Department Highlights
Recent Events
- Dr. Sanford Stass, long-time chair of the Department of Pathology and DMRT, to step down; Dr. Paul Staats will serve as Interim Chair.
- Team led by Drs. Kathryn Rice and Michael Kallen wins Innovation Award for AI-based Virtual Staining Technology.
- In Memoriam: Dr. Zeba Singh
- Our Academic Manager Katie Horton wins lifetime award for excellence at APC national meeting.
- Team led by Drs. Jonathan Jacobs and Nicole Putnam wins Innovation Award for Development of a CRISPR-based Rapid Diagnostic Test for the Diagnosis of Malaria.
- Dr. Paul Staats leads the way for a national match system in pathology fellowships.
- Dr. Rima Koka implements laboratory stewardship in test selection for myeloid mutation panels.
- Chief residents share our department’s unique and innovative vision for medical student education in pathology on the national stage.
- Our own Dr. Koka wins best medical student course director with Dr. Nick Carbonetti for Blood and Host Defenses course.
- Dr. Allen Burke wins Distinguished Achievement Award from Society for Cardiovascular Pathology.
In Memoriam: Dr. Zeba Singh
We honor the memory and life of Dr. Zeba Singh, who passed away early in November 2023, surrounded by her loving family and friends.
Dr. Singh was a cherished faculty member in the Department of Pathology, a master diagnostician and educator, and an absolute fan favorite amongst the department’s trainees and clinical colleagues. She was widely renowned for her diagnostic expertise and teaching skill, and was adored by a generation of trainees in pathology and hematology. She was the consummate academic and hematopathologist, and a tireless advocate for her patients, her division, and her clinical service.
Dr. Singh's academic accomplishments are too numerous to list here in full. She attended medical school at Rajasthan University in India, and did postgraduate work in pathology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, and at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. After immigrating to the United States, she completed a pathology residency and hematopathology fellowship at the University of Chicago, followed by a molecular pathology fellowship at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Her clinical expertise and research foci were in the areas of myeloid neoplasia and multiple myeloma/plasma cell dyscrasia. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine, she served as the section head and fellowship director of the hematopathology program. Her extensive publication record and widespread network of former trainees attest to her incredible expertise and tremendous academic gifts.
She received numerous directed consults from pathologists seeking her expert opinion on highly challenging cases, and generated detailed diagnostic reports, which stand as educational gems for pathologists across the field. She additionally served as an expert reviewer for numerous prestigious journals, and on the education committee at the Society for Hematopathology – further evidence of her lifelong passion for hematopathology. Previous fellows in both hematopathology and hematology/oncology speak glowingly of her exceptional teaching, and her lessons have carried generations of doctors into practice.
Dr. Singh had a fabulous personality with incredible warmth, an excellent sense of humor, and a true passion for many things in life even beyond hematopathology (classical music, great coffee, great cooking, baking (especially bread and pastries), world travel, dogs of all shapes and sizes, and babies). She delighted in getting to know her colleagues' families and especially loved to participate in social events. She was incredibly generous with her time, even when undergoing extreme personal hardships.
Our thoughts are with Dr. Singh’s family and friends during this challenging time. May her memory be for a blessing.