Department of Pathology

Hematopathology Fellowship

Are you a patient?

Program Overview

The USC Department of Pathology offers a one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship program in hematopathology, with comprehensive training in morphologic interpretation of bone marrow and lymph node specimens, laboratory hematology, flow cytometric immunophenotyping, immunohistochemistry, molecular hematopathology, special coagulation testing and laboratory management. Fellows are exposed to a wide variety of practice settings and case material, with expanded opportunities for scholarly activity, and are required to participate in research projects, conference presentations and teaching activities.

Requirements

The candidate must have completed 3 years of either Anatomic Pathology or Clinical Pathology training or 4 years of combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology training and have a California Medical License before the start (July 1st) of the fellowship training year. A letter from the resident’s Program Director must document all rotations the resident has taken. Additional letter(s) from the resident’s Hematopathology faculty are recommended.

Types and Numbers of Appointments

Three positions for the 1-year fellowship are available.

Stipends

Funded at the PGY-5 level. For FY24-25, the annual stipend is $90,019.

Facilities

This Hematopathology Fellowship training program provides diverse rotations – four months each – at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, a tertiary referral center; Los Angeles General Medical Center, a large historic county hospital with a highly diverse patient population; and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, a top-tier pediatric hospital with high-volume pediatric hematopathology and referral testing for flow cytometry-based minimal residual disease (MRD). These structured rotations afford our fellows exposure to a wide variety of practice settings and case materials, with abundant opportunities for scholarly activity. In particular, four months dedicated to pediatric hematopathology and flow cytometry MRD analyses (lymphoid and myeloid) is a highly unique training experience. Training at all sites emphasizes development of problem solving skills.

Los Angeles General Medical Center

  • Largest healthcare provider in Los Angeles and one of the largest public hospitals in the U.S., with highly diverse patient population.
  • Rotation provides comprehensive training in the various morphologic and laboratory-based techniques of hematology-hematopathology to attain the knowledge, skills and attitudes to practice competently and independently.
  • Under faculty supervision, fellows are provided increasing independence and graded responsibility for work-up of cases, primary decision-making on use of ancillary testing, and junior attending-level sign-out duty with residents on the hematopathology service.
  • Fellows can obtain the necessary hands-on experience to become competent diagnosticians as well as learn the value of contemporary analytical methods, the cost associated with these tools and their limitations.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)

  • Nationally recognized children’s hospital (#1 in California per US News and World Report) with multiple members of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) cooperative of pediatric cancer research.
  • Premiere flow cytometry measurable residual disease (MRD) program, including clinical and investigational reference testing (>600 cases per month).
  • Approximately 800 bone marrow aspirates, 300 bone marrow biopsies, 100 lymph node biopsies, and 2000 cerebrospinal fluid cytologies annually, including approximately 120 new diagnoses of acute leukemia, 40 of lymphoma, and many non-neoplastic acquired and congenital hematologic conditions (bone marrow failure syndromes, congenital cytopenias, autoimmune disease, hemoglobinopathies, and thalassemia).
  • Center for Personalized Medicine (CPM) which performs comprehensive cytogenetic and molecular testing, including clinically validated RNA-seq, for all pediatric malignancies.
  • Large hemophilia treatment and research programs as well as clinical and laboratory expertise with other congenital coagulation disorders and associated specialized coagulation assays.

USC Norris Cancer Hospital

  • Tertiary care facility with an active and growing program in hematologic malignancies and stem cell transplantation.
  • Emphasis on ancillary testing, including flow cytometry and molecular assays for minimal residual disease, cytogenetics, FISH, and molecular tests (single gene and mutation panels by next generation sequencing approaches) for case material at USC Norris/Keck Hospitals as well as those sent to USC from external clients in consultation.
  • Fellow is integrated into the laboratory administration, daily quality control and pathologist oversight of the Norris Clinical Hematology Laboratory.

Faculty

  • Imran Siddiqi, MD, PhD
    Hematopathology Fellowship Program Director; Director, Hematology Laboratory

    Darryl Shibata, MD
    Attending Staff

    Endi Wang, MD, PhD
    Attending Staff

    Ibrahim Hajjali, MD
    Attending Staff

  • Russell K. Brynes, MD
    Chief Hematopathology Service

    Ashley Hagiya, MD
    Section Director, USC Norris Flow Cytometry

    Maria Vergara-Lluri, MD
    Section Director, Core Laboratory Hematology and Flow Cytometry Sections

    David Yau, MD
    Attending Staff

  • Brent Wood, MD
    Hematopathology Division Director

    Alexandra Kovach, MD
    Rotation Director, Director, Hematology and Bone Marrow Labs

    Karin Miller, MD
    Attending Staff

    Maurice O’Gorman, PhD
    Vice Chair, Laboratory Medicine

    Gordana Raca, MD, PhD
    Director, Clinical Cytogenomics Laboratory

    Ryan Schmidt, MD
    Assistant Director, Clinical Genomics Laboratory

Applications

The application process for prospective fellows in Hematopathology is switching to the NRMP Pathology Fellowship Match, starting with positions that begin in July, 2026.

For more information, please contact:

Los Angeles General Medical Center, CT A7E
1200 N. State Street, Suite A7E,
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Fax: (323) 441-8193

(323) 409-7150

Maria Guerra

Program Coordinator

 

(323) 409-7150

Imran Siddiqi, MD, PhD

Program Director

(323) 865-3298