Department Updates

April 27, 2020

Dear Colleagues:

As you all know, Dr. Bryon Crawford, after having been part of the Tulane family for more than two decades, will be leaving here by the end of this April to take the position of Chair of the Department of Pathology, LSU School of Medicine at Shreveport.

Dr. Crawford, who had served as Interim Chair of this Department for two times, is one of our well respected academic leaders in pathology and laboratory medicine field. At Tulane, he has also served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs; Director of the HCA-TMC Laboratories and Department’s Histology Laboratory, Vice Chair of the Department, Director of Anatomic Pathology, Co-Director of the Pathology Residency Program, Director of the PA program, and Course Director of Mechanisms of Disease for undergraduate medical education. He has left many positions to be filled in.

Dr. Crawford joined our Department in 1998 after a successful career in the private sector. His contributions to our Department are numerous, substantial and remarkable. In addition to the responsibilities associated with a variety of leadership positions mentioned above, he has devoted much of his efforts in medical education and quality improvement in clinical services. Dr. Crawford is the recipient of many regional and national teaching awards, including the prestigious national Michele Raible Distinguished Teaching Award bestowed by the Association of Pathology Chairs. He is a member of numerous national and international medical education committees and aided in the development of non-traditional teaching methods. As a sign of clinical excellence, Dr. Crawford has published numerous articles on GU pathology; GI pathology and bone pathology. As the team leader Dr. Crawford has led many CAP inspections for both the TMC laboratories and many other laboratories across the nation. Most recently he was the driving force for the successful implementation of Covid-19 testing at TMC.

Please join me in extending our complete gratitude for the remarkable accomplishments, leadership and service Dr. Crawford has given to our Department for many years. We wish Dr. Crawford a fond farewell and our sincere wishes for every success in his new position as Chair of Pathology, LSU-Shreveport.

Sincerely,

Xiao-Ming Yin, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor and Chair of Pathology


April 7, 2020

Dear Colleagues:

The past several weeks have witnessed the tremendous impact that COVID-19 has had on the personal and academic life of every one of us.  This is a difficult time but the pandemic will be overcome!  While many of our normal activities are disrupted, our faculties are still providing quality patient care, conducting online teaching, and maintaining essential research functions.  Departmental staff continue providing the necessary logistic and administrative support. We would like to thank all of you whole-heartedly for what you have been doing.  We would also like to emphasize that you do your best to stay healthy, practicing social distancing and wearing the proper PPE whenever necessary, including the face mask.Read More...

I am also pleased to inform everyone that our Department has actively participated in the effort to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dr. Byron Crawford led a remarkable effort to bring the Roche COVID-19 diagnostic test to Tulane Medical Center laboratory on March 30th, in collaboration with University Medical Center.  With this test physicians can obtain results on the same day, instead of having to spend days waiting for results from outside laboratories.  TMC will also soon launch the Abbott’s ID NOW system, which can provide a rapid test in 5 minutes for positive samples. Dr. Jack Scott, who will succeed Dr. Crawford as the new Director of the TMC laboratory and POC services, will continuously provide the medical guidance for the testing at TMC laboratory.

Starting on April 1st, our Department’s Molecular Pathology Laboratory (MPL) has also launched clinical testing for the COVID-19 virus.  This test is based on the protocol developed by the CDC and has obtained emergency use authorization by the FDA.  MPL can also provide test results with a 12 to 24-hour turnaround time.  This operation is made possible through a productive collaboration with Dr. Robert Garry of the Department of Microbiology, and is strongly supported by the School of Medicine.  The testing team is led by Dr. Di Tian, CLIA Director, and Dr. Zhen Lin, Technical Director, of MPL, and is assisted by technical staffs and volunteers from both our department and other departments.  The operations of MPL and TMC laboratories will be complementary to each other in providing services to different populations that require COVID-19 testing.  We are really proud of our faculty members for their dedication and hard work to bring in the clinical testing in both laboratories.

I plan to continue updating you the progress from our department during this unusual time.  Please also feel free to bring to me and/or Catherine Downs any stories that you think worth sharing in our community.

Thank you very much and stay healthy!

Xiao-Ming

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