Focus on Faculty: Gissou Azabdaftari, MD

Get to know Gissou Azabdaftari, MD, clinical professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of Residents, Cytopathology Rotation.

Gissou Azabdaftari, MD

What brought you to University of Rochester Medicine and Upstate New York?

Family reasons. Also, at this stage of my career, I wanted to concentrate on clinical service, research, and teaching.

What about your specialty excites you?

The fascinating world under the microscope, which I really enjoy and at the same time it enables me to provide answers for the clinical team to help our patients.
I love to be involved in residents and fellows training, helping and observing them grow and flourish in their careers, just like the flowers in my garden.
Was there one moment or individual who showed you pathology was your chosen field? One of my pathology professors in Italy, Professor Antonio Maria Mancini, helped me to enter the world of Anatomic Pathology, face the challenges, and learn. May he rest in peace.

Who or what prepared you most for your career?

My determination to give a purpose to my existence and make myself useful.

Where do you think your specialty is going in the future?

It will move toward molecular diagnostic tools, Digital pathology, which would empower our specialty but at the same time would distance us from the microscope, which would be very sad for me.

What is one thing you believe could help bring more young people to the field of pathology?

More exposure of medical students to the discipline of pathology, by returning to offering pathology as a study subject to the curriculum of medical schools, as it used to be in the past. There is a great shortage of pathologists across the U.S. and the situation will become worse as many people will retire.

What do you do in your free time?

Kickboxing, cooking, gardening, and traveling.