History

Dr. Rezek

In 1938 Dr. Phillip R. Rezek was the only pathologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital.  The Laboratory consisted of one room and a shed, which served as the morgue.

The University Department of Pathology was established in 1953.  Dr. W.A.D. Anderson was appointed Chairman at that time and Dr. Rezek, Professor and Director of Pathologic Anatomy.

Dr. Anderson

Other members of the original faculty were Dr. John B. Miale, Professor and Director of Clinical Pathology, Dr. Cornelius Hopman, an Associate, Dr. Elmer E. Poutler, Assistant Professor and Dr. Bolivar Patino, a Fellow.

Six local pathologists served as voluntary members of the faculty.  They were Drs. Jerome Benson, W.M. Germain, Maurice Lev, Robert Poppiti, R.V. Thomson, and W.J. Winter.

Dr. Millard

In 1963, following Dr. Rezek’s death, Dr. Max Millard, the first resident in Pathology at Jackson memorial Hospital, became the Director of Anatomic Pathology.

In 1971, the Department was enriched by the appointment of Dr. Joseph H. Davis as professor of Pathology.  Dr. Davis had come to Miami in 1956 to direct the Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Dr. Morales

In 1972, Dr. Anderson resigned his Chairmanship and a number of changes took place within the faculty.  Dr. Miale served as Acting Chairman from that date until 1974.  On April 1^st of 1974, Dr. Azorides R. Morales, who had been a member of the faculty, was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department and Director of the Laboratories of Jackson Memorial Hospital.  Soon thereafter, Dr. Morales launched a strong recruitment program, bringing to the department many well-known experts in various subspecialties of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.  During his 34-year tenure as chairman, the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, grew to more than 40 full-time and 50 voluntary faculty members, and more than 80 staff members. 

Dr. Cote

In 2009, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System welcomed Richard J. Cote, M.D., FRCPath as the new Chairman for the Department of Pathology.  He was also appointed Chief of Pathology for Jackson Memorial Hospital and will lead the University of Miami Biomedical Nanoscience Institute.

Dr. Cote is a nationally recognized expert on the cellular and molecular markers of tumor progression in cancer patients with major research interests in the area of molecular biology of prostate and bladder cancer.  His laboratory was responsible for identifying the pathways by which cells became malignant, and the mechanisms by which the tumors progressed.

Prior to his arrival in the department, Dr. Cote had been at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California for 18 years, where he was professor of pathology and urology and director of the Genitourinary Cancer Program at USC/Norris Cancer Center.  He also directed the Laboratory of Immuno and Molecular Pathology.  In 2005 he started, and was the director of the Biomedical Nanoscience Program at USC.

Dr. Cote received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1980.  He did a surgical internship at the University of Michigan, a residency in pathology at Cornell University Medical College, and research fellowships at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York University School of Medicine. He also did a clinical fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, serving as chief fellow, before moving to USC.

Cote is the recipient of over $35 million in peer reviewed grant support, and holds numerous patents for cancer related and nanoscale technologies.  He has authored more than 300 publications, and is the editor and co-author of the standard textbooks "Immuno Microscopy: A Diagnostic Tool for the Surgical Pathologist" (now in its third edition), and "Modern Surgical Pathology,"  the second edition will be out later this year.  He also serves as a member and advisor to a large number of national and international study groups, cancer programs and societies, including the National Cancer Institute. He has founded several technology-based companies, including Impath, Inc. and Clarient. Dr. Cote is listed in "Best Doctors in America" and "America’s Top Doctors" and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathology.