DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY DIVISIONS Transplantation Pathology (Read More about the Division of Transplantation Pathology) The Division provides comprehensive pathology and tissue typing services to patients transplanted at the UPMC-HS. It is actively engaged in research seeking to better understand the phenomena of rejection and tolerance, with the ultimate aim of permitting transplantation without the continuous need for toxic immunosuppressive drugs. HIGHLIGHTS Interprets biopsies obtained from transplanted livers, kidneys, hearts, and intestines to diagnose various causes of graft dysfunction, and assist in determining the most appropriate therapy for the patient Responds to national and interna-tional requests for anatomic pathology consultation in the field of solid organ transplantation Conducts research focused on chimerism, tolerance, viral infec-tions, drug toxicity, and malignan-cies occurring in transplant patients Maintains an interactive Internet site called Transplant Pathology Internet Services (TPIS) as a collaborative tool for transplant physicians and an educational resource for health care profession-als in the field of transplantation Offers a yearly fellowship program in Transplantation Pathology, and informally trains visitors from all over the world in this field Provides tissue typing services to support the UPMC-HS transplanta-tion program The Division runs a telepathology consultation service for the transplantation program at Istituto Mediterra-neo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione (IsMeTT), in Palermo, Sicily. Additionally, the Division maintains an interactive Internet site called Transplant Pathology Internet Services (TPIS). TPIS is a dynamic, Web-based, collaborative tool for transplant physicians, and an educational resource for health care professionals in the field of Transplantation Medicine. The URL for this resource is: http://tpis.upmc.edu The Tissue Typing Laboratory operates with Central Laboratory Services, Inc., and serves UPMC-HS affiliated hospitals and ChildrenŐs Hospital of Pittsburgh. These facilities use serologically and molecularly based HLA typing methodologies to gauge donor-recipient compatibility in both solid organ and bone marrow transplantation. Considerable emphasis is placed on the detection and specificity analysis of alloantibodies in sensitized transplant candidates to identify poten-tial donors with suitable HLA types. (Read More about the Division of Transplantation Pathology)