THE DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY A dynamic and rapidly evolving field, Pathology plays a pivotal role in diagnosis, research, and monitoring treatment. The Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine exemplifies the field's complex nature and incorporates Pathology's dramatic new developments in molecular biology and diagnostic biotechnology. The discovery of detail in the molecular structure of genes and gene products has catalyzed the evolution of sophisticated biochemical tissue and fluid analyses, which are essential supplements for most of the diagnoses made daily in academic and community hospitals. The broad array of laboratory tests necessary to support this technologically advanced environment are performed by multiple specialists in the Divisions of the Department of Pathology. The obligations and opportunities encompassed by the Department of Pathology's commitment to providing these services have expanded with recent breakthroughs in our knowledge about disease pathogenesis. Sophisticated probes, for example, are now routinely applied to detect changes at the cellular level so that evaluation traditionally based on cell morphology is enhanced with information about the type of genes expressed in the particular cells. The traditional line between anatomic pathology and clinical pathology grows fainter each day because new techniques permit the biochemical analysis of solid tissue samples, and advanced histologic methods are now routinely used to detect abnormal cells in body fluids. The Department of Pathology is a leader in this rapidly evolving environment and develops new approaches by encouraging clinical and basic scientists to work as teams. These synergistic efforts offer new insights by transcending the traditional boundaries of pathology. Working in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) - an affiliation of acute-care medical-surgical, psychiatric, specialty, and teaching hospitals, and numerous specialized centers - the Department of Pathology plays a key role in patient care, as well as in basic science and clinical research at UPMC and the School of Medicine, forging intellectual links between diagnostic services and basic sciences. The coordinated activities of the Central Laboratory Services, Inc., Microbiology, Histopathologic and Electron Microscopy Laboratories, Basic Science Laboratories, Molecular Diagnostics, and Pathology Informatics allow the Department to provide support for all clinical and research efforts at UPMC. The Department of Pathology is especially proud of the following institutional efforts.