Pathology PhD Program

Ph.D. students in Pathology receive extensive training in the mechanisms of human disease, which emphasizes cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, immunology and microbiology. Pathology integrates these areas of study with the goal of improving disease management at the organismal level. Using a variety of research tools provides our doctoral students an understanding of disease processes that allows them to translate mechanistic insights from the laboratory to the clinic.Read More

Pathology doctoral students must be admitted to the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Program. BMS Ph.D. students receive tuition remission, a stipend for living expenses, and health insurance. The first year of BMS training includes laboratory rotations and a core curriculum designed to give students a background in a variety of disciplines and research approaches. After selection of a research mentor at the end of the first year, the second year of the program provides students the opportunity to perform research and receive specialized instruction in specific areas of interest. Admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. is granted after successful completion of the qualifying exam at the beginning of the third year. Pathology Ph.D. students present their ongoing research to the assembled researchers in the department once or twice per academic year in the weekly Pathology Research Conference. Generally, students complete their scholarly research and successfully defend their dissertation in 4-5 years.

For more information regarding the Pathology Ph.D. program, contact Dr. Gil Morris.

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Pathology Research Faculty

The table below provides a synopsis of research areas and contact information for research faculty in the Pathology Department. Click on individual faculty names for links to more detailed research descriptions.

Tulane School of Medicine

Investigator	Phone (504-988)	Email (@Tulane.edu)	Office	System/Organ	Disease of Emphasis
Chen, Wei	0474	wchen18	318 BIC	Bone	aging, inflammation, bone metastasis
Dash, Srikanta, PhD	2519	sdash	6503	Liver	hepatitis viruses, immune injury, cancer
Flemington, Erik, PhD	1167	erik	814 LCRC	EBV/Immune	cancer, transcriptomics, bioinformatics
Gragert, Loren, PhD	7219	lgragert	811 LCRC	Immune	immunogenetics, transplant informatics
Han, Chang, MD, PhD	7195	chan	8301A	Liver	hepatocellular carcinoma, epigenetics
Khambu, Bilon, PhD	6024	bkhambu	6549A	Liver	Liver metabolism, regeneration and cancer
Lee, Sean, PhD	1331	slee30	808 LCRC	Pediatric cancers	chromosomal translocations
Li, Yi-Ping, PhD	0475	yli81	319 NOBIC	Immune/ Musculoskeletal	Cancer, Immune, oral and Musculoskeletal Diseases
Lin, Zhen, MD, PhD	1506	zlin	742 LCRC	Epstein-Barr virus	virus-associated cancers, bioinformatics
Morris, Gilbert, PhD	6953	gmorris2	257 JBJ	Lung	cancer, fibrosis, environmental exposures
Savkovic, Suzana, PhD	1409	ssavkovi	306 JBJ	Colon	lipid droplets, inflammation, cancer
Tian, Di, MD, PhD	0793	dtian2	6513	Brain	cancer, sleep, molecular diagnostics
Wu, Tong, MD, PhD	5210	twu	8712B	Liver	inflammation, carcinogenesis, signaling
Yin, Xiao-Ming, MD, PhD	1162	xmyin	6519	Liver	autophagy, alcoholic-, fatty-liver disease
Zhang, Haitao, PhD	7696	hzhang	807 LCRC	Prostate	cancer, androgen signaling
Zhang, Jinqiang, PhD	5209	jzhang	8301	Liver	noncoding RNAs, signaling

Tulane National Primate Center

Investigator	Phone (985-871-)	Email (@tulane.edu)	System/Organ	Disease Process
Cariappa Annaiah, MBBS, MD	6632	carippa	Immune	inflammation
Robert Blair, DVM, PhD	6426	rblair3	Immune	infectious disease
Peter Didier, DVM, PhD	6289	pjdidier	Immune	infectious disease
Ronald Veazey, DVM, PhD	6228	rveazey	Immune	SIV/HIV
Xiaolei Wang, PhD	6618	xwang	Immune	infectious disease
Huanbin Xu, PhD	6401	hxu	Immune	SIV/HIV

Current Pathology PhD students

Student	Lab Phone (504-988-)	Email (@tulane.edu)	Lab Room	Mentor	Research Topic
D. Giovanni Biagini	7219	dbiagini	814 LCRC	Gragert	Predicting HLA serological types with machine learning
Morgan Collins	1409	mcollins2	314 JBJ	Savkovic	Colon carcinogenesis
Marian Dribus	7219	mdribus	814 LCRC	Gragert	HLA antibody markup language (HAML)- DP81 epitope analysis
Dane Flinchum	1331	dflinchum	808 LCRC	Lee	Epigenetic analyses of desmoplastic small round cell tumor
Bonita Hartono	1331	ahartono	808 LCRC	Lee	SIK1 promotes tumorigenesis in desmoplastic small round cell tumor
Rida Iftikhar	1409	riftikhar	314 JBJ	Savkovic	Adipose triglyceride lipase in lipid droplet utilization in colon cancer
Justin Magrath*	1331	jmagrath	808 LCRC	Lee	Desmoplastic small round cell tumor stem cells
Arissa Mercer	0286	amercer	6710	Yin/Khambu	Liver Pathology
Sudurika Mukhopadhyay	6923	smukhopa	221 JBJ	Morris	herpesvirus in lung tumorigenesis
Grace Wager	7219	gwager	814 LCRC	Gragert	Transplant informatics
Natacha Jn-Simon	2869	njnsimon	7315	Pi	Nonalcoholic and Alcoholic Steatohepatitis

*PSP student

Career Development Resources

The BMS office has an individual dedicated to career counseling. The Office of Graduate and Post-doctoral Studies (OGPS) offers career counseling and workshops to assist in career development. Career workshop information is distributed to all interested parties via Canvas.

Contact Lauren Lukkarila (llukkarila@tulane.edu) to be included in Canvas distributions. Additional resources for career development can be found on the Office of Graduate and Post-doctoral Studies website (ogps.tulane.edu).

Department Alumni

Name	Start Year	End Year	Mentor	First Possition	Current Possition
Aboulnasr, Fatma	2011	2015	Dash	Research fellow. Mayo Clinic. 2015-2018	Pediatrics residency. Texas Tech University. 2020-2024
Cao, Subing	2008	2014	Flemington	Postdoctoral fellow. Tulane University. 2014-2019
Concha, Monica	2009	2015	Flemington	Postdoc, InnoGenomics Technology, New Orleans LA, 2015-
Kwon, Hyunjoo	2012	2017	Wu	Working for a pharmaceutical company in Korea
Li, Jianzhou	2014	2018	Zhang	Research Assistant M.D. Anderson
Nakhoul, Hani	2013	2019	Flemington	Post-doc NIH	Resident, Graduate Medical Education, Tulane University
O'Grady, Christina	2011	2016	Flemington	Post-doc, Univ Liege, Leige Belgium, 2016-
Penrose, Harrison	2015	2019	Savkovic	Completing MD/PhD Program
Poat, Bret	2007	2010	Dash	Postdoc, St Jude Children's Hospital, Memphis TN, 2010-2011	Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Miami Beach, FL 2016-
Qadir, Ximena	2010	2014	Wu	Epidemiology Postdoctoral fellowship. NIH- National Cancer Institute. 2014-2015	Director. Clinical Services. WSMC/NIH. 2017-
Strong, Michael	2011	2015	Flemington	Completed MD/PhD Program, 2015-2017	Neurosurgery Resident, Univ Michigan Med School, Ann Arbor MI, 2017-
Ungerleider, Nathan	2012	2017	Wu	Postdoc, Tulane University, 2018-2019	Asst Director, Next-Gen Sequening Analysis Core, Tulane University, 2019-
Xu, Beibei	2009	2014	Morris	Postdoc, Tulane University 2014-2017	Postdoc, Univ Minnesota, Minneapolis MN 2017-
Yao, Lu	2010	2015	Wu	Postdoc, UCSF, San Francisco CA, 2016-2017	Research Scientist II, Poseida Therapeutics Inc, San Diego, 2019-

How to Apply

For more information about the Department of Pathology Ph.D. program, contact Gil Morris, Email: gmorris2@tulane.edu.

For general information about the BMS program, the application process and application status, contact Zylkia Lozano, Email: zlozano@tulane.edu .

To apply, access the application portal: https://applygrad.tulane.edu/apply