Interim Chair, Department of Pathology
Vikram Deshpande, MD
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians (HMFP) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
As an outstanding clinician, researcher, and educator, Vikram Deshpande, MD has clinical and academic expertise in gastrointestinal pathology and bone and soft tissue pathology. He directs the subspecialty services in both areas and has helped shape the department’s diagnostic and educational programs. He is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Deshpande is actively involved in national and international academic pathology communities. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Pathology and serves as President of the New England Society of Pathologists. He has made seminal contributions to the understanding of IgG4-related disease, a condition he helped define and characterize. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and reviews in leading journals. He has led and contributed to high-impact research in gastrointestinal diseases and pathology and has a special interest in integrating machine learning into diagnostic pathology.
He is leading the department through a major expansion and initiative, the Dana-Farber Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Collaboration. His priorities include recruitment and mentorship of faculty, enhancing academic visibility, modernizing pathology operations, and ensuring a culture of collaboration and excellence across the enterprise.
As an outstanding clinician, researcher, and educator, Vikram Deshpande, MD has clinical and academic expertise in gastrointestinal pathology and bone and soft tissue pathology. He directs the subspecialty services in both areas and has helped shape the department’s diagnostic and educational programs. He is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Deshpande is actively involved in national and international academic pathology communities. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Pathology and serves as President of the New England Society of Pathologists. He has made seminal contributions to the understanding of IgG4-related disease, a condition he helped define and characterize. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and reviews in leading journals. He has led and contributed to high-impact research in gastrointestinal diseases and pathology and has a special interest in integrating machine learning into diagnostic pathology.
He is leading the department through a major expansion and initiative, the Dana-Farber Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Collaboration. His priorities include recruitment and mentorship of faculty, enhancing academic visibility, modernizing pathology operations, and ensuring a culture of collaboration and excellence across the enterprise.
About Pathology
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center‘s (HMFP) Department of Pathology provides exceptional and compassionate patient care to provide accurate diagnosis of major medical conditions and perform cutting-edge research. In collaboration with our primary affiliate partner, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, we support elite training to prepare physicians and scientists for leadership roles in pathology and academic medicine.
The department offers a wide selection of resident training pathways, including extensive opportunities to participate in research projects with world-renowned experts in pathology or related disciplines. In addition, the department also provides autopsies and clinical laboratory services to the hospital.
Pathology
Fighting One of the Deadliest Cancers: Advancing Research on Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Congratulations to Carmelo Nucera, MD, PhD, who has been funded as one of only 12 awardees across the U.S., including the Greater Boston area, for the highly competitive Department of Defense (DOD) Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Impact Award, which received hundreds of applications. The award addresses prevention (mechanisms), therapeutics, and gaps in treatment in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), a highly aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer. Funding will begin in 2025. Click the header to read more.
Pathology
New ultra-fast molecular cancer diagnostic assays
The Pathology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory recently launched a fully automated, ultra-fast diagnostic platform capable of detecting clinically important, actionable mutations in the EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, and NRAS genes enabling unparalleled same-day results and precision cancer treatment for our patients. The system is real-time PCR-based and able to produce results in less than 3 hours, thus significantly reducing the time from diagnosis to treatment decisions. The laboratory is adding more ultra-rapid assays of key molecular markers to the test menu. Pathology is working closely with the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center to develop new reflex testing algorithms for many cancer types.
Pathology
First next generation sequencing clinical assay launched
The Molecular Pathology Laboratory has developed a Next Generation Sequencing assay designed for rapid and comprehensive analysis of key mutations associated with myeloid malignancies. The Ultra-Fast NGS Myeloid Panel was launched on July 7, 2025, and is already serving the needs of patients of the BIDMC Blood Cancer Program. Click the header to learn more.
Pathology
Paul A. VanderLaan, MD, PhD, receives the Excellence in Education Award by the American Society of Cytopathology
Paul A. VanderLaan, MD, PhD, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and BIDMC, and director of Surgical Pathology, is the recipient of the Excellence in Education Award by the American Society of Cytopathology. The award recognizes a pathologist for their contributions to the field of education in cytopathology. He will receive this honor on November 8, 2025, during the ASC’s 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. He is dedicated to advancing cytopathology, having published numerous significant research articles over the past year. He is also deeply committed to enhancing cytopathology knowledge by supporting the publications of others. Click the header to learn more.
Pathology
BIDMC Pathologists participate in the 2025 Harvard Medical School Pathology Research Retreat
Congratulations to all the BIDMC Pathologists who recently participated in the 2025 Harvard Medical School Pathology Research Retreat, including presenters Winston Hide, PhD, and Alex Toker, PhD. The poster session included a dozen BIDMC Pathology submissions. Pictured, l-r: Samuel Smith; Divya Bhagirath, PhD; and Gyorgy Abel, MD, PhD. Click the header to learn more.
News
BIDMC Pathology Launches Flow Cytometry Lab
This rapid, on-site testing is essential for the diagnosing and monitoring of acute leukemia, lymphoma, plasma cell myeloma and other hematologic disorders.
News
Pathology’s New Chemistry Analyzers Bring World-Class Diagnostics to Patient Care
With the launch of the chemistry analyzer, the clinical pathology team’s ability to process patient samples, especially cancer patient samples, and perform hundreds of assays at-scale was about to leap 20 years ahead, almost overnight. The launch is a major step forward to build world-class personalized precision diagnostics for our cancer patients.
Pathology
Pathology Research Highlights
Learn more about research projects with world-renowned faculty experts in pathology and related disciplines.
News
Sickle Cell Trait, Inequity, and the Need for Change
A newly published NEJM article by BIDMC pathologist Richard Haspel, MD, and hematologist Brian Carney, MD, calls out the discriminatory practices of the NCAA and U.S. military in requiring individuals to be tested for sickle cell trait. Click to learn more.
Departments
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (HMFP) includes 13 specialty clinical departments. HMFP has more than 2,200 specialty physicians and advanced practice professionals, providing services across the Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) system, and other hospitals across eastern Massachusetts. To learn more about a specific department, click below.
