Dermatopathology
The service is staffed by two board certified dermatopathologists. The greatest strength of our practice is the quality of the physicians who “read” the slides!
Dr. David Martin-Reay, a pathologist with three decades of practice experience, heads up our team. He trained with a legend in the field, the late Dr. A. Bernard Ackerman, author of scores of books and papers in skin pathology. “Bernie” hired Dr. Martin-Reay as an associate after his fellowship at the Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology in New York City where he diagnosed approximately 30,000 biopsy specimens annually to gather sufficient expertise to “head west”! Prior to his concentration in cutaneous pathology, Dr. Martin-Reay was an instructor in general pathology at Harvard Medical School under two other famous pathologists, Dr. Stanley Robbins and Ramzi Cotran; authors of the pathology text that bears their names and is used by almost every medical student in the United States to study the fundamental concepts of pathology.
Joining Dr. Martin-Reay is Dr. Aegean Chan, a clinical dermatologist who “reads” slides too! She trained in dermatology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and honed her dermatopathology skills looking through a microscope at that very same institution under the tutelage of Dr. Mark Jacobson, he also being a trainee of Dr. Ackerman. She has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed medical journals, book chapters in dermatology and has presented her research at both national and regional meetings, receiving several awards for her work. Her most recent work on regressed melanoma is included in the fourth edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Skin Tumors. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Dermatology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and has received a teaching award for her work with dermatologists in training. These academic forays keep her on the cutting edge of the discipline.
This combination of an experienced pathologist and an academically engaged dermatologist provides a synergy for diagnostic acumen for the patients served by Mission Pathology Consultants. Our goal is clear and concise diagnosis reporting “couched” in the language of the clinician. Moreover, this team approach is utilized by reading slides together in selected and difficult cases to enhance the quality of the care provided. We are also able to provide clinicopathologic correlation with a detailed description of the clinical lesion which can be enhanced if clinical photographs can be sent to us.
An additional benefit of our Mission Pathology umbrella is the ability to draw on the expertise of other subspecialty pathologists in our group who have additional training in diverse areas of pathology. For example, we can consult our own internal experts in blood and bone marrow pathology in cases of cutaneous lymphoma and leukemia.
By collaborating with Cottage Health/Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories we are able to provide excellent turnaround time for our reports. Of course, because the laboratory is a modern, state-of-the-art facility, we can obtain a whole host of specialized testing. However, we pride ourselves in using such ancillary methods only when necessary in the care of the patient to arrive at a specific, meaningful diagnosis. With that borne in mind, we are able to provide the most accurate and cost-effective skin biopsy reading.
