I joined the Department of Pathology at Fox Chase in 2000, after finishing a dermatopathology fellowship and a pathology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. I chose pathology because it is a critical field in patient care. Cancer patients face extremely challenging treatment decisions. I truly believe that an accurate pathologic diagnosis is the first step toward appropriate clinical management. My many years of experience in a leading cancer center has given me the opportunity to study complex pathologic conditions, benefiting from the constant exposure to difficult cases, continuous learning from world-renowned pathologists within our department, and ever enriching academic exchanges with my clinical colleagues. A pathologist is first and foremost a physician, not a mere morphologist. I believe in the multi-disciplinary approach to patient treatment, with the pathologist being an integral part of the physician team. My clinical interests are in skin pathology, particularly melanoma, skin lymphomas and other skin cancers. Another important reason for me to choose pathology as a specialty is the opportunity to study the pathogenesis of diseases. Understanding the cause or origin of a disease such as cancer, allows us, as physicians, the ability to develop strategies to prevent its occurrence, slow or stop its progression. My research interests are in skin lymphomas, melanoma and the impact of host immune factors in the prognosis of melanoma.