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The American Association of Cancer Researchers (AACR) named David Rimm, MD, PhD, Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology and of Medicine (Medical Oncology), as recipient of the 2026 James S. Ewing-Thelma B. Dunn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pathology in Cancer Research. The award recognizes and celebrates pathologists who have contributed significantly to advancing cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Why do some lung cancers stop responding to drugs that once worked? And why does the immune system sometimes fail to recognize and destroy tumors? Pathologist Katerina Politi, PhD, has spent more than two decades pursuing those questions, and her team at Yale School of Medicine is now closer to finding answers that could reshape how patients are treated. “There are specific genetic alterations in tumors that encode proteins that lead to activation of signaling pathways that the cancer cells then rely on to survive and grow,” says Politi, the Joseph A. and Lucille K. Madri Professor of Pathology. “So can we use drugs to target those specific, altered proteins or other relevant molecules in the cancer cells? That’s one of the things that we’re interested in.”
Yale Pathology participated in the celebration of National Laboratory Medical Professionals Week, April 19-26, with different events each day that not only highlighted the important work our lab pros do but also brought the department together.
Some of the many fun events – organized by the Cell-ebrate Pathology Committee – included crazy sock day, a cultural potluck lunch, a photo booth, daily prizes, a scavenger hunt, and volunteer speakers.
Chen Liu, MD, PhD, chair of pathology, says the work the department’s laboratory professionals perform each day “is foundational to everything we do,” making “an extraordinary impact on patient care through accuracy, dedication, and professionalism.”
The Department of Pathology didn’t just lose a ton of knowledge and experience when several long-time employees retired this spring, we also lost trusted friends and colleagues. So, we paused to honor these wonderful people at a breakfast reception held April 1 in the lobby of the Brady Memorial Lab building. Throughout the two-hour event, pathology employees stopped by to wish well to their departing colleagues and enjoy a continental breakfast. Whether they will be pursing hobbies and adventure, enjoying well-earned relaxation, or spending time with family and friends, we wish them all the best in this next chapter of their lives.
In photo, retiree Victor Kendrick, left, and retiree Paul Stabach, right, with co-worker Samara Diggs.
Colleagues of Robert Homer, MD, PhD, gathered April 23 in the Beaumont Room at Yale School of Medicine to bid goodbye to the pathology professor, who recently retired after a 40-plus year career at Yale. Colleagues recalled Homer as a dedicated colleague and a committed educator who set the bar in pulmonary pathology. Chen Liu, MD, PhD, chair of pathology, says Homer is a colleague who embodies what it means to contribute to the department. "I treat him as my mentor," says Xuchen Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of pathology. "He has been such a role model for me as an academic pathologist," adds Mina Xu, MD, professor of pathology. Fortunately, Homer will remain as professor emeritus of pathology and senior research scientist.
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John Sinard, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and of ophthalmology and visual sciences, has been selected by ophthalmology residents as the recipient of the Marvin Sears Teaching Award. The honor recognizes excellence in teaching.
Demetrios Braddock, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and principal investigator of the Braddock Laboratory, was recently honored by the patient community for his leadership in developing a promising therapy for rare genetic neonatal calcification disorders. He received the 2026 Hope Award from Brighter Hope Foundation (formerly known as GACI Global) during the organization’s international patient conference held in Orlando, Fla., on Valentine’s Day. Braddock traveled to attend the conference, where families, patients, and researchers gathered to share updates, build connections, and recognize progress in the field.
Hyunhyuk Tae, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in cell biology and a member of the Ramakrishnan Lab in the Department of Pathology, has been awarded a three-year postdoc fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP). The HFSP is an international program of research support that funds leading-edge research on the complex mechanisms of living organisms.
Mina Xu, MD, professor of pathology, and Coraline Mlynarczyk, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (hematology), discuss the use of technology developed by Rong Fan, PhD, Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Biomedical Engineering and of Pathology, to discover biomarkers needed to improve care for patients with Follicular Lymphoma in this recently published video. In 2025, the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research named Fan, Mlynarczyk, and Xu as winners of the ASPIRE Award in Partnership with the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation. The award focuses on leveraging advanced spatial omics techniques developed in the Fan lab to map the clonal architecture and microenvironment of FL at the single-cell level with unprecedented detail.
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Minhua Wang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology, presented at the Chinese American Pathologist Association’s Online Education Program on Cytopathology on April 12. Her topic was “Serous Fluid Cytopathology: Clinical Approach & Diagnostic Challenges.”
Pei Hui, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and of gynecology, obstetrics & reproductive sciences, and Natalia Buza, MD, professor of pathology, each presented at the 31st Congress of the Chinese Society of Pathology and the 15th Annual Meeting of Chinese Pathologists, April 23-26, in Xi’an, China. The theme of the annual meeting was, “Frontiers in Pathology: Integrating Precise Diagnosis into Practice.”
The Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Community (AIRR-C) of The Antibody Society will be held at Yale University from June 8-11. The meeting brings together researchers studying B‑cell and T‑cell receptor repertoires to discuss standards, tools, resources, and emerging challenges in AIRR‑seq data generation and analysis. This year’s program will feature scientific updates, working group sessions, and opportunities for community engagement and collaboration. Steven Kleinstein, PhD, Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology, will be a keynote speaker. Faculty members Gur Yaari, PhD, associate professor of pathology, and Gisela Gabernet, PhD, associate research scientist in pathology, are members of the AIRR-C working group that organized the program and encourage you to register for this event.
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The chief pathology residents for the 2026-2027 academic year are Claire Krasinski, DO, MS; Razie Amraei, MD, PhD; Carlos Mauricio Mejia Arbelaez, MD, MPH; and Taylor Takasugi, MD, PhD.
Cole Jensen, a member of the Kleinstein Lab in the Department of Pathology and a PhD Student in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) F31 award. Jensen is a computational biologist with a background in epidemiology, statistics, and evolutionary biology. His research interests include developing computational evolutionary and graph-based approaches for studying B-cell biology.
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Speaker: Arif Yurdagul, PhD
Research in Progress
Speakers: Nathaniel Dwyer, Carla Pantoja
Speakers: Pei Hui, PhD, MD, Natalia Buza, MD, Krasimira Rozenova, MD, PhD, Deyin Xing, MD, PhD
Speakers: Noffar Bar, MD, Barbara Burtness, MD, Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, MSc, PhD, Michael Girardi, MD, FAAD, Susan Gueble, MD, PhD
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The Department of Pathology at Yale, one of the first departments organized at Yale School of Medicine, is dedicated to continuing its history of world-renowned clinical care, innovative and impactful scientific research, and rigorous training of the next generation of pathologists and scientists. We count on the generous support of our community to help us accomplish these goals. A gift of any amount is vital to the mission of Yale Pathology.
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For decades, Yale School of Medicine research has been supported by a wide range of grants — from government-funded programs to foundations, non-profit organizations and more — from around Connecticut, the country, and the world. While they require similar applications for grant money, each is different in some way from the others and has differing parameters including deadlines, restrictions, and requirements. Below are links to different groupings of grants.