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Pathology and Anatomical Sciences

Pathology and the anatomical sciences bridge the basic sciences and clinical medicine. Pathology deals with all aspects of human disease, while the anatomical sciences are concerned with understanding the structural and functional relationships of the body's organ systems. Pathology and anatomical sciences provide a systems-based approach to the study of the nature, causes and development of normal and abnormal conditions.

A wide range of research topics is studied in the department. In clinical pathology, topics include the immunopathology of infectious disease, identification of tumor suppressor genes and their inactivation, etiologic factors in transfusion-transmitted disease and the roles of platelet membrane glycoprotein in platelet function. Applied research in the fields of immunology and transfusion medicine includes vaccine development and production of universally transfusable blood products. Through analysis of autopsy and surgical tissue, researchers in anatomic pathology are studying tumor cell sensitivity testing, topics in forensic pathology, the association of gastric and peptic ulcer disease with specific microbiologic agents and unusual manifestations of disease in the nervous or neuromuscular systems. In anatomical sciences, areas of emphasis include studies of fetal alcohol exposure as it influences development of the brain, studies on the opossum as an animal model for research and collaborative studies on uroguanylin, a natriuretic peptide.

About one million patient samples are processed each year in the Health Sciences Center's well-equipped clinical pathology laboratories. The staff in the Anatomic-Pathology Laboratory processes 15,000 surgical specimens each year, performs 680 postmortem exams and reviews 19,300 cytology specimens.

The department offers courses to undergraduate, graduate and medical students. Faculty members participate as lecturers, lab instructors and group leaders in the School of Medicine's problem-based curriculum and as preceptors in introduction to patient care courses. Pathologists also participate in patient-care conferences and direct the combined anatomic and clinical pathology residency training program. In addition, they work in surgical and cellular pathology laboratories and perform autopsies.

The department offers several four- or eight-week electives for medical students: anatomical/surgical pathology, cytopathology, neuropathology, renal pathology, clinical microbiology, transfusion medicine, clinical chemistry, cytogenetics, electron microscopy, hematology, toxicology and therapeutic drug monitoring. Students set objectives with the supervision of a pathologist at the beginning of each rotation.

Last Updated 9/4/08

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