Pathology News & Awards

HONORING EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH

Dr. Yi-Ping Li, Endowed Chair Professor of Pathology, was recently honored at Tulane’s annual Research, Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Awards on November 7, 2025 at the Higgins Hotel.  The event recognizes groundbreaking accomplishments of faculty across the university. 

“This year has been one for the records books,” stated President Michael A. Fitts to all in attendance.  “Your achievements are driving historic university-wide initiatives that are growing our impact both locally and worldwide.”

Dr. Li received the 2025 Citation Award that recognizes a Tulane author of a…

A new drug candidate named 753b, part of a broad class of senescent cell-targeting drugs called senolytics, was developed by Tulane University researchers, including Dr. Liya Pi, Assistant Professor of Pathology, and may work to prevent a common type of fatty liver disease. The disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), sometimes leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer and affects 38% of adults. The study was published in Nature Aging, and corresponding author Dr. Pi states:  “Not only did the drug selectively target senescent cells and slow the progression of MASLD, it also…

Two Ph.D. students, Ming-Qi Yan (Year 3) and Yiran Song (Year 4), from Drs. Yi-Ping Li and Wei Chen’s lab, have received the prestigious ASBMR Young Investigator Award at the 2025 annual meeting of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) held in Seattle (September 5–8, 2025).

The…

The Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department congratulates Drs. Tong Wu and Jinqiang Zhang for winning a competitive renewal of an R01 grant, and a new R01 grant, respectively.  Both grants are awarded by NCI and have a term of 5 years with all direct and indirect costs supported, starting this January and April, respectively.

Two Tulane University School of Medicine scientists have been elected 2024 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the most prestigious honors in the scientific community.

Xiao-Ming Yin, MD, PhD, and Wu-Min Deng, PhD, join a distinguished group of scientists, engineers, and innovators whose contributions have…

Two days after a driver raced down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others, hundreds of people waited patiently to donate blood. Tim Peterson, MD, Assistant Professor of Pathology at Tulane University School of Medicine and Medical Director for The Blood Center, isn’t surprised by the turnout. New Orleans always shows up when there’s a need. 

“We had an emergency opening of our center in Metairie on New Year’s Day and collected more than 125 units of blood in about four hours,” said Peterson, a board-certified transfusion medicine specialist who teaches Tulane medical students and residents about blood components,…

Srikanta Dash, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, is working to make earlier detection of liver cancer possible. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and often goes undiagnosed until late stages, when treatment options are limited. Dash and his team are exploring extracellular vesicles (EVs) — tiny particles released from liver tumor cells — as potential blood-based biomarkers that could signal cancer much earlier.

Using the NanoSight NS300, the researchers have been able to fluorescently illuminate and quantify HCC-derived EVs in blood samples. Their results…

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is pleased to welcome Dr. Akannsha Singh, who joined the faculty in October 2024 as an Instructor. Dr. Singh completed her residency training in Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology at Tulane University, where she was honored with the Nina Dhurandhar, M.D. Cytopathology Award in 2021. She went on to complete a Cytopathology Fellowship at Tulane in 2022, gaining extensive experience in diagnostic interpretation and fine needle aspiration biopsies.

Brady Jin-Smith, an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Liya Pi's lab was recently named a recipient for the 2024 Goldwater Scholarship, one of the oldest and most prestigious government awards for research in the sciences. As the only recipient in the state of Louisiana, Brady outshined other candidates with his proven track record for scientific brilliance. He has published three times (one first author) during his two years at Tulane and was awarded the 2023 Histochemical Society Capstone Grant (1 of 5 internationally awarded recipients) for his research in aldehyde…

The Pathology Department congratulates Dr. Chiung-Kuei Huang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology, for being awarded a 5-year R01 grant for a total of  $2,114,669  (direct and indirect cost) from the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. His project titled “TET1 in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease development” starts on Feb 1, 2024, where his research focus will be to determine the role of DNA modification through TET1 in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The Pathology Department congratulates Dr. Gang Liu, who became an instructor in July this year, for receiving the 2023 George K. Michalopoulos Junior Faculty Scholar Award from the American Society of Investigative Pathology (ASIP). ASIP is one of the oldest societies devoted to the investigation of the mechanisms of diseases and publishes The American Journal of Pathology. The award will be presented to Dr. Liu in the 2023 ASIP meeting on Oct 23.

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is proud to recognize Dr. Di Tian and the COVID Testing Team for receiving the prestigious Tulane Spirit Award, presented by President Michael Fitts. This honor highlights their unwavering dedication and exceptional contributions to Tulane University and the greater New Orleans community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Established by President Fitts, the Tulane Spirit Award celebrates employees who embody the values and character that define the Tulane spirit. Recipients are recognized for their…

Tulane’s Research, Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Awards are given annually “to honor outstanding scholars and to recognize exceptional research achievement and impact on advancing knowledge in science, engineering, health, education, or creativity in the arts, the humanities and other academic fields of study.” This year’s honorees included a number of physicians and scientists from Tulane University School of Medicine.

2022 HALL OF FAME AWARDS
This prestigious lifetime achievement award recognizes a nationally and internationally renowned scholar/investigator…