Clinical Pathology

Division Chief, Christine Schmotzer, MD

The Division of Clinical Pathology provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art, laboratory service across the full spectrum of diagnostic specialties.  The Division performs over 16 million tests per year at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UHCMC) which support the advanced clinical services at UHCMC, University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) regional hospitals, and its broad network of physician practices throughout Northeast Ohio. Both routine and esoteric testing are offered ranging from the highly automated core laboratory to advanced personalized medicine and molecular diagnostics. The Clinical Pathology Division specialty laboratory sections are led by nationally-prominent academic physicians, doctoral scientists, and researchers.

Expert consultation on laboratory test selection and interpretation is offered by our medical directors for the UHHS physicians and providers. The division faculty promotes the research mission of the department through individual and collaborative grants in areas such as drug development, immune function, and analytic laboratory methods.

Center for Inherited Diseases of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (CIDEM)

The Center for Inherited Diseases of Inborn Errors of Metabolism at UH Cleveland Medical Center supports the diagnosis of inherited abnormalities of mitochondrial function including pyruvate metabolism, Krebs cycle, fatty acid metabolism and electron transport chain.

Section Medical Director: Shawn E McCandless, MD

Assistant Section Medical Director: Jirair K. Bedoyan, MD, PhD

Clinical Chemistry

The Clinical Chemistry section of the Core Laboratory includes both the Automated Chemistry and Special Chemistry laboratories. The Automated Chemistry section operates 24/7 and employs state-of-the-art automation, sample handling, and analysis for over 7 million routine biochemical tests annually. The Special Chemistry section performs more specialized and esoteric testing to expand the complexity of the chemistry test menu. Testing in these areas includes electrolytes and metabolic profiles, cardiac and lipid markers, hormones, cancer biomarkers, toxicology, and therapeutic drug monitoring.  Additionally, enhanced testing for pediatric patients is offered including lead monitoring, biochemical genetics, and cystic fibrosis testing. Expert consultation on laboratory test selection and interpretation is offered by our medical directors for the UHHS physicians and providers.

Section Medical Director: Christine Schmotzer, MD

Assistant Section Medical Director: Jaime Noguez, PhD, DABCC

Cytogenetics

The Cytogenetics Laboratory at the Center for Human Genetic Laboratory is a full service laboratory and provides high quality chromosome analysis for prenatal (amniotic fluid, chorionic villi), products of conception, postnatal (peripheral blood, skin fibroblasts), hematology (bone marrow, leukemic blood, lymph nodes), and oncology (solid tumors).  Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH) services for a variety of specimen types including prenatal, postnatal, hematological malignancies and solid tumors.  Both paraffin and non-paraffin specimens are processed.

Section Medical Director: Shashirekha Shetty, PhD

Diagnostic Immunology

The Diagnostic Immunology laboratory section specializes in the serologic testing for common and complex immunologic disease.  This section offers a range of analytic methods including nephelometry, capillary electrophoresis, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA), and automated immunoassays.  Testing encompasses evaluation and monitoring of infectious disease serology, allergens, autoimmune disease, plasma cell dyscrasias, and immune deficiencies.

Section Medical Director: Christine Schmotzer, MD

Donor Apheresis Center

The Donor Apheresis Center is a part of Transfusion Medicine Services at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Rainbow, Babies, and Children’s Hospital and its activities center on consultation, management, and performance of autologous and matched related allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell donor evaluation and cellular therapy product collection (clinical and research) and therapeutic apheresis. Therapeutic apheresis procedures (automated Red Blood Cell Exchange, Plasma Exchange, Leukodepletion, and Platelet Depletion) are also available. The Donor Apheresis Center is located in the basement of Hanna House.

Section Medical Director:  Katharine Downes, MD

Center Medical Director: Robert Maitta MD, PhD

Flow Cytometry

This section is integral to the complex management of hematological disorders including the Seidman Cancer Center bone marrow transplant program by performing diagnostic immunophenotypic evaluations on a wide variety of hematologic specimens relating to cancer, benign hematology and immunodeficiency states. The section uses multi-color flow cytometers in conjunction with morphology and immunohistochemistry to aid in the diagnosis and management of hematolymphoid diseases.

Section Medical Director: Howard Meyerson, MD

Hematology

This laboratory performs routine hematological testing including complete blood counts and morphological assessments of peripheral blood smears and body fluids and is involved in the evaluation of many hematologic conditions, including anemias, leukemias, and lymphomas, among other disorders.

Section Medical Director: Erika Moore, MD

Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory (HIL)

This laboratory provides testing enabling transplantation of solid organs (kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, lung) and hematopoietic cells (bone marrow, blood, cord blood) as well as identification of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) antigens or alleles associated with particular disease states or drug reactions.

Section Medical Director: Neil Greenspan, MD, PhD

Associate Section Medical Director: David Wald, MD, PhD

Microbiology

This laboratory offers diagnostic services for bacteriology, virology, mycobacteriology, mycology and parasitology. The lab has been an early adopter of automated technologies including implementation of a new robotic system for bacteriology specimen processing, use of new automated molecular testing systems and application of mass spectroscopy for microorganism identification.

Interim Section Medical Director: Lisa M. Stempak, MD

 

Medical Genetics

The Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the Center for Human Genetics Laboratory offers a variety of testing using PCR-based methodologies, DNA hybridization, methylation analysis, Invader assay, Sanger and NGS sequencing analysis. Our full-service molecular laboratory offers both clinical testing as well as translational research collaborations

Section Medical Director: Shulin Zhang, PhD

Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory 

The Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory provides an array of molecular testing – including infectious diseases as well as oncology based single gene mutation and methylation assays. The laboratory is also the central site for DNA extractions for all oncology testing. 

Section Medical Director: Lan Zhou MD, PhD

Point of Care Testing (POCT) 

Medically diagnostic testing at or near the place of patient care can greatly facilitate continuous patient management. The POCT section provides ongoing administrative and logistic support with quality oversight to the multiple clinical services dependent on POCT devices at UH Cleveland Medical Center.

Section Medical Director: Linda Sandhaus, MD

Special Coagulation

The Coagulation Laboratories provide comprehensive hemostasis diagnostic testing with both routine and specialized assays for evaluation of bleeding and thrombotic disorders of inherited and acquired conditions and anticoagulant monitoring. Pathologist test interpretation and consultation regarding appropriate test selection is available upon request.

Section Medical Director:  Katharine Downes, MD

Special Hematology

This section is primarily responsible for tests involved in the evaluation of benign hematologic diseases including the diagnosis and management of hemoglobinopathies, such as sickle cell disease, screening tests for glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, screening test for fetal gastric hemorrhage and special stains used for the evaluation of hemolysis and leukocytoses. The section also occasionally performs stains used in the evaluation of acute leukemias. 

Section Medical Director:  Howard Meyerson, MD

Transfusion Medicine Service

The Transfusion Medicine-Blood Banking activities including provision of blood and blood components for adult and pediatric transfusion therapy, trauma support, sickle cell disease specialized transfusion support, identification and acquisition of specialized blood and blood components, immunohematology diagnostic testing and evaluation, transfusion reaction investigation, assessment and diagnosis, appropriate blood component utilization,  assessment of platelet refractoriness and for granulocyte transfusion therapy, maternal fetal medicine support including intrauterine transfusion, antibody titration assessment, and fetal maternal hemorrhage assessment, Rh Immune Globulin (RhIG) needs, and transfusion support in solid organ and hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation. Pathologist consultation is available for these activities.

Section Medical Director:  Katharine Downes, MD

Assistant Medical Director: Robert Maitta MD, PhD

University Hospitals Translational Laboratory (UHTL) 

UHTL provides Next Generation (deep) Sequencing testing for UH Cleveland Medical Center. The two most prominent activities of the UHTL are identification of (i) molecular signatures in solid and myeloid malignancies linked to targeted therapeutic agents and patient prognosis and (ii) identification of mutations associated with resistance to HIV-1 therapy.

Section Medical Director: Navid Sadri MD, PhD

Bioinformatics Director: David Alouani, PhD