About Pathology
Pathology is a discipline that bridges basic science and clinical practice in the study of how structural changes in cell tissue and organs are caused by disease.
Some of the major areas of research at UW Medicine Pathology include:
- Aging
- Cancer
- Liver Regeneration
- HIV/AIDS
- HPV
- Stem Cell
- Diabetes
- Vascular Biology
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Neuropathology
- Dermatopathology
- Connective Tissue Biopsy
- Cytogenetics
- Flow Cytometry
- and many other clinical specialty areas
UW Medicine Pathology Facts and Figures
- Established in 1954
- 72 grants totaling over $32 million in external grants (NIH 2006)
- 178 Faculty Members
- 64 Regular Faculty
- 34 Clinical Faculty
- 27 Affiliate Faculty
- 26 Adjunct Faculty
- 11 Research Faculty
- 16 Emeriti Faculty
- 29 Residents and Clinical Fellows
- 35 Graduate Students
- Over 400 staff members
- Research programs in over 50 Laboratories
- Surgical pathology: over 36,000 cases/year
- Autopsy pathology: over 200 cases/year
Department Chairs
Earl P. Benditt, M.D.
Professor and Chair, 1957-1981
Dr. Earl Benditt died on May 27, 1996. In 1986 Dr. Benditt became an Emeritus Professor after 29 years of dedicated service to the Department, having served as Chairman from 1957 to 1981. He continued to work in his laboratory and was a Distinguished Physician at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center from 1988 to 1993. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benditt came to the University of Washington in 1957, after completing post-doctoral training, and joining the faculty at the University of Chicago.
As chairman of a young department, Dr. Benditt quickly moved to build a faculty primarily dedicated to research and teaching. In a few years the clinical activities of the Department were consolidated at the University Medical Center and a UW-based residency program was launched. The department flourished, incorporating and utilizing modern biological techniques to investigate the pathogenesis of human disease. A Ph.D. program in Experimental Pathology was established, which became a model for many programs in the United States and abroad.
In 1975 Dr. Benditt was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He received the Rous Whipple Award (1980) and the Gold Headed Cane Award (1984) from the American Association of Pathologists. In 1989 he received the Distinguished Pathologist Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. He was the President of the American Society for Experimental Pathology from 1975-1976, serving on numerous study section for the National Institute of Health as well as many committees and councils.
Dr. Benditt’s creative and critical approach to science charted the course for the development of academic pathology over the past four decades.
Russell Ross, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, 1982-1994
Dr. Russell Ross died on March 18, 1999. He came to the University of Washington in 1958 as a graduate student in the Experimental Pathology Program directed by Dr. Earl Benditt. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1962, Dr. Ross rose through the faculty ranks and was appointed Professor of Pathology in 1969. As Chair of the Department, Dr. Ross greatly expanded the activities of the department and strengthened both its research and clinical activities to make it one of the top departments of pathology in the country. Because of his dynamic leadership and the work of many colleagues, the University of Washington School of Medicine came to be recognized as an outstanding center for research and training in vascular biology and pathology.
Dr. Ross made notable contributions to the understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Together with John Glomset, Dr. Ross formulated the “Response to Injury Hypothesis” of atherosclerosis in 1973. The hypothesis, which has been tested and modified from its original formulation, has had a profound impact on atherosclerosis research and vascular biology. Instead of a site for passive accumulation of blood lipids, the artery wall is now seen as a living, reactive tissue capable of mounting an inflammatory response. Dr. Ross and his colleagues are credited with many major discoveries.
Dr. Ross was honored with many awards, honorary professorships, and lectureships. In just one year, 1998, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of for Cardiovascular Pathology, the Louis and Artur Lucian Award for Research in Circulatory Diseases from McGill University in Montreal, the International Okamoto Award from the Japanese Vascular Disease Research Foundation, and presented the first Distinguished Vascular Biology Lecture of the American Heart Association. He was past president of the American Society for Investigative Pathology and in 1992 received the Society’s Rous-Whipple Award. He was also a member of the Editorial Board of The American Journal of Pathology.
Dr. Ross was a member of many national and international committees, chaired and co-chaired 15 research conferences, and served as a consultant to biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1987. He was heavily involved in community activities and was a longstanding member of the Board of Trustees, the Artistic Advisory Committee, and the Planning Committee of the Seattle Symphony.
Dr. Ross was a very productive scientist and an outstanding teacher. He trained a large number of post-doctoral fellows who went on to have distinguished careers of their own in this country and around the world.