Rate My Professor Geoffrey Baird

Geoffrey S. Baird, MD, PhD, serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. He earned a BS in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1995, followed by an MD and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Diego in 2003. Dr. Baird completed residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Washington from 2003 to 2007 and an Immunohistochemistry Fellowship at Phenopath Laboratories in Seattle from 2007 to 2008. He is a long-time UW Medicine employee who was appointed department chair effective July 1, 2021, and holds the Paul E. Strandjord and Kathleen J. Clayson Endowed Chair. He is board-certified in pathology and has played a leadership role in the department’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Dr. Baird’s clinical and research interests encompass lab test utilization management, proteomics, tissue analysis, general laboratory medicine, pathology and pathophysiology of organ systems, and the development of novel methods for clinical laboratory tests. His work has explored technologies such as the Luminex Platform for multiplex immunoassays on tissue homogenates, oligonucleotide aptamers developed through SELEX for tissue diagnostics, and optimized formalin fixation protocols in collaboration with Ventana Medical Systems to improve preserved tissue quality for molecular and proteomic assays. Research interests also include toxicology and test utilization.