Rate My Professor Liron Pantanowitz

Liron Pantanowitz, MD, PhD, MHA, is the Maud L. Menten Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. He earned his BScHons, medical degree, and PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and an MHA from Ohio University. Pantanowitz completed anatomical and clinical pathology residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston, a hematopathology fellowship at Harvard, and a cytopathology fellowship at Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine. He joined UPMC/Pitt in 2010 as Vice Chair for Pathology Informatics and Director of Cytopathology, served from 2020 to 2023 as Professor in the Department of Pathology and Director of Anatomical Pathology at the University of Michigan, and returned in 2023 as Chair of the Department of Pathology at UPMC/Pitt. Board certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, and clinical informatics, his research interests encompass pathology informatics, with a focus on digital pathology and artificial intelligence, as well as non-gynecological cytopathology.

Pantanowitz has produced over 600 peer-reviewed publications, 17 textbooks, 126 book chapters, and more than 500 abstracts presented at scientific meetings. Key publications include "Artificial intelligence and digital pathology: challenges and opportunities" (2018, 717 citations), "Validating whole slide imaging for diagnostic purposes in pathology: guideline from the College of American Pathologists Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center" (2013, 671 citations), and "Whole slide imaging in pathology: advantages, limitations, and emerging perspectives" (2015, 623 citations). He co-founded the Journal of Pathology Informatics and serves as its Editor-in-Chief, has been president of the Association for Pathology Informatics, Digital Pathology Association, and American Society of Cytopathology, sits on editorial boards of nine pathology journals, holds four patents, and contributed to two spinoff companies. Major awards include the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology Research Award (2005), American Society of Cytopathology New Frontiers in Cytology Awards (2011, 2016), College of American Pathologists President’s Honor Award (2017), Association for Pathology Informatics Distinguished Service Award (2018) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2019), University of Pittsburgh Maud Menten Distinguished Professorship (2023), and College of American Pathologists Pathology Advancement Award (2025). His work has profoundly impacted the field by advancing digital and computational pathology.