The 2024 Conference Recap
Multiple Department of Pathology faculty members have recently been recognized for their achievements and nominated to leadership roles for their excellence within their respective fields. These members continue to demonstrate the depth of our department's knowledge and research.
Congratulations to Dr. Allecia Wilson for her recognition by the Michigan Medicine Alumni Society with the Early Career Distinguished Alumni Award, presented to her October 12, 2023. Dr. Wilson is an Associate Professor of Forensic and Pediatric Pathology, Director of Forensic Pathology, and Director of the Forensic Pathology Fellowship Program. She also serves as the Medical Examiner for Washtenaw County.
This award honors U-M Medical School alumni who epitomize the Michigan tradition of excellence through exemplary achievement in medical education, research, or patient care in the initial 20 years of their career. Only one award is given each year.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Wilson on this well-deserved honor. To read the full press release, please click here.
Lizbeth Harcourt, MSW and LaTresa Wiley, MSW share their experiences supporting Michigan Medicine families
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.
Review the conference and plan to attend next year's event!
Learn more about what it takes to be a Medical Examiner Investigator (MEI) within the section of Autopsy and Forensic Pathology.
Last year was an eventful time within the Department of Pathology at Michigan Medicine. As we reminisce about 2021, let's revisit some of the greatest memories [...]
Lisa Neal, Kelly Root, Sierra Onickel, and Camren Clouthier share insights into Forensic and Departmental Photography.
The Department of Pathology was well represented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) held on October 15-19, 2021. This year’s event was held in person at the Hilton West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, FL. There was also an on-demand virtual option for those who couldn’t attend the conference in person [...]
Congratulations to Dr. Carl Schmidt, Professor of Forensic Pathology and Wayne County Medical Examiner for being selected by Gift of Life Michigan to receive the prestigious 2021 Champion Award for promoting organ and tissue donation. Schmidt was one of 13 individuals recognized at the Champions Gala held at Zingerman’s Cornman Farms in Dexter on August 13th.
Detroit's Daily Docket (D3), a podcast produced by Michigan Medicine forensic pathologists at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office (WCMEO), launched its initial season in 2020. This successful podcast series is now gearing up to launch Season 2 on February 26, 2021.
Michael Caplan, MD is no stranger to the University of Michigan Department of Pathology. This is actually his fourth time joining the Department! After completing a BS in Criminalistics at Michigan State University and an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Caplan joined the Department for the first time as an AP/CP Resident from 1987-1992.
While in medical school, Dr. Myra Kahn discovered her love for gross pathology during a pathology rotation. This led her to a residency in Anatomic Pathology at the University of Chicago from 2014-2018. As a resident, Forensic Pathology “[put] together my interest for gross pathology along with autopsy,“ shared Khan. She also discovered her love for breast pathology [...]
Congratulations to Batoul Aoun, DO, a second year AP/CP resident, for winning the John Smialek Best Resident Award for her 2020 poster presentation “SARS-CoV-2 in the Kidneys: Postmortem Renal Histopathologic Findings in Three Patients with COVID 19” at the National Association of Medical Examiners Conference (NAME) [...]
In a broadly collaborative effort, Pathology faculty Drs. Carl Schmidt, Jeffrey Myers, Kristine Konopka, Paul Lephart, and Teresa Nguyen joined Michigan Medicine faculty from the departments of Epidemiology, Internal Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, Mathematics and Complex Systems, and the School of Public Health in a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases entitled “SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in decedents in a large, urban medical examiner’s office.”
When people think about forensic pathology, images of crime shows where an investigator sets out to determine a murder victim’s cause of death often come to mind. However, it’s important to acknowledge the crucial role this field actually plays in our collective response to death, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unravel...
New research related to H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma with extensive intratumoral microthrombi in young adults with COVID-19 from the Department of Pathology was just published in Acta Neurologica. [...]
The Department of Pathology has a long history of exceptional fellowship directors and this tradition continues as we welcome five new Fellowship Directors for this academic year.
The publication takes an in-depth examination of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) caused by COVID-19 and how it is morphologically indistinguishable from other causes of DAD.
Great mentorship, at just the right time, led Milad Webb, MD, PhD, to specialize in forensic Pathology. After completing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Nevada in Reno, Webb earned his MD at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. He then enrolled in residency training at [...]
A new podcast out of the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, in partnership with the Michigan Medicine Department of Pathology, provides education for the lay public and armchair detective. Drs. Leigh Hlavaty, Lokman Sung, Milad Webb, and Omar Rayes are your guides through the field of forensic pathology [...]
After a nationwide search, Allecia (Lisa) Wilson, MD, has been named the new Director of Autopsy and Forensic Services. Wilson follows the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen. In addition to this new role, Wilson serves as Residency Program Director [...]
The National Association of Medical Examiners met recently in Kansas City, MO, for their annual conference. University of Michigan forensic pathologist, Milad Webb, MD, PhD, presented on the critical national shortage of forensic pathologists, as well as pathologists in general [...]
Drs. Wilson and Hlavaty take on new roles beginning January 1, 2020.
For Omar Rayes, MD, accepting a faculty position in Michigan feels like coming home. Born in Damascus, Syria, Rayes moved to Cincinnati after medical school. He did a year of research at Cincinnati Children’s hospital before embracing life in Michigan during his [...]
The University of Michigan hosted nearly 100 forensic pathologists, medical examiners, death investigators, coroners, and others at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for its 10th Annual Advances in Forensic Medicine and Pathology, May 9-10, 2019, for two full days of continuing education. Speakers and attendees from across the globe gathered to learn and contribute to this exceptional conference. Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen, Professor, and Director of Autopsy and Forensic Services, Department of Pathology, Michigan Medicine kicked off the conference with an intriguing review of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Co-Ed Murders from 1967-1969, during which time 7 females, ages 13-23, were murdered by a serial killer, then dumped in open areas [...]
The University of Michigan hosted nearly 100 forensic pathologists, medical examiners, death investigators, coroners, and others at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Three publications by Carl Schmidt, MD, Professor of Forensic Pathology, Wayne County Medical Examiner, were released [...]
Every day at Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital, Lisa Belanger Neal uses a camera to demystify death.
Rohit Mehra, MD—faculty perspective on the need to understand why a patient’s cancer would not respond to treatment.
U-M hosts experts and trainees as they sharpen skills and discuss trends in forensic medicine.
Congratulations to both Sarah Avedschmidt, MD, and Anna (Ania) Owczarczyk, MD, PhD, winners of the outstanding poster award at the first annual poster session for the Advances in Forensic Medicine and Pathology Conference on May 10, 2018! Posters presented at this year’s Advances in Forensic Medicine & Pathology Conference [...]
Assistant Professor of Forensic Pathology and Director of the Residency Training Program, Allecia Wilson, MD has been named President of the Michigan Association of Medical Examiners (MAME). MAME's mission is to foster the highest professional standards in the performance of the duties of the county medical examiners of Michigan. [ ... ]