The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine deeply mourns the loss of two former faculty members,
Dr. Richard J. Reed, Professor Emeritus, and Dr. Ramesh Bhagat, Assistant Professor.
Dr. Richard Jay Reed
Professor Emeritus
June 23, 1928—May 7, 2021
Tribute Written by Dr. Philip J. Daroca
Dr. Richard J. Reed was the premier surgical pathologist of the Tulane Pathology Department. He was a pioneer in dermatopathology, and surgical pathology and his research influenced medical practice for the past half century. He was a mentor and role model to generations of dermatologists and pathologists. In appreciation for his many contributions in surgical pathology and dermatopathology, former students and friends joined together to establish the R.J. Reed Professorship in Dermatopathology. The Pathology department established the R.J. Reed award in surgical pathology to recognize outstanding resident performance in surgical pathology. In his introduction to his book on New Concepts in Surgical Pathology of the Skin Dr. Reed wrote "the ability to integrate microscopic findings into a meaningful interpretation is the distinguishing characteristic of a pathologist and is the art of pathology". No one epitomizes those attributes more than Dr. Reed. He rose through the ranks achieving full professorship in the department in 1969. He was the senior surgical pathologist at Charity Hospital, Tulane division and at the Tulane University Hospital. He served as a most valued consultant at Ochsner Foundation Hospital and at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in New Orleans. He served as Acting Chair of the Pathology Department (1986-87). During his medical school training he was inducted into AOA Honorary Medical Society. He was also inducted into American Medical Men of Science, Medical Specialist (11th edition). He was a member of numerous medical societies including American Society of Clinical Pathologists, American Society of Dermatopathology, the International Academy of Pathology, and the prestigious Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathologists. He authored/coauthored over 130 publications in peer reviewed journals including topics in dermatopathology, orthopedic pathology and general surgical pathology. He described new entities including plantar lentiginous melanoma, neurotropic melanoma, minimal deviation melanoma, pigmented spindle cell nevus, large cell sarcoma of tendon sheath (subsequently termed epithelioid sarcoma) and a peculiar histiocytic disorder subsequently described as Rosai- Dorfman disease. He co-authored the AFIP 2nd series fascicle on Tumors of the Peripheral Nervous System and coauthored a series of articles in Human Pathology (1973) on cutaneous pathology. He was invited to present a case at the prestigious Golden Anniversary Slide Seminar of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (1983). Above all Dr. Reed was a consummate teacher for countless numbers of medical trainees. "A teacher effects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops" (Henry Brooks Adams}.
Dr. Ramesh Bhagat
Assistant Professor, Hematopathologist
November 12, 1981—May 24, 2021
Dr. Ramesh Bhagat received his M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2008 and completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology there in 2012. His fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital where he distinguished himself as an excellent hematopathologist ended in 2014. He joined the Faculty of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Tulane Medical School in July 2014 as a Hematopathologist. Dr. Bhagat remained a valuable faculty member for the next two years when he made the career decision to go into private practice in Dallas, TX to be closer to his loved ones. Remaining with the same organization, he later relocated to Salt Lake City.
For the past three years, Dr. Bhagat fought a courageous battle against metastatic gastric cancer until his death. He will be remembered for his infectious good nature, high degree of expertise in hematopathology, and love of teaching. A brilliant young doctor and a fine human being, we are all diminished by his passing.
