A career in science was not even on the radar when Agamjot Sangotra, PhD, was in high school. English and history were more up her alley, and high school AP biology was not a fun experience. When Sangotra graduated from her New Jersey high school, she attended Rutgers and was unsure of her career path. “I took psychology and biology at the same time. I found the molecular workings of a cell to be fascinating, much more so than psychology. That was one of the first moments where I could see myself in a science career.” She joined a research laboratory and developed a passion for research. “I also volunteered at a hospital for some time, but did not develop the same sort of passion. I much preferred to be working in the lab than in a stressful hospital environment.”

Four years ago, a group of eight bright-eyed, newly minted, doctors crossed the threshold of the Department of Pathology to begin their residency training. On Sunday, June 8^th, these now well-trained pathology residents, along with the year’s graduating team of fellows and advanced clinical trainees, were celebrated at the annual Residents and Fellows Farewell Celebration held at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor.

We are excited to announce another new PhD from our Molecular and Cellular Graduate Program! Noah Puleo, PhD, successfully defended his thesis “Identification of Novel Mechanisms and Drivers of Ovarian Cancer Carcinogenesis and Chemotherapy Resistance,” the culmination of his educational journey, which also included a graduate certificate in Precision Health.

We are pleased to announce that Kamran Mirza, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and assistant chair for pathology education, was awarded the Pakistani-American Pathologists’ Society’s Distinguished Service Award at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. This award recognizes visionary pathology leaders whose impact will be felt for generations.

We are pleased to announce that Laura Jacobus has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 GME Program Administrator Excellence Award by the Graduate Office of Medical Education at Michigan Medicine. Awardees are nominated by colleagues and selected by a committee of their peers. This is a highly competitive award that recognizes the service, spirit, and initiative of the nominee.

Congratulations to Molecular and Cellular Pathology graduate student Shih-Chun Alec Chu for successfully defending his thesis, “Multimodal and Multiomic Integration in Precision Oncology” earning the coveted PhD degree.

One of the key qualities of expert pathologists is that they learn to expect the unexpected. In the Michigan Medicine Department of Pathology, our pathologists and collaborators recently reported on some of these unexpected findings.

Mixed epithelial and stromal tumors (MESTs) are rare, usually benign tumors that are typically found in the kidney in perimenopausal women. These tumors can clinically  mimic malignant tumors, so accurately identifying them is essential. Most of the time, these tumors are found incidentally, but some patients will present with abdominal or flank pain.

Pathology is a field that thrives on curiosity, precision, and collaboration—and our residents and fellows embody these qualities every single day. Their dedication, resilience, and commitment to learning are the heartbeat of our department, shaping not just the present but also the future of pathology.

The Department of Pathology's first Global Pathology Summit highlighted critical advancements in pathology to address global health disparities, with a strong focus on digital pathology, AI, and sustainable partnerships. 

Third-year resident Dr. Lauren J. Miller received the 2024 Dr. Phillip and Sandra Barney Resident Volunteer Service Award from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) at this year’s annual meeting. If you follow our #UMichPath social accounts, you recognize her as @LJMiller_MD. You may have seen her providing Case of the Week (#COTW) posts or featured in our residency program video, conducting grand rounds, teaching medical students, and other department content. These are just a few ways that her volunteer service has directly and positively impacted our department’s communication efforts as we work to enhance the availability of educational and informative content. 

MLS Interns Katie McGraw and Cynthia Nnko Rotate Through Pathology

Help us welcome our new resident class, the Class of 2028!

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Administrative Intern from the U-M School of Public Health

Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO) is a volunteer organization and a division of the national Science Olympiad that coordinates a county-wide science competition amongst all elementary schools in Washtenaw County. Students choose their topic of interest in January and teams are formed with coaches (generally parent or teacher volunteers)...  “I was roped into coaching Potions because my middle child was interested in competing in Potions and there was no coach,” explained Eric Jedynak, from Pathology Informatics. “I figured that I had some basic chemistry and laboratory experience, however, both were a little rusty.”

The Clinical Pathology Symposium traveled to Danto Auditorium to showcase the Future of Pathology. 

Congratulations to Drs. Sarah Farran and Isabella Holmes who will be joining the Chief Resident team this upcoming academic year. 

Dr. Kamran Mirza, Assistant Chair for Education

Congratulations to Dr. Sahiti Marella on successfully defending her PhD dissertation entitled “Regulatory Networks that Govern the Esophageal Epithelial Proliferative Response in Eosinophilic Esophagitis Endotypes."

The Department of Pathology invites you to join us as we congratulate our Molecular and Cellular Pathology Graduate Student, Michael Pitter, on being selected for the 2023 American Association of Immunologists Trainee Abstract Award. As the award recipient, Michael was invited to deliver an oral presentation at IMMUNOLOGY2023 in Washington DC.

Learn more about residency at the University of Michigan.

Welcome to Pathology!

  S1, EP5

The 2023-2024 Chief Resident Team (Nathan McCammon, Corey Post, and Ashley Brent) stopped by The Path Report to share insight into life as a resident at U-M, what it means to be part of the Chief team and more. Check out their episode now!

Meet our Resident Class of 2027

We want to be a FiSHy department.” No, we don’t want to engage in unethical/illegal behaviors. Rather, the goal for the Department of Pathology is to enculturate the FISH! Philosophy^©. The FiSH! Philosophy captures the practices of the world-famous Pike Place Fish Company in Seattle, Washington. It is an approach that embodies four simple practices that can revolutionize how someone lives and works: Choose Your Attitude, Be There, Make Their Day and PLAY. With the FiSH!

  S1, EP4

In this episode of The Path Report residents and fellows from the Class of 2023 sat down and shared insight into their time at Michigan Medicine, where they are continuing their careers, and advice for the next generation of pathologists.

Congratulations to our Clinical Graduates!

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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?”

Brief overview and photographic highlights from 2022

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

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.

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Pathology Ambassadors (PAs) is a grassroots program composed of pathologists and pathology trainees who help facilitate student pathology interest groups and mentor medical students at their home institutions. This ambassador program has two major goals: (1) to help recruit innovative, passionate, and diverse medical students to the field of Pathology and (2) to enhance other specialties’ understanding of pathology and our services, in turn positively impacting patient care.

Each Fall at the annual ASCP conference, two PAs are honored with the Pathology Ambassador Award for their outstanding, creative, and impactful events and mentorship. In October 2021, I was humbled to receive this award as a UM hematopathology fellow. This year, both winners are University of Michigan pathology trainees, too – Drs. Julianne Szczepanski and Justin Kelley!

A Perspective with Jessica McAnulty, MCP Student

The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a series of virtual open house events for our Residency Training Program.

The Department of Pathology is home to one of the nation's top Residency Training programs. While this is not a surprise to our residents, the quality of our program was once again reaffirmed by Doximity, which  ranked our program as #4 in the nation and #1 among public academic institutions. This is up from an overall ranking of #6 the prior year and maintains the top spot among publica academic institutions.  Doximity is the largest online professional network for physicians in the United States. 

This summer, Michigan Medicine officially welcomed 23 new Fellows and Clinical Instructors into the Department of Pathology.

Where are they from and why did they choose the University of Michigan?

We congratulate this year's house officers, fellows, and clinical instructor graduates!

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, Michigan Medicine hosted its first-ever Youth Summit at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The event, which included local middle schools from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and surrounding communities, invited young students out to the Big House in order to come and experience a day in medicine. The Department of Pathology had a station set up on the concourse, where these students could come try out microscopy, learn about urinalysis and practice phlebotomy on a fake arm [...]

On May 11, the Department of Pathology recognized the Class of 2022 Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) interns, who successfully completed the program. A graduation ceremony was held at the Superior Conference room, hosted by Allied Education Health Program Manager Karen Barron, MT (ASCP). The event featured remarks from Drs. Jeffrey Myers, Kathleen Cho, and Chair Dr. Charles Parkos. Graduates received their certificates of completion as they prepared to move into the next phase of their careers [...]

This month marked the usual United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP)'s Annual Meeting. This year's hybrid-style event, the 11th annual, was held both in-person and virtually in Los Angeles, California from March 18-24, 2022. The symposium featured several short and long courses, as well evening specialty conferences and ticketed seminars. The conference also included numerous poster sessions, live Q&A segments, and a multitude of social events [...]

Today is Match Day!  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, 2022 [...]

Each year, thousands of pathologists assemble in person or remotely to participate in the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathologists Annual Meeting. Likewise, each year, the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan is very well represented!  This year, our faculty and trainees will be giving presentations, teaching courses, moderating panel discussions, participating as panelists, and presenting their research in poster sessions, for a total of 69 activities [...]

Hear from Dr. Emile Pinarbasi, an Anatomic and Neuropathology Fellow within the Department of Pathology.

"I am very appreciative of the opportunity to work as the Residency Program Administrator in Pathology at the University of Michigan,” stated Laura Jacobus. “I graduated from the University of Michigan Dearborn and always wanted to work for U-M. I am happy and excited to be here.” Jacobus previously worked as a Residency Program Coordinator at [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Dr. Justin Kelley, a fourth-year resident at the Department of Pathology, was recently named to the College of American Pathology's Quality Practices Committee (QPC) and will be formally introduced for the 2022 academic year [...]

For the 2021-2022 academic year, Dr. Will Perry was selected to serve as the department's Chief Resident. “In the simplest terms, my main role is to ensure we have the best possible environment for residents to learn throughout their training. Another important responsibility is ensuring we have adequate resident coverage on many of our clinical services.”

Some familiar and some new, see the group of Fellows representing the department.

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 [...]

Spanish is the second most frequently spoken language in the United States and at the University of Michigan Medical School, medical students are learning how to speak medical Spanish as they prepare to interact with their patients of the future.  Whether the student is a beginner or fluent, they can participate in this program with the goal of being comfortable interacting with Spanish-speaking patients.

The department welcomes six new residents, each from different institutions.

The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce that Dr. Carmen Gherasim has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the 2020-2021 Faculty Teaching Award [...]

In 2009, a shy, but extremely talented employee arrived in the Education Office of the Department of Pathology. “From the beginning, we knew we’d work well together and since then, our team has become like family,” stated Marie Goldner about Pam Howard, the Residency Program Administrator. This week, the Education office bids Pam a fond farewell as she retires. “If I had to choose what I appreciate the most about Pam, it is her incredible commitment to her work. That is not something that can be easily taught. I think it is a characteristic inherent in who she is,” continued Goldner [...]

The plethora of knowledge that pathology residents are expected to master – for future practice and especially for Boards – is overwhelmingly immense. Second-year resident, Dr. Ryan Landvater, has been working on a question bank software from scratch, in an effort to make the mastery of pathology knowledge less intimidating. Below is a short interview with Landvater, as well as screenshots of the QBank (beta version)...

After 35 years, the Division of Education continues to bring the best pathology education in the country.

Recently, Department of Pathology faculty member Dr. Laura Lamps appeared on the December 3 episode of the PathPod Pocast's Beyond the Scope. In the episode, Dr. Lamps discusses a varierty of topics including her role as the Director of Gastrointestinal Pathology at Michigan Medicine, her involvement in United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), personal hobbies and her experience working in medicine overall [...]

Pathology Welcomes 8 New Residents

Congratulations to Thomas Annesley, PhD, on winning the 2020 IFCC Award for Distinguished Contributions in Education.

The Department of Pathology 2019 Annual Report is now available online. Our department continues to show outstanding performance and growth and the past year was another example of why our department is one of the best in the world.

In the report, you will read about [...]

Congratulations to Alex Taylor, MD, 3^rd year resident, for winning the first place Rodger Haggitt GI Pathology Award for his platform presentation at USCAP! 

Genitourinary pathology fellow, Dr. Eman Abdulfatah, recently received the International Society of Urologic Pathology (ISUP) Excellence in Urologic Pathology Award for her abstract presentation, [...]

Congratulations to Margaret Fang, MD, for winning the 3rd Place Hans Popper Society Award for Trainee Best Abstract at USCAP!

Event showcases clinical and translational research.

The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition (F99/K00) Award supports outstanding PhD and other Research Doctoral candidates who complete their dissertation research training (F99 phase) and transition in a timely manner to mentored, cancer-focused postdoctoral career development research positions (K00 phase). [...]

2019 New Frontiers in Pathology Conference

The Department of Pathology embraces the future while navigating through multiple changes as it settles into its new laboratory home.

The new Director of the Division of Education Programs joins us from the Cleveland Clinic.

The unanticipated ways social media has made a positive impact on pathology.

The department is welcoming another resident class. Get to know a little about them.

First-year resident, William R. Perry, MD, received a 2019 Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award at the 54th Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The awards were established [...]

Congratulations to Drs. Caroline (Libby) Simon and Helen Worrell for completing the Healthcare Administration Scholars Program. The University of Michigan Healthcare Administration Scholars Program (HASP) is a 20-month [...]

The Fifth Edition of Histology for Pathologists has just been published by Wolters Kluwer and Maria Westerhoff, MD, and Joel Greenson, MD, co-wrote the chapter on colon histology. The newest edition of this award-winning book is a comprehensive collection of normal histology written by anatomic pathologists for anatomic pathologists. The book is designed to [...]

You will see some familiar faces from M4 rotations and the interview season.

The Department will have a strong presence at USCAP’s Annual Meeting in March.

The 10^th annual CHAMP Research Day will be held on Thursday, February 7^th, 2019 from 3:00 pm to 7:30 pm in the Research Auditorium located in building 10 of the North Campus Research Complex. The event will feature presentations by Department of Pathology trainees and faculty [...]

Dynamic faculty bring out the best in med students. 

Second-year resident, Laurie Griesinger, MD, won both second and third place at the 2018 Winter Resident Research Competition on December 1^st at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan. The competition, held annually by the Michigan Society of Pathologists during their Winter Meeting, is open to [...]

A gift from the Finger family targets introducing trainees to the appeal of a career in forensic pathology. 

Dr. Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska’s work was highlighted as part of the Featured Technology and Startup Kiosks during the University of Michigan Tech Transfer’s annual Celebrate Invention event on October 17^th at the Michigan League. Nikolovska-Coleska’s project, Discovery of Mc1-1 inhibitors from integrated [...]

A collaboration out of the Molecular and Cellular Pathology graduate program could lead to new treatment strategies.

Commitments to patient care and innovative technologies earn us top ratings.

Molecular and Cellular Pathology PhD graduate student, Andi Cani, MS and Postdoctoral Fellow Yashar Niknafs, PhD, were among the twelve recipients of the inaugural U-M Precision Health Scholars Award.  This award provides grants supporting precision-health research to applicants whose work reflects the far-reaching potential of precision health at [...]

Learn more about the incoming resident class, where they came from, and why they chose U-M.

A life insurance policy purchased in the seventies is being used to recognize resident achievement today.

Dr. Sameer Khatri along with the Department of Pathology's Drs. Min Wang, Paul Harms, Douglas Fullen, Aleodor Andea, and May Chan, in collaboration with other U-M [...]

Congratulations to Dr. Nick Lukacs, the Godfrey D. Stobbe Professor of Pathology, Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs and the Scientific Director of the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center, for his nomination and selection for the 2018 MICHR Distinguished Mentorship Award!

Lukacs was nominated by his trainees and peers at the [...]

Congratulations to Dr. Celina Kleer, the Harold A. Oberman Collegiate Professor of Pathology, who has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the 7^th Annual MICHR Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award!

Dr. Kleer was nominated by her trainees as well as peers at U-M Medical [...]

The Department of Pathology and the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) are proud to host the interactive, abstract-driven 2018 Pathobiology for Investigators, Students and Academicians Conference (PISA), in Ann Arbor, Michigan on October 20-22 [...]

On Friday, June 8th at Weber's Inn, the department held the House Officers' Farewell dinner to highlight the achievements of the class of 2018 residents and fellows. Awards were presented for the most outstanding residents and teaching faculty. [...]

Talha Anwar is in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and the Molecular and Cellular Pathology Program at U-M. He defended his PhD thesis, Regulation of EZH2 in triple-negative breast cancer, on Friday April 6, 2018 [...]

Please welcome our new Pathology Residents! 

• Margaret (Jiayun) Fang, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
• Efrain Gutierrez-Lanz, Autonomous University of Baja California Mexicali School of Medicine [...]

Michigan Pathology has over 30 pathologists traveling to Vancouver, BC for this year's USCAP 2018. The department is featuring numerous speakers and displaying dozens of posters at this annual meeting. Read more to find out where and when to meet up with our faculty, fellows, and residents.

Dr. Ting successfully defended her PhD thesis, Notch ligand Delta-like 4 (DII4) induced epigenetic mechanisms in regulatory T cell function during pulmonary viral infection, on February 21, 2018. [...]

We're welcoming our new pathology residents! They are a great addition to our already outstanding classes.