The Simon Flexner Professorship of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Simon FlexnerCreated in 1984 with funds from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Professorship honors Simon Flexner, MD, Professor of Pathology and Chairman of the Department from 1899 to 1903.

Dedicated to both research and teaching, Dr. Flexner reorganized the Department of Pathology and maintained a large research program. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he published many papers which are considered the earliest immunopathologic studies at Penn Medicine. He gained international prominence through his work on previously undiscovered bacilli, one of which bears his name, Shigella flexneri. Dr. Flexner was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University in 1929 for his extraordinary contributions to the field of pathology.

 

Netto PhotoCurrent Chairholder 

George Jabboure Netto, MD

An accomplished physician-scientist specializing in genitourinary pathology and molecular genetic pathology, Dr. Netto joined Penn Medicine in 2023 as Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Simon Flexner Professorship of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.

Prior to Penn, Dr. Netto was Professor and the Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair of Pathology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine and spent 12 years at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as Director of Surgical Pathology Molecular Diagnostics and Professor of Pathology, Urology and Oncology. Dr. Netto's record of achievements and academic accomplishments speaks to his ability to lead a vibrant department and empower a diverse, dynamic, and capable team of faculty. Under his leadership, the Pathology department at UAB Heersink School of Medicine developed and implemented a shared strategic vision with a focus on enhancing the quality-of-care delivery and patient safety, talent acquisition, team integration, and diversity. During his tenure, the department experienced its largest expansion in basic and translational research portfolio.

Dr. Netto's research has contributed significantly to the understanding of the molecular basis of prostate and bladder cancers. He is the editor in chief of Modern Pathology and serves as an expert co-editor of the 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Blue Book on the Classifications of Urinary and Male Genital Tumors. He is the associate editor for Advances in Anatomic and Molecular Pathology and a member of the editorial boards of the journals of Human Pathology and Virchow Archives European Journal of Pathology. He has authored or co-authored more than 400 articles and chapters, including six books in urologic pathology, and is the editor of a widely recognized textbook, Genomic Applications in Pathology, currently in its second edition.

Dr. Netto received his medical degree from Damascus University before residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Baylor University Medical Center and fellowships in surgical pathology at the Washington University School of Medicine, and in urologic pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center prior to joining Johns Hopkins School of Medicine faculty in 2005.

Previous Chairholders

  • Leonard Jarett, MD 1985–1998
  • Mark L. Tykocinski, MD 1998–2008
  • David B. Roth, MD, PhD 2011-2023