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.
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[...]
Learn more about Scott Marquette's recent visit to the Clinical Microbiology laboratory and about the Visual Inventory Management pilot, a new initiative that is intended to help lab staff better organize their tools, resources and assets within the lab setting [...]
Leadership at all levels engaged in the fight against COVID; a behind-the-scenes look.
A unique look into Dr. Carmen Gherasim's career and staying afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 [...]
The Department of Pathology recently selected Karen Barron (MT) ASCP, as its new Education Internship Coordinator. Learn more about Karen as she transitions into this exciting role [...]
As COVID closed down research labs, researchers shifted focus.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus brought lab testing to the headlines. Learn how Michigan Medicine Pathology responded to this unprecedented challenge.
Throughout the ongoing pandemic, many patients who die from COVID-19 pneumonia are found at autopsy to have a pattern of fibrosis in their lungs that resemble nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). However, members of the Anatomic Pathology Division of Pathology at Michigan Medicine were curious about the lungs of those who survive COVID-19 pneumonia [...]
The Department of Pathology's 2020 Annual Report is now available online. In the report, you will read about the department’s tripartite mission of research, education, and patient care, and learn about the goals of the department’s Strategic Council [...]
Research from the Department of Pathology was just published in the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Learn more about this publication, which highlights GI samples from COVID-19 patients, led by Dr. Maria Westerhoff [...]
The department has navigated an unprecedented workload over the past year and continues to increase. Hear from experts Christine Kizer, Dr. Michael Bachman, Jennifer Bergendahl, and more, as they discuss how efforts have helped Michigan Medicine stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic [...]
The Department of Pathology was well represented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), held March 13-18, 2021. This year's event was reconstructed into a fully virtual format in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with participants able to tune in and contribute from all over the world. Several of our faculty and trainees were featured at this year's conference. Let's take a moment to recap some key highlights from #USCAP2021.
Clinical trials underway are testing whether drugs that target the androgen receptor – successful in controlling prostate cancer – could also work against the coronavirus. wo proteins, ACE2 and TMPRSS2, help the coronavirus gain entry and replicate within cells. TMPRSS2 is well-known to Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD. His lab discovered that TMPRSS2 fuses with the ETS gene to drive more than half of all prostate cancers [...]
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) [...]
The University of Michigan will begin a Sampling and Testing Program of asymptomatic students, faculty and staff for the virus that causes COVID-19 on September 7.
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 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.
Dr. Jeffrey Myers discusses the importance of frontline workers and their caring of patients - alive or deceased - during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Serology testing for SARS-CoV-2 is now available for ordering on appropriate patients at Michigan Medicine. A separate process for testing and screening of health care workers and Michigan Medicine affiliates will be communicated in the coming weeks.
The serology test detects specific antibodies generated as part of the immune response to SARS-COV-2 infection. Our current test methods detect [...]
I am standing in the Blood Bank at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor. I am looking at the refrigerator that contains only one day's supply of blood for the hospital.
The hospital is full. There are patients who need blood and cannot wait. Some have leukemia. Some are bleeding. Some are infants born with heart disease who will die is they do not have surgery [...]
The information in this message was released on March 16th and March 18th and is intended to provide information supplemental to the many emails being received from institutional sources regarding the current state of our preparations for and responses to COVID-19. Please continue to monitor your email and use institutional web-based resources (COVID-19 UPDATES and the COVID-19 Resource page) for updates in a very fluid and dynamic landscape. Please also take advantage of other communications opportunities in your work area (e.g., huddles) to stay up-to-date. [...]