10/1/2018
Dr. Abraham Loo is a practicing surgical pathologist/hematopathologist at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ. He was a fellow in Hematopathology at URMC from 2014-15. Here, he shares more about his career and what makes his work rewarding.
Residency: AP and CP from Madigan Army Medical Center
Fellowship: Hematopathology, URMC (2014-15)
Medical School: SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
I was born and raised in NYC. After medical school, I went active duty in the United States Army and lived out west for eight years before returning to the east coast to do a Hematopathology fellowship. I currently live in Red Bank, NJ.
What was something that made your experience at URMC a positive one?
I really enjoyed my time as a fellow and I left feeling well prepared to sign out heme path cases. I am grateful to have met many wonderful people as well. Dr. Richard Burack was a supportive fellowship director, Pat Leary was a patient teacher of flow cytometry, and Leslie Antinarella was always a kind person in the department. After finishing residency, I did not feel prepared to work with residents, but as a fellow with prior experience as a staff pathologist I enjoyed working with the residents (Sapna, Nisha, Chad, Hani, et al) that rotated through.
When did you first “discover” pathology and what or whom first sparked your interest in it?
I had limited exposure to pathology in medical school and I cannot remember when exactly I “discovered” pathology, but I can say I genuinely enjoy my job. There are good days and bad days, but I enjoy doing impactful work that uses my education and can positively affect people’s lives while keeping me divorced from the emotional aspect of medicine.
How would you describe your job to someone who knows nothing about pathology?
After a biopsy is performed, the tissue (breast, prostate, etc.) is processed and read under a microscope by a doctor, who is the pathologist. The pathologist renders a diagnosis to the clinicians, who directly take care of the patient. If a clinician is concerned for blood cancer (leukemia or lymphoma), I am the pathologist in my practice that looks at those specimens.
Tell us about your family.
I have two wonderful daughters, Calista (7 years old) and Naomi (5 years old), who are my everything.
How do you like to spend your free time? Do you have any hobbies/interests?
I have been practicing Brazilian Jiujitsu/No-Gi grappling since 2006. There are few things as pure as a combat sport, and there aren’t many venues where people from all walks of society can share space engaged in a physical struggle, yet not have any social, political or personal conflicts.
What’s one piece of advice you have for pathology students or trainees looking to start their careers?
Have long term goals in your professional and personal life, but there will be unexpected twists and turns. Don’t neglect your soul on the journey.
9/28/2018
Can you imagine working in a lab that has no electronic database and limited technology?
That’s exactly the case in many parts of the world, which is why a subgroup of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) traveled to three different countries in Asia this summer to provide training in areas of need.
URMC's Dr. Victoria Zhang leads the Asia Pacific working group, which is part of the AACC's Global Lab Quality initiative. In August, the group of clinical lab professionals delivered two-day workshops in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The sessions included interactive lectures on laboratory quality specifically designed and targeted to their audiences - many of whom lack basic instrumentation and resources so commonly found in labs across the U.S.
“It is amazing what they can do with what they have,” said Zhang. “They are so excited about the AACC team being there to help. People were so eager to learn and absorb information like a sponge. I was truly humbled by this opportunity to work with a talented team to support this initiative for developing countries.”
The workshops covered topics like assay selection and validation, how to establish and monitor quality control programs, proficiency testing, reference intervals, ISO standards, and total quality management.
The team also visited local hospitals and labs during the tour. The photos shown below were taken during the group’s visit to an academic teaching hospitals at Kathmandu, Nepal.
The specimen management work is very manual.
Test results are entered by hand into the medical tracking book.
The surgical pathology grossing area.
The chemistry lab has one automated analyzer.
6/26/2018
It was a record-breaking year for the flu in the Greater Rochester Region. Just ask anyone working in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Strong Memorial Hospital (SMH), which saw a 37 percent increase in the number of flu tests performed at SMH between July 2017 and June 2018 over the previous season. Our labs performed 17,862 tests in total.
Why the increase? Kim Handley is the supervisor of Clinical Virology, and her team collects weekly data to report to the CDC and also post online. This year’s testing volume was even higher than when the swine flu epidemic hit in 2009.
“It was a record breaking year for testing volume due to several factors,” said Handley. “It was the perfect storm.”
The Holidays
As is typical for the time of year, there was a sharp increase in flu cases during and after the holiday season, when family and social gatherings lead to germ sharing.
Locally, there were more than 6,600 confirmed flu cases in Monroe County, with Influenza A-H3N2 being this year’s primary strain. There were also many cases of seasonal Influenza A-H1N1 and an unusually high number of Influenza B and RSV at SMH.
Handley said that although the lab ran lots of tests, the number of patients who actually had flu was much lower. “Our volumes were up so much but our positivity rate was lower because we were testing so many people,” she said. This could be due to many patients coming to see a doctor when they experience flu-like symptoms.
Flu Hit Country All at Once
Normally, flu season starts in one part of the country and spreads to other regions. But this season, the majority of the United States experienced a simultaneous onset of influenza. This put pressure on manufacturers of the flu testing kits (which contain plastic pipettes and cartridges that are loaded into a machine that gives the results) and the collection swabs and transport materials used to gather the samples from patients.
Testing Materials in High Demand Nationally
The demand for all of these materials grew not only locally, but across the country. In fact, so many people were being tested for flu that URMC was one of many healthcare institutions placed on allocation by their main kit manufacturer. This means the hospital received a limited number of testing kits because demand was so high.
One interesting byproduct of these shortages was collaboration among neighboring healthcare institutions. Lab personnel at Strong shared testing kits and supplies with Rochester Regional Health’s ACM Laboratories and vice versa. When one was running low on something, the others would share.
“It’s not unusual for labs to call each other up when flu season is at its worst,” explained Handley. While this has happened in years past, the collaboration this season was noticeably more frequent.
Lab volumes were high for other reasons. In February, the Food and Drug Administration pulled a widely used rapid antigen test from distribution because it was found that the test had poor sensitivity. This forced several UR Medicine-affiliated hospitals that relied on these tests kits to send their specimens to SMH.
Stepping Up
Through it all, however, the laboratory team of medical technologists at SMH rose to the challenge during this particularly difficult season. This according to Nicole Pecora, M.D., Ph.D. is the Assistant Director of Clinical Microbiology at SMH.
“I am proud to be part of such an amazing team,” said Pecora. “Not only did our clinical virologists rise to the challenge of an exceptional flu season, but virtually every member of our laboratory pitched in to deliver the best care for patients, starting from those who received and accessioned the samples to those who picked up extra work and shifts to get through such a tremendous volume. It truly showed the patient and team-directed mentality of our staff.”
In photo: Medical Technologist, Lauren Brooks loads a specimen into a flu testing analyzer at the Clinical Microbiology Lab at Strong Memorial Hospital. This year, the hospital’s testing volume was almost 40 percent higher than last season.
6/18/2018
The annual Pathology Research Day event at the University of Rochester Medical Center was held on Monday, June 11, 2018.
The day included more than 50 poster presentations in addition to 12 oral presentationsgiven by Pathology residents and fellows, and graduate students in the Cell Biology of Disease Ph.D. Program.
This year’s keynote speaker was Andrew Folpe, M.D. who is professor and consultant for Anatomic Pathology at Mayo Clinic. His engaging and informative talk was titled, “Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumors: What I Have Learned.” A video recording of the keynote is available online (note: UR login is required to view).
The graduate program gave out several awards at a special reception at the end of the day, per below.
View Event Photos
Graduate Program Awards
- Outstanding Academic Excellence by a First Year Student – David Villani, MS
- Outstanding Program Contribution – Sarah Catheline, MS
- Robert Mooney Thesis Award – Irena Lerman, Ph.D.
Travel Award for Oral Presentation
Poster Presentation Travel Awards
- Robert Hoff, MS
- Allison Li, MS
- Xi Lin, MS
- Robert Maynard, MS
Resident Awards
Oral Presentation Awards
- Mushal Noor, M.D.
- Nisha Patel, D.O.
- Phoenix Bell, M.D.
5/23/2018
Together with friends, family, and future colleagues, URMC's first clinical/medical laboratory technology students graduated from the program on Friday, May 18.
The ceremony included formal remarks by Kathy Parrinello, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and several leaders from Pathology & Laboratory Medicine including Vicki Roberts, Kelley Suskie, and Drs. Richard Burack and Scott Kirkley.
Two awards were given at the ceremony. John Reichert received the Academic Excellence Award for outstanding academics and professional achievement in the program.
Madalynn Bryant received the Aspiring Leader Award in recognition of academic achievement and leadership. This award was given in honor of the late Judy Miller, who was supervisor of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory at the time of her retirement in 2017, and was passionate about teaching colleagues from fellow technologists to residents and clinical faculty.
The intensive, one-year program was launched in 2017. All of the 11 graduates have since accepted jobs at Strong Memorial Hospital.
View a photo gallery from the ceremony
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