Division of Hematopathology
The Division of Hematopathology, based at UPMC-Presbyterian, has a broad and varied agenda achieving the classic academic triad of service, education and research. The Division staff includes seven faculty members with varied areas of expertise, two fellows and an administrative staff.
Service: The Division serves as the Diagnostic Hematopathology resource
for the UPMC-Health System and The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) as
well as for others in our region and beyond. It is directly responsible for all
the diagnostic hematopathology at UPMC-Presbyterian, UPMC-Shadyside and CHP.
In addition to diagnostic lymph node/solid tissue and adult and pediatric bone
marrow services, the Division supervises a large Flow
Cytometry Laboratory, a special hematology laboratory and the general hematology
laboratories located at UPMC-Presbyterian and UPMC-Shadyside. The division has
active Consultation
Services, accepting both fresh specimens for full evaluation or for special
studies as well as previously fixed specimens. We emphasize a multiparameter
approach to hematopathology that incorporates morphology, flow cytometric and
paraffin section immunophenotypic data, genotypic data from the Division of Molecular
Oncology and conventional and other cytogenetic data from the Pittsburgh Cytogenetics
Laboratory.
Education: The Division is active in medical
student education including a senior elective in hematopathology. Much of our
educational efforts are spent on resident education and on training our hematopathology
fellows. Electives are also provided for clinical hematology/oncology fellows
and other fellows in our department. More senior visitors are also welcome. Divisional
members are also involved in a variety of national/international teaching activities.
Resident Rotation: The second/third year core hematopathology rotation of approximately 12 weeks
offers the resident an introduction to the many facets of this complex field.
The resident will begin to become familiar with the multiparameter approach to
adult and pediatric diagnostic hematopathology (bone marrows and lymph nodes)
as well as with techniques used in the general and special hematology and the
flow cytometry laboratory. Finally he/she will learn about major neoplastic and
non-neoplastic disease entities that involve the hematopoietic and lymphoid cell
lineages. If interested, more advanced rotations can be arranged in one or more
areas within the division. It is recognized that the resident cannot fully achieve
all of the objectives listed within a period of 12 weeks.
Core Resident Rotation Curriculum :
- Adult Bone Marrow pathology (~4 weeks)
- Clinical hematology mini-rotation including performance of bone marrow
aspirations and biopsies (with Hematology/BMT Division)
- Flow Cytometry mini-rotation
- Lymph node pathology (~4 weeks)
- Pediatric Hematopathology and General/Special Hematology Laboratory (~4 weeks)
Research: The Division emphasizes several major
areas of investigation. Current ongoing basic research focuses on the roles of
cell signaling abnormalities in the development and progression of acute leukemia.
A large area of ongoing investigations is the use of a multiparameter approach
in the study principally of the non-Hodgkin lymphomas and related lymphoid proliferations.
Specific areas of interest have included MALT lymphomas (especially of the salivary
gland), other extranodal B-cell lymphomas, diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and
post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders. Techniques range from standard
morphology to complex genotypic studies. The role of flow cytometric studies
in dealing with selected problems in diagnostic hematopathology is another specific
area of interest as in the evaluation of new instrumentation in diagnostic hematology.
Cutaneous lymphoid infiltrates are also being studied. The Division also provides
support for studies undertaken by our clinical colleagues.
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