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Reaching for the Stars: “Her-stories” from Pathology - Dr. Laura Lamps

By Lynn McCain | March 26 2021

The Department of Pathology is home to a number of strong women who are leaders in clinical care, education, and research.  We interviewed several of these women to learn their stories.  This is Dr. Laura Lamps' story.

Dr. Laura Lamps was raised in Auburn, Alabama, home of Auburn University, the largest university in Alabama. From childhood, “I thought women could do anything. It never occurred to me that they couldn’t,” recounted Lamps. “One of my dad’s colleagues had a daughter who was a few years older than I was. She was really smart and went to a great college, then to medical school. I wanted to do everything she did.” Today, this girl, Dr. Audrey Lazenby, is the Director of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Nebraska and is a GI Pathologist. Interestingly, she trained with our own Dr. Joel Greenson!

“My family has a long history of higher education on both sides, and several of my relatives have been teachers or professors. My father’s father was a Methodist minister, and the Methodist church provided support for education through Emory University,” explained Lamps. “My dad got both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Emory. My mother’s parents both went to college, as did she and her brother. It was essentially an incontrovertible expectation in our family that my brother and I would go to college, and that we would get jobs and not move back home with our parents.”

Lamps’ father was a doctor and he just loved his job. This was the spark that ignited an interest in medicine within Lamps. She wanted a job that she could love just as much. In her second year of medical school, Lamps was introduced to pathology. “I learned that I was a really visual thinker and that I was good at microscopy. I got a job in the pathology department for the summer after my second year of medical school, and I loved it.”

Throughout her training, Lamps faced challenges along with the rest of her colleagues, just due to the nature of being a medical student and resident. “I was lucky that I had a lot of family support, and the atmosphere at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine was really supportive as well.” Lamps continued, sharing about her classmates, “Several of the women in my medical school class were great role models, because they were strong, smart, independent women, but also very funny and kind. We were very supportive of each other. We ate dinner together at least once a week, and watched “Thirtysomething” (if anyone remembers that TV show).” Moving into her residency program, she had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Mary Bronner, at the University of Washington, a GI pathologist who served as a great example and one who truly found joy in her work.

In looking back at changes that have happened over her career, Lamps noted “there are more opportunities for leadership positions for women, but we still have a long way to go. Women are still in the minority when you look at Chair positions, hospital CEOs, etc., but it is slowly changing.” For the future, Lamps is looking forward to working on another major textbook, or writing a book herself. She is also interested in faculty development. “I’ve held pretty much every administrative job you can have in a pathology department except for Chair, so I have a lot of experience on which to draw.” In the meantime, “I’ve tried to recruit young women pathologists to the University of Michigan, including Drs. Maria Westerhoff, Erika Hissong, and Naziheh Assarzadegan…I try and mentor or encourage anybody who wants it, regardless of gender. That might be through working with them on a project, giving career advice, or just being available to listen to whatever someone needs to talk about.”

Thank you, Dr. Lamps for sharing your story! If you want to read the stories of any of the others listed, just click on the "here" link by their name. Clicking on their name will bring you to their faculty profiles.

  • Carol Farver, MD, Professor, Thoracic Pathology, Godfrey D. Stobbe Professor of Pathology Education and Director, Division of Education Programs.  Click here for Dr. Farver's her-story.
  • Lakshmi Priya Kunju, MD, Professor, Genitourinary Pathology, Director, Surgical Pathology; Director, Genitourinary Pathology; and Director, Histology Laboratory. Click here for Dr. Kunju's her-story.
  • Anuska Andjelkovic-Zochowski, MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology. Click here for Dr. Andjelkovic-Zochowski's her-story.
  • Lauren Smith, MD,  Professor, Hematopathology, Director, Hematopathology, Interim Program Director, Hematopathology Fellowship. Click here for Dr. Smith's her-story.
  • Maria Westerhoff, MD, Associate Professor, Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Pathology. Click here for Dr. Westerhoff's her-story.

 

 
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