Neuropathology Overview
The Division of Neuropathology provides clinical services, trains the next generation of leading academic neuropathologists, teaches medical students and residents, and carries out basic biomedical research. Each of these missions focuses on the nervous system. Clinical services include both autopsy and surgical neuropathological diagnostics of specimens from the brain and its coverings, the spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle. These clinical activities, along with extensive research experiences, are also utilized in the Neuropathology Fellowship Training Program. Additional Divisional teaching efforts are directed at Pathology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery Residents, as well as at Penn medical students in a variety of forums.
A major core effort of each Divisional faculty member is basic bench research directed at increasing understanding of basic cellular processes and their relationships to diseases manifest in the nervous system. Current research interests represented in the Division encompass neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis including related neuronal and glial pathology, the Golgi apparatus, RNA-mediated regulation of gene expression, RNA stability, RNA splicing, signal transduction, and the cytoskeleton. Additional research interests are developmental neurobiology, developmental neuropathology and biology of pediatric and adult brain tumors.
Highlights
- Nine highly experienced diagnostic neuropathologists
- Use of many specialized techniques including fluorescence in situ hybridization, electron microscopy, next-generation sequencing, and other molecular approaches
- Muscle pathology service, with extensive special studies, including enzyme histochemistry
- Peripheral Nerve pathology service
- Highly ranked Neuropathology Fellowship Training Program
- Well-funded basic and disease-related neuroscience research carried out in state-of-the-art laboratories
