which represent about 75% of the RCC cases and account for the most RCC-associated deaths. This study set out to create a comprehensive profile of ccRCC, combining histologic and molecular profiles. By analyzing both the microscopic cell structures and the genetic makeup of the cells, these researchers discovered significant intratumoral heterogeneity in 90% of ccRCCs. This indicates that ccRCCs originate from multiple tumor cell lines, called tumor subclones, that may become metastatic and could independently influence response to therapies. Through this study, the team was able to molecularly stratify aggressive histopathic subtypes, which may lead to more effective treatment strategies for patients and improved survival.

Dr. Robertson Davenport was recently interviewed regarding the new Blood Bank at Michigan Medicine. You can view his interview here. Please consider donating blood today!  You can find a blood donation site near you and sign up to give blood at www.redcrossblood.org/.

Blood banks need a constant supply of deposits to meet the needs of patients with cancer, traumatic injuries, failing organs, blood diseases, and more.

Standing-Room-Only Crowd Honors Achievements

Featuring keynote speaker, Dr. James Olson, alumnus Dr. Aaron Burberry and the MCP faculty and students

Batoul Aoun, DO shares her journey from war refugee to Chief Resident

The Department of Pathology was well represented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) held on October 14-18, 2022. This year’s event was held at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas with hundreds of people in attendance. The meeting provided an international forum for discussion of a broad range of issues pertaining to forensic pathology and death investigation. The event featured hundreds of platform and poster presentations from forensic pathologists, pathology trainees, pathology assistants, forensic anthropologists, toxicologists, and medical students. Several of our faculty and trainees were featured at this year's conference.

Inpatient and outpatient phlebotomists from Michigan Medicine Department of Pathology are highlighted in career snapshots  videos produced by The Pathologist Magazine. Click through to watch these videos or to get a link to open positions in phlebotomy at Michigan Medicine.

For many of us, the idea of having blood drawn can be an unnerving thought. The use of needles and the sight of blood itself is not something we look forward to. However, Michigan Medicine has made several measures over the years to help the experience of our patients when needing to draw blood; especially young children [...]

Walk through a 30-year career with Dr. Gabriel Nunez--highlighting his key discoveries, perspectives on work/life balance, and those he mentored.

On September 25^th, Pathology faculty, staff, trainees and their families gathered at Wiard’s Orchard in Milan, Michigan for the annual Pathology Appreciation Fall Picnic. While the weather was overcast, it was a pleasant fall day in the lower 60’s – just right for a day of fun activities!

Nebraska native, David Golden, shucks Scarlet and Cream for Maize and Blue as he moves up the ranks in Pathology.

A research team from the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology undertook a study to illustrate how careful assessment of cytologic and biomarker features may provide physicians with information on Metastatic Prostatic Cancer (MCP) patients’ prognosis and the best therapies to consider [...]

The Department of Pathology's Specimen Processing Team

We are pleased to share that the Board of Regents today (Oct. 20) approved the appointment of Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, M.S., Ph.D., as associate dean for graduate and postdoctoral studies in the Medical School, effective Oct. 1, 2022. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nikolovska-Coleska on her associate dean role.

This year’s Blood Battle against Ohio State is October 27 – November 23.  Consider donating during Blood Battle to be a part of the fight to save lives across the state and country...and to beat OSU! To make a donation appointment, visit bloodbattle.org and click "Donate" on the homepage [...]