News

Dr. Lakshmi (Priya) Kunju named Director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology

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.

Dr. Kunju’s medical career began in Mumbai (Bombay) India where she obtained her medical degree from Seth G.S. Medical College and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Following an internship and residency training in Mumbai, she relocated to Detroit where she completed an AP/CP residency at Henry Ford before joining us as a fellow in Genitourinary (GU) Pathology in July 2002. She joined the faculty as Clinical Lecturer before being appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor in September 2005. Since then, she has risen through the ranks and was promoted to Clinical Professor of Pathology in September 2017.

Dr. Kunju has served in several key departmental leadership roles including as Co-Director and Director of our GU Pathology Fellowship, Service Director for our GU Pathology service, Medical Director for the Michigan Center of Translational Pathology (MCTP) Clinical Translational Laboratory, Director of the Tissue Core for the Michigan Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Prostate Cancer (SPORE), Co-Director and Director of our section of Surgical Pathology and Medical Director of our histology and gross room laboratories. At a national level she has served as a member of Council for the Association of Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology (ADASP) and as a member of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Education Committee. In her role as Section Head for Surgical Pathology she collaborated with Dr. David Lucas and others to implement QGenda as a scheduling tool for faculty. She and Dr. Lucas also developed a scheduling strategy to support intraoperative consultations (“frozen sections”) at multiple sites following relocation of many of our faculty and trainees away from the main medical campus to NCRC in the summer of 2018. She will continue working closely with Dr. Mustafa Yousif, our Director of Digital Pathology, to implement digital pathology as planned.

In addition to her substantial investments in education and leadership, Dr. Kunju has remained very academically productive, with nearly 150 documents listed in Scopus. Her publications include highly cited white papers from the GU Pathology Society (GUPS) regarding grading of prostate and urothelial carcinomas, and numerous high-impact publications focused on the genomics of prostate carcinoma and other advanced cancers, reflecting the power of the team science that is the brand of our MCTP under the leadership of Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan. Dr. Kunju will continue in her role as Service Director for GU Pathology.

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!