Department of Pathology

Richard S. Vander Heide, MD
Professor and Head of the Department

The Department of Pathology is comprised of physicians and laboratory scientists who engage in teaching, research, and clinical services. Pathology is a specialty of medicine that focuses on the causes, mechanisms, and effects of disease. Pathology as a branch of the practice of medicine has two broad categories: anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. Each of these broad categories has many sub-specialties of special expertise.

The Department of Pathology provides education and training programs for medical students, pathology residents, and pathology fellows. The Pathology Department conducts two major courses, general and systemic pathology, and clinical pathology to medical students in their second year of study and special elective courses for third and fourth year medical students. Our pathology residency educational program is centered at the Interim LSU Public Hospital (ILSUPH) and also enjoys educational programs for residents at Children’s Hospital, West Jefferson Medical Center, VA Medical Center, and Ochsner Clinic Foundation. The Department of Pathology is responsible for the Pathology and Laboratory Services at the ILSUPH. The department has been internationally recognized for decades for work in the investigation of atherosclerosis and cancer.