Sanford A. Stass, MD

• University of California at Los Angeles, BA, 1965
• University of Missouri, MD, 1971
• Residency, National Regional Medical Center, Pathology, 1975 
• Residency, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Pathology, 1976  

Dr. Stass is a full-time faculty member of the Department of Pathology and the Department of Medical & Research Technology, Maryland’s largest medical laboratory science (medical technology) program, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees, and opportunities for professional certification.

Dr. Stass started in 1994 as the Vice Chairman for Hospital Pathology in the Department of Pathology and Director of the University of Maryland Medical System's Laboratories of Pathology and served as Interim Chair of the Department of Pathology beginning in July 1998 and served as Chair of the Department since 2003. He currently serves as Medical Director of the UMMC Laboratories of Pathology (CLIA/CAP/AABB/ASHI accredited), which provides a full range of contemporary laboratory testing services for inpatients and outpatients throughout UMMS and UMMC. The Laboratories of Pathology also provide extensive reference laboratory and specialty testing support for clinical trials, other regional hospitals, and non-hospital-based health care organizations. In addition, Dr. Stass has served since 1998 as President and Medical Director of the University of Maryland Pathology Associates, PA. In 2002, Dr. Stass was appointed as the Interim Chair of the Department of Medical & Research Technology and became Chair in 2009.

Dr. Stass has had an extensive career as a researcher in biomarker development and validation, serving as principal investigator since 2005 on a National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute-funded grant entitled, University of Maryland Baltimore Biomarker Research Laboratory. He will continue to be NIH/NCI funded until August 31, 2027, based on his current two grants as Co-Principal Investigator.

Dr. Stass is widely known for his major contributions in the molecular biology and immunologic characterizations of leukemias and lymphomas, including identification and clinical application of novel biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic monitoring. Specifically, he pioneered the identification of the abnormality in a type of leukemia called pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was the first to use a chromosomal change as a sign to detect very small amounts of the disease left after treatment in lymphoma. Also, he was one of the first to amplify a specific gene message as a marker for tiny amounts of remaining disease in chronic myeloid leukemia. He helped reveal the differences within acute leukemias, which was a significant advancement in understanding how cells commit to a certain path and for choosing the correct treatment. His current NIH/NCI grant funding is working toward the development and testing of promising new lung cancer biomarkers that use innovative technologies with application in an accredited diagnostic laboratory environment. He was also among the first to delineate the heterogeneity of acute leukemias (acute mixed lineage) important in defining markers of lineage commitment for therapy. A distinguished academic, Dr. Stass has published over 230 peer-reviewed articles.

Prior to coming to the UM SOM, Dr. Stass was Pathologist and Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and before that served on the faculty of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was Director of the initial UMGCC Cancer Center/Program in Oncology 1997-2003. He was Pl on the first NIH/NCI grant given to the Cancer Center which was a planning grant prior to applying for a Clinical or Comprehensive Cancer Center. Also, as Director of the UMGCC Cancer Center in conjunction with David Ramsey, President, UMB, Morton Rappaport, UMMS, CEO, and Donald Wilson, UMSOM Dean Emeritus, an address was prepared which he presented to all the members of the Maryland General Assembly and representatives of the Governor's Office. In 2000 the Maryland General Assembly created the Cigarette Restitution Fund (CRF) and the Cancer Center started to receive the funding, which has been sustained for a long period of time as consistent with the initial request.

At MD Anderson, he opened one of the first CLINCAP Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory for clinical testing and was Founding Member and Vice Chair, Molecular Pathology Resource Committee, College of American Pathologists to set molecular testing guidelines for all CUA/CAP laboratories.

During his career, he has had numerous professional affiliations, including Director and Founder, Molecular Diagnostics Associates, Molecular Oncology Testing, UT MD Anderson; Scientific Advisory Board, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Department of Defense; Chair, NIH/NCI/EDRN Collaboration. He was Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Hematopathology and Molecular Hematology; Co-Editor, Hematology Series, Founder and Editor, Diagnostic Pathology Series, Marcel Dekker Inc.; and as Member of the Editorial Board of Molecular Pathology. He continues to serve as Chair, Postmortem Examiners Commission, State of Maryland, and as a Member of the Editorial Board of Cancer Bio markers.

Dr. Stass received his BA Degree from UCLA and his MD Degree from the University of Missouri. He completed his residency programs in Pathology at both the National Regional Medical Center, San Diego, CA, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC.

Hematopathology, Molecular Genetics, Molecular Hematology, Molecular Diagnostics, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hematologic Malignancies, Lung Cancer, Biomarkers

Jiang F, Todd NW, Qiu Q, Liu Z, Katz RL, Stass SA. Combined genetic analysis of sputum and computed tomography for noninvasive diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer. 2009 Oct;66(1):58-63. Epub 2009 Jan. 31.

Jiang F, Todd NW, Li R, Zhang H, Fang H, Stass SA. A panel of sputum-based genomic markers for early detection of lung cancer. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2010 Dec. 3(12):Epub 2010 Sep 23.

Gao L, Ma J, Mannoor K, Guarnera MA, Shetty A, Zhan M, Xing L, Stass SA, Jiang F. Genome-wide small nucleolar RNA expression analysis of lung cancer by next-generation deep sequencing. Int J Cancer. 2014 Aug 27.

Xing L, Su J, Guarnera M, Zhang H, Cai L, Zhou R, Stass SA, Jiang F. Sputum microRNA Biomarkers for Identifying Lung Cancer in Indeterminate Solitary Pulmonary Nodules. Clin Cancer Res January 15, 2015. 21:484-489; doi:10.1158/1078-0432. CCR-14-1873.

Ma J, Lin Y, Zhan M, Mann D, Stass SA, Jiang F. Differential miRNA expressions in peripheral blood mononuclear cells for diagnosis of lung cancer. Laboratory Investigation, 2015 Oct; 95(10):1197-1206. Doi: 10.1038/labinvest.2015.88. Epub 2015 Jul 6.

Su J, Liao J, Gao L, Shen J, Guarnera MA, Zhan M, Fang H, Stass SA, Jiang F.  Analysis of small nucleolar RNAs in sputum for lung cancer diagnosis. Oncotarget. 2016 Feb 2;7(5):5131-42. Doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.4219.