November 12, 2025
A Conversation with Dr. Domenick Falcone, Assistant Dean of the Foundational Curriculum, and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Domenick J. Falcone, Ph.D.Assistant Dean of the Foundational CurriculumProfessor of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineQ: I understand that as an undergraduate biology major, you took a course in histology that changed the trajectory of your career. Can you please elaborate on that?A: Histology was taught by an energetic professor, who displayed an encyclopedic command of the subject material. Her simple hand drawn diagrams helped me to conceptualize the...
November 2, 2025
A conversation with Dr. Sanjay Patel, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine Sanjay Patel, M.D., M.P.H.Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineQ: How did you develop an interest in pathology? Did you always know this is what you wanted to do?A: Not at all. In medical school, I explored nearly every specialty through required and elective rotations—radiology, anesthesiology, oncology. My mom is a pathologist, but pathology wasn't encouraged or visible in medical school. Medicine is often presented as patient-facing work, and pathology...
October 14, 2025
A Conversation with Dr. Laura Collins, Vice Chair of Oncologic Pathology and Breast Cancer Research LeadDr. Laura Collins is Vice Chair of Oncologic Pathology, Chief of Breast Pathology, Breast Cancer Research Lead at the Meyer Cancer Center, and a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (pending appointment at rank). Her work has helped define the natural history of breast lesions and improve diagnostic accuracy worldwide. We spoke with Dr. Collins about her career, her research on precursor lesions, and what women should know about breast cancer risk.
October 10, 2025
Dr. Nicholas Brady leads the Brady Lab in Weill Cornell Medicine’s Pathology and Laboratory Medicine department, where his team studies how changes in chromatin states drive the progression of neuroendocrine prostate cancer and seeks new ways to stop or reverse this deadly disease. We spoke with him about his unconventional career path, his passion for teaching, and why mentorship matters as much as discovery.
September 16, 2025
A conversation with Dr. Ethel Cesarman, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Q: You’re trained in anatomic pathology, hematopathology, and molecular pathology, and serve as Assistant Director of the Molecular Hematopathology Lab at NYP and Weill Cornell. Your research focuses on malignancies linked to AIDS and other immunodeficiencies. Is that accurate?A: Yes—except I didn’t do a formal molecular pathology fellowship as those were implemented after my training. But I had experience doing cancer molecular genetics as part of my PhD research.Ethel Cesarman,...
September 3, 2025
A conversation with Dr. Kenji Ikemura, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Q: After earning your MD from Rush Medical College, you completed your residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Montefiore-Einstein, followed by a fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at Memorial Sloan Kettering and a clinical informatics fellowship at Mass General. What drew you to these fields, and what do you find engaging and challenging about this work?Kenji Ikemura, M.D. Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory MedicineA:...
August 20, 2025
A conversation with Dr. Annika Windon, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell MedicineQ: You received board certification in anatomic and clinical pathology after completing your residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and developed an expertise in gastrointestinal, pancreas, and liver pathology. What drew you to those fields, and what do you find engaging or challenging about them today?A: Initially, I was drawn to GI pathology because of my mentor in residency. She was an exceptional GI pathologist, and she introduced me to the breadth...
August 14, 2025
Weill Cornell Medicine faculty member Dr. Anna Nam and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Maria Cecilia Lira have been chosen to join the 2025 class of Pew scholars and fellows.Dr. Nam, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been selected as a 2025 Pew-Stewart Scholar for Cancer Research. Now in its 12th year, the award, emanating from a partnership between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust, supports early career scientists with a four-year, $300,000 grant to conduct innovative research projects spanning cancer...
August 11, 2025
Dr. Daniel R. Alonso, dean emeritus of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar and professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, died July 31 in Norfolk, Va., at age 88. An esteemed physician, administrator and teacher, Dr. Alonso served both institutions with distinction for more than 40 years.A native of Argentina, Dr. Alonso started medical school at age 17 enthusiastic about medicine but unsure about what specialty to practice, recalled his son, Daniel R. Alonso, an attorney at VedderPrice in New York City and an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School....
June 24, 2025
Metastasis. It’s the word cancer patients dread most – and the scan with ominous black spots showing the disease has spread. For too many people, metastatic cancer is kept at bay only for a short time, with chemotherapy and radiation, before the disease returns or the harsh treatments fatally weaken the body.For more than 20 years, Nancy Du, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and the Rasweiler Family Research Scholar in Cancer Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, has researched how metastatic cancer arises. With a $500,000 grant over three years from the Congressionally...