Facilities

The Bone Marrow Laboratory is located in the main UK Clinical Laboratory on the sixth floor of Chandler Hospital.


Faculty and Staff

Faculty

Melissa Kesler, MD
Director, Hematopathology

  • Amy Gewirtz, MD
  • Sahar Nozad, MD
  • Dava Piecoro, MD

Staff

  • Samantha Payne, MLT

Services

For onsite bone marrows, our highly trained staff assists the performing provider at the bedside, providing appropriate collection media for various ancillary studies, assessing adequacy of specimen, and ensuring specimen delivery to the appropriate laboratories (cytogenetics, flow cytometry, immunomolecular pathology, microbiology, histology, etc). They then prepare and stain aspirate slides for interpretation by the attending hematopathologist.

The faculty provide consultative services in the diagnosis of neoplastic and non-neoplastic disorders of blood, bone marrow, and lymphoid tissues.


Education

Residents play an active role in the hematopathology service, acquiring the necessary skills for evaluation of blood smears, body fluids, marrows, and lymph nodes/extranodal sites. The first month of hematopathology is focused on reading assignments, basic training in morphology and flow cytometry, and familiarization with laboratory hematology, while in subsequent months residents assume increasing responsibility for preliminary generation of diagnostic reports and integration of morphologic, flow cytometric, and cytogenetic/molecular findings. Residents complete a written and practical examination at the conclusion of their first two-month block, and are expected to present at Multidisciplinary Tumor Board and gain further autonomy in their senior rotations.