University of Vermont Chair of Pathology Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., was among eight physician members honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Annual Meeting held in Nashville, Tenn., October 4 to 7, 2015.
The CAP Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes pathologists who have had a broad, positive impact on the profession of pathology through contributions to the CAP organization over an extended period of time – all playing a part in improving the healthcare landscape for patients and laboratory medicine.
Leonard, who joined the UVM College of Medicine and UVM Medical Center in 2013, is a leading expert in molecular pathology for genetics, cancers and infectious diseases. Board-certified in anatomic pathology and molecular genetic pathology, she has served as a member of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Translating Genomic-based Research for Health, and as chair of the Personalized Healthcare Committee of CAP. In addition, Leonard previously served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Genetics Health and Society to former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt, and was chair of the Stakeholders Group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Program Evaluating Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention. A 2003 Fellow at the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program at Drexel University, Leonard is a founding member and former president (2000) of the Association for Molecular Pathology, from which she received a Leadership Award in 2009. She is the editor of two textbooks on molecular pathology and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reviews.
After earning her M.D. and Ph.D. from New York University, Leonard then completed a residency in anatomic pathology, a post-doctoral fellowship in pathology, and a surgical pathology fellowship at New York University Medical Center. Prior to joining UVM, she served for nine years as professor and vice chair of laboratory medicine in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of clinical laboratories at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She also served as chief diversity officer of Weill Cornell Medical College from 2009 to 2012.
About the College of American Pathologists
As the leading organization with more than 18,000 board-certified pathologists, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. The CAP's Laboratory Improvement Programs, initiated 65 years ago, currently has customers in more than 100 countries, accrediting 7,600 laboratories and providing proficiency testing to 20,000 laboratories worldwide. Find more information about the CAP at cap.org .