Titles

Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Editorial Responsibilities

Present: Ad hoc reviewer
American Journal of Clinical Pathology

Present: Ad hoc reviewer
Modern Pathology

Books

Research Interests

My academic interests are primarily focused on investigation of the role of molecular genetic testing in the analysis of tissue specimens, specifically on the methods and clinical settings in which molecular testing provides independent information that increases diagnostic accuracy, provides more accurate prognostic estimates, or can be used to guide therapy. The clinical/experimental model for most of these studies has been the group of so-called malignant small round cell tumors, a category of poorly differentiated sarcomas that can be very difficult to distinguish based on conventional histopathologic evaluation. Over the past few years we have shown that molecular testing has independent diagnostic utility, and that testing supports tumor classification schemes that redefine the clinicopathologic spectrum of disease for specific malignancies (with concomitant prognostic and therapeutic implications).

Current studies are focused on the application of so-called next generation DNA sequencing methods (also known as nexgen, deep, or resequencing methods) to analysis of patient specimens. While nexgen methods have traditionally been used for genome-wide analysis, we are exploring technologies that make it possible to use the methods to focus on defined chromosomal regions or individual genetic loci to detect a wide spectrum of genetic aberrations ranging from single base pair changes, to insertions and deletions, to translocations.

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Selected Publications

WashU Medicine Profile

• Diverse case series of granulomatous peritonitis mimicking advanced ovarian cancer

  Publication

• Immune checkpoint markers and tumour mutation burden in Wilms tumour: a study of 59 cases

  Publication

• Somatic Copy Number Alterations and Mutation Landscape in Before and Post-treatment Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor

  Publication

• Comparison of gene fusion detection methods in salivary gland tumors

  Publication

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Assistant

Macey Hairston

Administrative Coordinator II