From expanding current fields of pathology to constructing robust teams that enhance patient safety and technology, the Miller School of Medicine's Department of Pathology has recently taken bold steps to make its mark. Under the leadership of Richard J. Cote, M.D., professor and chairman of pathology, five new members have joined the Miller School team, all with an eye on expanding and improving care to patients.
"We are adding world-class researchers and clinicians to an already top-notch team," says Cote, who came to the Miller School from the University of Southern California in 2009.
After his arrival, one of his first calls was to former colleague Ram Datar, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and a nanobiotechnology expert, asking him to join the Miller School team. Dr. Datar left the Biosciences Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he started the Biomedical Nanosensor Science program, to be associate professor of pathology and co-director of the Biomedical Nanoscience Institute led by Dr. Cote.
At the Miller School, Dr. Datar is also a member of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, focusing much of his work on improving clinical cancer therapies and developing a better understanding of metastasis. Working with Dr. Cote, his research focuses on the development of devices for capturing circulating tumor cells (CTC) in cancer patient blood samples, and portable nanosensor devices aimed at detecting key protein biomarkers in serum and plasma. Dr. Datar is also honing in on the cellular and molecular analysis of cancer stem cells and the process of bone metastasis.
Dr. Datar says a major goal is "to foster as much inter-campus and inter-institutional collaboration" as possible to enhance the research of biomedical nanoscience. In conjunction with that goal, he's initiated collaborations that will center on imaging and targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles, creation of diagnostic assay for ectopic pregnancy and nanosensor development for HIV/AIDS testing. His group efforts already have resulted in a UM-Florida International University alliance to share the use of a nanofabrication facility.
Coming from the Whitehead Institute at MIT and Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Tan Ince, M.D., Ph.D., is joining the team as associate professor of pathology. His breakthrough research in breast cancer biology will be harnessed at Sylvester as a member of the Breast Cancer Program, and as director of the Tumor Stem Cell Division of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute.
Dr. Ince and his colleagues have developed novel cell culture media for the in-vitro culture of various normal and malignant primary cells, and determined that normal cell-of-origin plays an important role in determining the behavior of breast cancers. This work has led Ince and his team to identify various normal cell types in normal breast tissue. In collaboration with other investigators, they are now examining if tumors that arise in different cells have different clinical outcomes. Dr. Ince's research in this field will now center on examining the role of cell-of-origin on tumor stem cell phenotype, exploring the role of epigenetic modifications and heat shock protein family on ovarian and breast tumor cells behavior, and building a tumor culture research center.
Vânia Nosé, M.D., Ph.D., also comes from Harvard/Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she was associate director of surgical pathology and associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School. She is now professor and vice chair of pathology and chief of anatomic pathology, a new position at the Miller School. The Department of Pathology is made up of two major areas: Anatomic Pathology (covering tissue such as lungs, brain or bone) and Clinical Pathology (fluids such as urine, blood and spinal fluid). When a patient has any kind of biopsy, an analysis - pathology - is needed. Surgeons frequently consult anatomic pathologists during their operations.
An endocrine and surgical pathologist, Nosé brings decades of experience to the fold, primarily with a focus on thyroid and endocrine tumors. As a surgical pathologist she has extensive experience in quality assurance in surgical pathology and in lab administration. "I am very eager to unify all the pathology divisions under a centralized structure with protocols and procedures to improve quality and patient safety," she says.
Nosé will be remodeling the entire department to implement quality assurance, and says there will be more hires to complement different subspecialties such as gastrointestinal, genitourinary, pulmonary, breast and hematopathology. She'll also be instrumental in establishing telepathology, which will allow a pathologist to view a slide from anywhere on campus.
As Dr. Nosé tackles the anatomic branch, Thomas Sodeman, M.D., professor and vice chair of pathology, is taking on the role of chief of Clinical Pathology. Dr. Sodeman is considered one of the outstanding clinical pathologists of this generation. He is a past president of the College of American Pathologists, former chief of pathology at Texas Tech at Lubbock, the University of Cincinnati, and Northshore University/Long Island Jewish Health System, and was the regional dean at the University of Texas Lubbock branch. He is the author of what is widely considered the standard reference in clinical pathology (co-authored with his father), and has been a consultant to the World Health Organization. Sodeman will be chief of laboratories, assuring standards of practice are met at University of Miami Hospital and Jackson Memorial Hospital. He also will take the lead in consolidating clinical labs at the medical school and "bringing operations under one infrastructure to assure quality and patient safety."
A major component of appropriate utilization, quality and patient safety will be information technology, a drive being led by Phillip Chen, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pathology and director of pathology informatics, a new position. Dr. Chen began incorporating pathology with medical information systems as chief resident in clinical pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He founded and was medical director and president of Cognoscenti Health Institute in Orlando, which he built into a multimillion-dollar regional clinical laboratory, and where he co-designed an award-winning program for diabetes management. When Cognoscenti was acquired by Sonic Health Care, the world's leading provider of clinical laboratory testing, Chen became the chief medical informatics officer for Sonic, prior to joining the Miller School of Medicine in June.
Dr. Chen sums up his motto succinctly: "We do not perform laboratory testing. We practice laboratory medicine." He believes that as the practice of medicine transitions to evidence-based population health management, pathology must collaborate with and provide support to clinical colleagues. The recent launch of UChart, the UHealth electronic medical records system, will support this effort, says Dr. Chen, whose goal is to standardize the electronic transmission of laboratory orders, results and decision support tools campus-wide.
Dr. Cote describes the additions to pathology as "highly trained specialists with a team mentality. Each physician brings proven background and experience, with a track record of success in their field that will ultimately transform the care we provide to UHealth patients. This team, along with our current faculty and future recruits, will unify the practices of pathology and laboratory medicine across the Miller School of Medicine campus, position pathology as a cornerstone of personalized, evidence- and value-based medicine, and enable transformational research to foster discovery and develop new technologies on this campus, region, and beyond."
