Department of Pathology
The research laboratories of the Department encompass a wide variety of areas and emphasize a modern, multi-disciplinary approach to pathophysiology and mechanisms of disease. Selected examples of current activities in the areas of emphasis in the basic research groups of the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital are:
Research topics include: Cardiovascular dysfunction and cardiac device malfunction
Richard Mitchell, MD, PhD
Vice Chair, Education, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: transplantation pathology, cardiac and vascular pathology, immune-vessels
Robert F. Padera, Jr, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Frederick Schoen, MD, PhD
Executive Vice Chair, Pathology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Host-biomaterial interactions, clinicopathologic correlations in heart valve.
Research topics include: cervical and vulvular diseases, ovarian cancer and fallopian tubes, uterine leiomyoma, Endometrial Disease Research, and genetics of endometrial cancer
Chris Crum, MD
Senior Pathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cell of origin and its relevance to prevention or early detection in gynecologic.
Michelle S. Hirsh MD, PhD
Chief, GU Pathology, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
George Mutter, MD
Senior Pathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: carcinogenesis, endometrial cancer, gynecologic cancer, biomarkers
Marisa R. Nucci, MD
Vice Chair, Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Bradley J. Quade, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Mesenchymal neoplasia of the female genital tract
Research topics include: genetic hearing loss, and structural genomic variation, chromosomal abnormalities in cancer
Paola S. Dal Cin, PhDAssociate Cytogeneticist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Anne Giersch, PhD
Associate Cytogeneticist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: The genetics of hearing, deafness, and age related hearing loss
Azra H. Ligon, PhD
Director, Clinical Cytogenetics, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Cynthia Morton, PhD
Director, Cytogenetics Research, BWH
Professor of Genetics and Pathology, BWH
Research Interests: Hereditary Deafness, Uterine Leiomyomata, Developmental Disorders
Heidi L. Rehm, PhD
Associate Molecular Geneticist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: genomic medicine; molecular diagnostic test development; hearing loss
Research topics include: Cellular interactions in immune responses, immunology of vascular endothelium, cytokines, lymphocyte activation and tolerance, targeted disruption of lymphocyte molecules, autoimmunity, and antigen presentation.
Lynn Bry, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Metagenomics, Microbiome, Pathology Informatics, Clinical Microbiology
Bruce Horwitz, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, HMS
Research Interests: Regulation of Mucosal Immunity
Andrew H. Lichtman, MD, PhD
Senior Pathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Immunology, Vascular Biology, Cardiovascular Disease
Scott B. Lovitch, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Immunology, immunometabolism, costimulation, immunoregulation
Tanya Mayadas-Norton, PhD
Scientist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Innate immune mechanisms of tissue injury; leukocyte recruitment
Richard N. Mitchell, MD, PhD
Vice Chair, Education, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: transplantation pathology, cardiac and vascular pathology, immune-vessels
Leslie Silberstein, MD
Vice Chair, Transfusion Medicine
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cell Manipulation, Transfusion Medicine, Haematopoietic stem cells
Arlene H. Sharpe, MD, PhD
Senior Scientist, BWH
Co-Director of HITI, HMS
Research Interests: Role and function of innate-like T Cells (CD1d-restricted....more
Manfred Brigl, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Role and function of innate-like T Cells (CD1d-restricted.
Georg K. Gerber, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: computational and systems biology, synthetic biology, microbiome
Andrew B. Onderdonk, PhD
Director, Microbiology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Role of the human microbiome in health and disease.
Research topics include: Molecular studies of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, analysis of chromosomal aberrations in cancer and benign disorders, control of DNA synthesis and the cell cycle, mechanisms of gene transcription, immunogenetics, receptor mediated control of cell differentiation, signal transduction, and molecular methods of disease diagnosis
Jon C. Aster, MD, PhD
Chief, Hematopathology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: oncogenic role of Notch signaling in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and other cancers
Jane E. Brock, MBBS, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Li Chai, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cancer, stem cells, genetics and epigenetic, translation
Deborah A. Dillon MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
David M. Dorfman, MD, PhD
Director, Hematology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Jonathan A. Fletcher, MD
Cytogeneticist, BWH
Associate Professor, HMS
Research Interests: Tumor biology of sarcoma, mesothelioma and pediatric solid cancers
Christopher French, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor, HMS
Research Interests: Oncogenic mechanisms; NUT midline carcinoma; cytopathology
Keith Ligon, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cancer, brain tumors, stem cell, clinical trials
Massimo F. Loda, MD
Senior Pathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: The role of lipid metabolism in prostate cancer and on metabolic profiling.
Matthew Meryerson, PhD
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cancer genomics, cancer biology and targeted therapies
Shiji Ogino, MD, PhD
Pathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: molecular pathological epidemiology
Lynette M. Sholl, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Sabina Signoretti, MD
Research Scientist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Genitourinary malignancies. Genitourinary tract development.
Sheng Xiao, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Giorgia Zadra, PhD
Instructor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: prostate cancer metabolism
Martha L. Bulyk, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: transcription factors, TF-DNA interactions, transcriptional enhancers
Research topics include: Mechanisms of inhalant-induced lung injury, the biology of alveolar macrophages, pathogenesis of mesothelioma and the molecular basis of lung development, including neuroendocrine differentiation.
Lucian R. Chirieac, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Scott J. Rodig, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research topics include: Oncogenesis of glial tumors, developmental neurobiology, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Mel B. Feany, MD, PhD
Neuropathologist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Modeled human neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease
Ginam Cho, PhD
Scientist, BWH
Instructor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: forebrain development, ER-mitochondria contact
Keith Ligon, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Cancer, brain tumors, stem cell, clinical trials
Sandro Santagata, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research topics include skin epigenetics and stem cell biology as they relate to graft-versus-host disease, psoriasis, wound healing, chronologic aging, and skin cancer; the immunobiology of face transplant rejection; the cell biology of melanoma precursor pathways; and mechanisms of protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome system.
George F. Murphy, MD
Chair, Dermatopathology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: cytotoxicity, stem cells, biomarkers
John W. Hanna, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: protein degradation, ubiquitin-proteasome system.
Christine Guo Lian, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Epigenetic regulations of melanoma and skin diseases
Research topics include: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoma, liposarcomas, and preneoplastic gastrointestinal conditions
Tony Agoston, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Justine A. Barletta, MD
Chief, Endocrinology, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Jonathan A. Fletcher, MD
Cytogeneticist, BWH
Associate Pathologist, HMS
Research Interests: Tumor biology of sarcoma, mesothelioma and pediatric solid cancers.
Jason L. Hornick, MD, PhD
Director, Surgical Pathology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Elizabeth A. Morgan, MD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Astrid Weins, MD, PhD
Associate Pathologist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research topics include: Leukocyte-endothelial interactions, molecular basis of endothelial gene expression and role of hemodynamic factors, targeted disruption of endothelial adhesion molecules, molecular mechanism of atherosclerosis.
Tanya Mayadas-Norton, PhD
Scientist, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Innate immune mechanisms of tissue injury; leukocyte recruitment
Michael A. Gimbrone, Jr, MD
Director, Center of Excellence in Vascular Biology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Vascular (patho)biology; endothelium; atherogenesis.
Guillermo Garcia-Cardena, PhD
Scientist, BWH
Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Molecular, bioengineering, and bioinformatics approaches to understand
Francis William Luscinskas, PhD
Associate Director, Vascular Biology, BWH
Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: Vascular Cell Biology; Immunology; Leukocyte recruitment.
David S. Milstone, MD, PhD
Scientist, BWH
Assistant Professor of Pathology, HMS
Research Interests: developmental vascular biology
