Michael Laposata

Michael Laposata, MD, PhD
Professor and Chairman

Department of Pathology

    • I have had a long interest on laboratory test utilization, particularly as it relates to coagulation studies, my area of expertise. A principal focus of the work has been the identification of diagnostic errors and mechanisms to prevent them.
    • I have been a fatty acid biochemist for 35 years. My early research career included the study of biological mechanisms associated with the conversion of fatty acids into eicosanoids. The focus was to identify the pool of eicosanoid precursor fatty acids in the cell and how they became available for eicosanoid production. I later investigated the covalent association of fatty acids to proteins by thioester linkages with Dr. Laszio Muszek, who was later elected to the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences. My laboratory also included fatty acid related studies involved an esterification product of ethanol and fatty acids, fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE), and fatty acid abnormalities found in patients with cystic fibrosis.
    • I have continuously written articles on topics related to diagnosis of coagulation disorders and optimization of clinical laboratory operations. This led to the production of several books, including a major textbook entitled Laboratory Medicine: The Diagnosis of Disease in the Clinical Laboratory, published by McGraw-Hill in the prestigious Lange series of medical textbooks. The third edition has been named Laposata’s Laboratory Medicine.
  • BA Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 1974
    MD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 1981
    PhD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 1982
    Residency Division of Laboratory Medicine,
    Departments of Pathology and Medicine
    Washington University School of Medicine
    St. Louis, MO
    1985
    Certification Diplomate, American Board of Pathology
  • 1988-89 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2 medical school faculty selected annually)
    1989 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Commencement Speaker (one faculty member selected by vote of graduating class of 1989)
    1998 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award, Harvard Medical School (4 awardees selected among hundreds of nominated faculty members)
    1999, 2000, 2005 Award for Most Distinguished Teacher in the Preclinical Years, Harvard Medical School (1 awardee by the vote of the graduating class)
    2005 Award from the Institute for Quality in Laboratory Medicine (IQLM) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for “Improved Clinical Integration” of Laboratory Medicine Services. One of 10 major awards in 2005 by the IQLM.
    2006 - 2007 Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston Doctors (Top 100-200 local physicians among  5000 licensed doctors)
    2014-2016 National Academy of Medicine Committee on Diagnostic Error in Medicine
    2015 The Pathologists’ 2015 Pathologist Power List, #3 globally, #1 in US (The Pathologists Issue 13, 2015)
  • > 200 publications

    Full Bibliography on NIH website