JUNE 2024
OUR GRADUATES & THE THIRD ANNUAL RESEARCH &
CLINICAL EXCELLENCE DAY
As the academic year comes to a close, I would like to spotlight our graduating trainees, including staff and clinical MD/PhD trainees. We thank them for their dedication and wish them the best in their future endeavors.
GRADUATING CLINICAL TRAINEES
Congratulations to our Clinical Trainees and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.
GRADUATING POST-DOCS
GRADUATING STAFF
Our third annual Research and Clinical Excellence Day was held on Friday, May 31, 2024. The event highlighted the ongoing basic, translational and clinical research in our department including quality, lab stewardship, and education research. The event included presentations and over 20 poster displays. Thank you to our presenters Drs. Amanda Zand, Jasmine Zhou, Jianyu Rao, Rebecca Sosa, Chace Moleta, and our keynote speaker, Dr. Peter Tontonoz.
The poster presentations were equally diverse and I really enjoyed interacting with all the presenters!
I’d like to thank the Research Day Committee, Drs. Jonathan Said (Chair), Neda Moatamed, Bogdan Pasaniuc, and Jasmine Zhou for their vision in creating a platform to showcase department research.
A special thank you to Pathology Facilities and Operations, Jess Hernandez, Elijah Williams, Orlando Pérez, and Anastasia Gustafson for their preparation and operational support to ensure everything went smoothly throughout the day.
I also wanted to thank all the faculty on clinical service who were flexible with their schedules so trainees could attend. I know many of our faculty on clinical service had to attend to urgent clinical matters during the research day presentations, and I appreciate you making such an effort to attend as many of the presentations as possible.
Save the Date! Our fourth annual Research and Clinical Excellence Day will be held on Friday, May 30, 2025. As you and your team present research in the upcoming year, please remember that we would love to have you present your work at our event.
NEWS
After an exceptionally successful career in pathology over 31 years and five years within the UCLA Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Krane has announced his retirement as of June 30, 2024.
A luminary in the field of Pathology, Dr. Krane has been an integral part of our Cytology and Head and Neck Pathology Services, bringing with him a wealth of expertise and a commitment to excellence. Among his accomplishments, Dr. Krane has been instrumental in developing internationally recognized uniform reporting terminology for thyroid (“The Bethesda System”) and salivary gland (“The Milan System”) FNA specimens. He has been an invaluable member of our team since joining us in 2019, and has made great contributions to the department including serving as Cytopathology Fellowship Director and Committee Chair to the Residency Curriculum Revision. He has also been a supportive colleague and mentor, offering guidance and encouragement to trainees and junior colleagues alike.
We extend our sincere appreciation to him for his excellent contributions to our department, and wish him the very best in his retirement.
Quote from her nomination:
"The course Niroshi co-teaches is in the beginning of our training and therefore carries a responsibility to mold our understanding of genetic testing options. A lot of our success integrating our knowledge of genetic testing into future courses and rotations is thanks to Niroshi's work in [HG]430. She also used different teaching styles for different learners…We could tell that she took time to figure out a way of teaching that would make sense (which isn't easy with her course content in cytogenetics and molecular genetics)."
Congratulations to the UCLA Immunogenetics Center!
Congratulations to our UIC lab for successfully passing their ASHI inspection with no major citations/deficiencies!
Given the high quality work this lab performs, these results are not a surprise. Yet, all of you who experience lab inspections/accreditations understand that it’s still always a welcome relief when the inspection is over and the lab has done well.
Successful labs require a strong team effort – congratulations to the faculty, trainees and staff at UIC for all you do, every day, to deliver outstanding results to patients!
Congratulations to the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory!
The UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory (OAL) has officially been approved for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). A2LA is among the largest accreditation bodies dedicated to the formal recognition of competent testing and calibration laboratories.
OAL is one of the world’s largest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited sports drug-testing facilities. As an A2LA accredited laboratory, OAL analyzes an estimated 45,000 urine specimens per year for traces of banned substances intended to give athletes an unfair edge in competition. The lab performs drug testing for national and international sports organizations, including the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and other major sporting events such as the 1994 World Soccer Cup and three Olympic Games.
Congratulations to the OAL team for all your continued efforts!
Back row (left to right): Elise Parsaee, Yan Xu, Ronald Gonzalez, Brian Ahrens, Francis Regacho, Samantha Adams, Mustafa Cittan, Nurali Avliyakulov, Brian Bishop, Timofei Sobolevskii
Front row (left to right): Shirley Taam, Monika Abeywardena, Yulia Kucherova, Fereshteh Delshad, Dr. Dry, Roya Kashanpour, Christina Zaragoza, Tatiana Sergeeva, Lorna Reyes, Maria Gomez
Patients with Duffy Associated Neutrophil Count (DANC) often get labeled with and worked up for neutropenia, resulting in unnecessary medical procedures, exclusion from clinical trials, and mental stress. Many of these patients are of African or Middle Eastern background whereas the current absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ranges are based on individuals of European or Asian descent. Addressing this with an appropriate reference range will help reduce the amount of systemic racism and inappropriate care decisions that this patient cohort faces.
Co-PIs, Dr. Zhen Mei and Dr. Vivian Chang (Peds Heme-Onc), are in receipt of a $30,000 grant with their project to last one year with the outcome of a new reference range for different pediatric age groups as well as adult population. Congratulations to Dr. Mei and Dr. Chang!
Dr. Zhen Mei was a judge at the recent International Science and Engineering High School Fair sponsored by Regeneron. During this multi-day event at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Dr. Mei listened to student presentations, had conversations about their work and career paths, and participated in a caucus with other judges, which included basic scientists, educators, and clinicians.
