News and Events | Pathology | School of Medicine | Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University awarded $1.5M to study vaginal bacteria linked to serious health risks

With a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Assistant Professor Gina Lewin and her team will study the dynamics of Bacterial vaginosis in hopes of identifying a more effective approach. (November 25, 2024)

Publication: A Minimally Invasive Biomarker for Sensitive and Accurate Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

This paper was authored by the collaborative effort of four groups: Zerui Wang at Pathology, Steven Gunzler at UH, Shu G. Chen at UAB, and Qingzhong Kong at Pathology and Neurology. (October 22, 2024)

Dr. Mark Jackson appointed as new Vice Dean of Graduate Education

Read Dr. Stan Gerson's welcome letter here. (October 2024)

Pathology’s Tian Liu receives National Institutes of Health R01 grant

Tian Liu, assistant professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, was recently awarded a five-year, $630,595 National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant to study the role of the CHCHD10 protein in Alzheimer’s disease. (October 18, 2024)

17th Annual Immunology Retreat and The Enrique Ecker Memorial Lecture

(April 26, 2024)

The 8th Annual Pathology Retreat

The Department of Pathology Pathology Retreat. (November 19th, 2022)

Why women may be more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers identify mechanism in brain tissue that may explain disparity between men and women. Publication in Cell, David Kang and Alexa Woo.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.002

National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center to receive up to $20 million in CDC grant funding for continued research into fatal neurodegenerative prion diseases in brain

The five-year grant period began this month and will allow the center to continue research and diagnostic activities related to prion diseases. Prion diseases are different than other transmissible diseases caused by viruses or bacteria. They develop when normal prion proteins in the brain change shape and clump together causing damage to the nerve cells. The damage results in small spongelike holes in brain tissue. (September 20, 2022)

2022 Class of Distinguished Physician

Congratulations Drs. Marta Couce, MD, PhD, Mark Rodgers, MD, JD & Joseph Willis, MD for receiving the 2022 Distinguished UH Physician Award. (September 15, 2022)

Top faculty to be honored during CWRU’s inaugural Innovation Week

Thirty Case Western Reserve faculty members will be honored for their impressive records of research and entrepreneurship during an awards ceremony Thursday, Sept. 15, as part of the university’s inaugural Innovation Week including Joseph Willis, MD and Brian Grimberg, PhD. (September 7, 2022)

Welcome Dr. Gina Lewin!

Please welcome our new faculty member, Gina Lewin. She is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Global Health and Diseases and the CWRU-Veteran Affairs Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Epidemiology (Case VA CARES).

Corrupted proteins in focus: How shape gives rise to variations of fatal brain disease

Allison Kraus, PhD research believe imaging could lead to better understanding of what causes fatal prion diseases. The research was published this month in Nature Communications. (July 27, 2022)

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher leading development of drug to suppress autoimmunity leading to type 1 diabetes; supported by JDRF

A research team led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine scientist Parameswaran Ramakrishnan is developing a drug to reduce the number of insulin injections needed by children with type 1 diabetes. (June 22, 2022)

2022 University Hospitals Awards

Congratulations to the 2022 UH Awardees

Dr. Pizarro named 2022 Woman in Inflammation Award Recipient

Theresa Pizarro PhD has been named as the 2022 Woman in Inflammation Award recipient for her outstanding contributions to the progress of Science in Inflammation.

Dr. Harding has been named as the 2023 recipient of the ASIP Robbins Distinguished Educator Award

Clifford Harding MD, PhD has been named as the 2023 recipient of the ASIP (American Society for Investigative Pathology) Robbins Distinguished Educator Award. The ASIP Robbins Distinguished Educator Award recognizes individuals whose contributions to education in pathology have had a manifest impact at a regional, national, or international level.

2022 election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation ASCI - David Wald

David Wald, MD, PhD was selected as a os ASCI. These members represent excellence across the breadth of academic medicine.

A new pathway to shrink cancerous tumors through body’s immune cells

Researchers influence white blood cells, called macrophages, to slow or reverse disease progression. (April 20, 2022)

Medicine’s Parameswaran Ramakrishnan and Wendy Goodman writes piece published in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Parameswaran Ramakrishnan and Wendy Goodman, published an article titled “Sam68 contributes to intestinal inflammation in experimental and human colitis” in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. (April 14, 2022)

Medicine’s Neil S. Greenspan pens article in Genes : “Genes, heritability, ‘race’, and intelligence: Misapprehensions and implications.”

The article discusses the role of genetics in determining measured differences in mean IQ between putative racial groups. Greenspan explains that while the last several decades of research have demonstrated that genetic variation can influence measures of cognitive function, the inferences drawn by some participants in the controversy regarding the implications of these findings for racial differences in cognitive ability are highly dubious.

Pathology’s Amy G. Hise appointed president of the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society

Amy G. Hise, associate professor of pathology and a physician at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, recently began a two-year term as president of the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society (IEIIS). (February 25, 2022)

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s Neil Greenspan named fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Dr. Neil Greenspan has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.” (January 28, 2022)

CWRU graduate student speaks with Michelle Obama in televised conversation

Case Western Reserve University graduate student, Salma Shire, learned she had been selected out of 150 applicants to represent CWRU during a livestreamed discussion with Obama. The event—”Becoming: Michelle Obama in Conversation”—would feature a conversation about Obama’s book with a small group of students from participating universities. (January 27, 2022)

PhRMA Foundation selects PhD student Joshua Centor for predoctoral fellowship

Joshua Centor, a PhD student in pathology, was recently awarded a predoctoral fellowship by the PhRMA Foundation for work related to Type 1 diabetes. (January 14, 2022)

Findings open the way to more precise diagnoses and treatments of Alzheimer’s disease

Case Western Reserve University-led research team discovers why some cases result in rapid decline and death. (January 13, 2022)

What to look for as COVID-19 testing demands rise

"What's going to satisfy the person as far as the result that they get? Some people would be satisfied with an antigen test, a lower sensitivity, and other people are going to want to have it confirmed by PCR," Dr. Peter Zimmerman, Pathology professor at Case Western Reserve University told us. (December 23, 2021)

2021 Class of Distinguished Physician

Congratulations Drs. Clifford V. Harding, MD, PhD, Gregory T. MacLennan, MD, & Navid Sadri, MD, PhD for receiving the 2021 Distinguished UH Physician Award. (Nov 10, 2021)

7th Annual Department of Pathology Research Retreat

2021 Department of Pathology Retreat, November 6th, 2021. Posters, John R. Carter, and Michael E. Lamm awardees, and more.

New Research at the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting Captures SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Patterns in Vaccinated and Naturally Infected Individuals

The study led by Xiaochun Zhang, MD, PhD, UH Clinical Pathology, showed how antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus can vary between those who receive a COVID-19 vaccine and naturally infected individuals. (Oct. 29, 2021)

Company’s esophageal cancer prevention tests developed jointly by medical school faculty at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals

Joseph Willis, Professor and Vice Chair of Translational Research, and colleagues completed a $70 million initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Global Market for Lucid Diagnostics Inc. (Oct. 19, 2021)

Research team recognized with 2021 Emeritage Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire Prize for Scientific Research

Chris King, a professor of pathology affiliated with the Center for Global Health and Diseases, and Catherine Bjerum, a senior research associate, were part of a team recognized with the 2021 Emeritage Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS) Prize for Scientific Research. The award honors work on studies on the elimination of lymphatic filariasis and malaria. (Sept. 24, 2021)

First atomic-level imaging of lethal prions provides sharpened focus for potential treatments

Using cryo-electron microscopy, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and National Institutes of Health open door to new level of detail in study of abnormal proteins that cause untreatable neurodegenerative conditions (Aug 30, 2021).

National Institute on Aging awards $15.4 million to continue support for Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant expected to total $15.4 million. Center is one of 31 NIH-funded centers in the nation (Aug 26, 2021).

Immunology T32 Training Program Renewal

The NIAID-sponsored Immunology T32 Leadership Track Training Program has been renewed for an additional 5 years with a 50% increase in the number of available slots for trainee support. A call for applications will be released in early Fall of 2021 (Aug 16, 2021).

CWRU researchers discover interior organization of the nucleolus

The research team, led by Alan Tartakoff, professor in the Department of Pathology at the School of Medicine, pulled out the nucleus’ axial strand of DNA and observed that its DNA axis is surrounded by two layers of critical protein complexes (Aug. 10, 2021)

Could a type of dementia be diagnosed through skin? University Hospitals, Case Western researchers are trying to find out

Professor Shu Chen and Assistant Professor Allison Kraus from the School of Medicine were noted for their roles as part of a new research team looking into whether a skin sample or a nasal swab could hold the key to identifying a certain type of dementia (July 29, 2021)