Medical Staff

Kenneth J. Bloom, M.D., F.C.A.P.
Chief Medical Officer

 

Kenneth J. Bloom, MD has been Medical Director since August 2004 and Chief  Medical Officer since 2005. Dr. Bloom came to Clarient from Irvine, CA-based US Labs, where he served as Senior Medical Director since 2002. Prior to that, Dr. Bloom spent more than two decades serving in senior academic, consultative and clinical roles with leading hospitals and healthcare enterprises principally in the specialization of cancer care.
 

Dr. Bloom’s academic posts have included over 10 years as Associate Professor of Pathology at Chicago-based Rush Medical College, as well as one year as a visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at DePaul University. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Bloom has held more than 10 appointed positions at Chicago-based Rush Presbyterian - St. Luke’s Medical Center, one of the leading cancer research hospitals in the US. Those positions included Director of Laboratory Operations, Director of Immunohistochemistry, and Director of the Breast Service in the Department of Pathology, Consultant to the Rush Breast Cancer Center, and Director of Information Services for the Rush Cancer Institute.
 

Dr. Bloom has, for more than three decades, been a prolific researcher and lecturer in the fields of pathology and, specifically, cancer related topics. During his tenure at Rush, his published studies validating the benefits of ACIS® (Automated Cellular Imaging System) image analysis for HER2 evaluation were instrumental in gaining broad acceptance for the Clarient technology. He has been a member of the College of American Pathologists since 1987 and currently serves as a member of the Immunohistochemistry and Technology Assessment Committees for that organization.
 

In addition to US LABS and the other roles mentioned above, Dr. Bloom has served the industry off and on for the past 20 years in both advisory and operational roles. Those appointments include Board of Directors seats, consulting roles and executive posts including executive level positions at both diagnostics technology and information technology firms.
 

LAWRENCE WEISS, M.D.
 

LAWRENCE M. WEISS, M.D. is Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Pathology at the City of Hope National Medical Center. He received his B.S. summa cum laude and his M.D. summa cum laude from the University of Maryland. He completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and a fellowship in Surgical Pathology at Stanford University Medical Center. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Stanford and Director of Surgical Pathology at the City of Hope.

Dr. Weiss’ interests lie in surgical pathology, hematopathology and immunohistochemistry. He is the author of over 450 papers and book chapters, as well as over a dozen books, including an AFIP Lymph Node Fascicle. His laboratory discovered the first molecular evidence linking the Epstein-Barr virus with Hodgkin’s disease. He has won numerous awards, including the Benjamin Castleman, Arthur Purdy Stout, and the United States-Canadian Academy of Pathology Young Investigator Awards, and has delivered over 100 national and international talks in Pathology. He is on the Editorial Board of ten scientific journals, and is the Associate Editor of two of them. He has been listed in the book The Best Doctors in America since 1994.

Dennis P. O’Malley, M.D. 
 

Dr. Dennis P. O’Malley joins us from his previous position as Medical Director of US Labs. Prior to this he was at Indiana University and Clarian Health Partners, where he was an assistant professor. He served as the director the immunohistochemistry laboratory, associate director of the molecular pathology laboratory and the co-director of the hematopathology fellowship. 

Dr. O’Malley’s areas of expertise include: adult and pediatric bone marrow diseases, lymphomas, cutaneous hematologic disorders, splenic pathology, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and molecular diagnostics.

Dr. O’Malley has authored numerous articles, book chapters, books and other publications. He is a coauthor of the recently published Illustrated Pathology of the Bone Marrow, and is the lead author on the soon to be published Armed Forces Institute of Pathology fascicle, Benign and Reactive Conditions of the Lymph Nodes and Spleen. He has also authored book chapters in the recently published Essentials of Anatomic Pathology (Cheng, Bostwick, Eds.), Kjeldsberg’s Practical Diagnosis of Hematologic Disorders and Advances in Diagnostic Pathology: Hematology (Hsi, Ed.).

Dr. O’Malley serves on the editorial board for Modern Pathology and as a reviewer for Human Pathology, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cancer, Journal of Clinical Pathology, Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer. His teaching includes courses for the American Society for Clinical Pathology, United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, and College of American Pathologists on bone marrow pathology, lymph node pathology, spleen pathology, and flow cytometry. He has also taught seminars for the Indiana and Ohio state pathology societies.
 

Dr. O’Malley completed residency training at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He then went on to complete two hematopathology fellowships, one at Duke University and the second at Carolinas Medical Center, with Peter Banks. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Riverside, with additional graduate training at University of California Riverside and California State University, Fullerton.

Ainura Kyshtoobayeva, M.D., Ph.D.*

 

Ainura Kyshtoobayeva, M.D., Ph.D. is in charge of IHC quality control including validation of new IHC tests and technical support for pathologists.  She brings 20 years of experience with expertise in IHC, histology, and FISH.  Previously she served as a Research Pathologist at Oncotech where she also served as Manager of Histology and IHC.  Recently, she served as Director of IHC for US Labs.  Dr. Kyshtoobayeva is a research pathologist from St. Petersburg, Russia.  She received her Medical Degree from the Prof. N.N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology of the USSR Ministry of Public Health.  She was awarded her Ph.D. in Pathology from the Board of the Leningrad State Institute of Continuing Education.  She returned to the Petrov Research Institute to serve as a pathologist and Senior Research Scientist.  She completed her fellowship at the Oncology Research Faculty Development Program at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.  Dr. Kyshtoobayeva has published extensively in the areas of breast, prostate, and colon cancer.

* Dr. Kyshtoobayeva is not licensed in California and is not providing patient services in California
 

Paul Kirshman, M.D.
 

Paul Kirshman, M.D., joined Clarient in September 2010. Originally from New York, Dr. Kirshman received his MD from the University of Montpellier, France and received his residency training at Westchester County Medical Center, Valhalla, New York. He received fellowship training in molecular pathology under Dr. Mark Sobel at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. He subsequently worked as a staff pathologist at Urocor, Oklahoma, and US LABS in Irvine, California with a focus on prostate pathology as well as established his own consultancy practice in Irvine with various roles in other regional labs.

Anselm “Ants” Hii, M.D., F.C.A.P.

 

Dr. Hii is a practicing Pathologist and Board Certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology as well as Hematology. He received his Medical Degree as well as residency training at Loma Linda University. Dr. Hii completed his surgical pathology fellowship at the Los Angeles County - University of Southern California Medical Center and a fellowship in Hematopathology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He has previously served as Associate Medical Director at US Labs.
 

Dr. Hii currently is the California Tumor Tissue Registry Co-Director for Web and Multimedia Development. He is a member of the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, and American Society of Hematology.

Michele Hibbard, Ph.D.


 

Dr. Hibbard completed her postdoctoral research in the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and her thesis research in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UC Irvine. Dr. Hibbard has a bachelor’s degree in biology from UC San Diego and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from UC Irvine. She earned a certificate from the American Board of Medical Genetics in Clinical Molecular Genetics and Clinical Cytogenetics after training at Harvard Medical School. She is also a licensed Clinical Genetic Molecular Biologist and Clinical Cytogeneticist by the State of California Department of Health Services.
 

Prior to joining Clarient, Dr. Hibbard spent six years as Director of Genetics at Irvine-based US Labs, where she helped launch and direct the operations of the genetics program. She was responsible for the technical operations, including policy review, new procedure validation and case review/sign out, of the cytogenetic, FISH and molecular genetic laboratories.  Prior to her work at US Labs, Dr. Hibbard spent a year as Director of Cytogenetics at IMPATH, Inc, where she started up their New York cytogenetic operation.  Dr. Hibbard began her career in genetics as a cytogenetic technologist, working at San Juan Capistrano, CA-based Nichols Institute.

 

Kate Grimm, M.D.
 

Kate Grimm, M.D. joined Clarient as a Hematopathologist in July 2010 on a part-time basis. Dr. Grimm completed her MD at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. She went on to a combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California General Hospital, under the Hematopathology mentorship of Drs. Russell Brynes and Bharat Nathwani. Her formal Hematopathology fellowship was completed at The City of Hope Medical Center with Dr. Lawrence Weiss. She completed a Surgical Pathology fellowship at The City of Hope Medical Center as well.

Dr. Grimm has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She is originally from Arizona and Minnesota. Dr. Grimm has a voluntary faculty appointment at the University of Southern California in the department of pathology. Her most recent article entitled “Necessity of Bilateral Bone Marrow Biopsies for Ancillary Cytogenetic Studies in the Pediatric Population” was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

Neil S. Goldstein, M.D.

 

Neal S. Goldstein, M.D. joined Clarient in June 2010. Dr. Goldstein was previously Medical Director of Advanced Diagnostics Laboratory where he developed and performed anatomic molecular pathology assays. Dr. Goldstein was a staff anatomic pathologist and Director of the Anatomic Molecular and Immunohistochemical Laboratory at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI for fourteen years.

Dr. Goldstein brings a strong skill set of diagnostic surgical pathology, immunohistochemistry, and molecular pathology. He has published widely across the spectrum of surgical pathology including peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and editorials. He has been active in organized efforts related to the standardization of immunohistochemistry and is an author on the ASCO/CAP Estrogen and Progesterone Receptor Immunohistochemistry Guidelines. He has lectures on these topics in numerous educational society courses and forums, including ASCP, USCAP, CAP, state and international societies.

Dr. Goldstein received his M.D. from University of Wisconsin. He completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at University of California, Los Angeles. This was followed by a one year surgical pathology fellowship at Barnes Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

John Glassco, M.D. 
 

Dr. Glassco has had over 25 years of private practice experience in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, including medical directorships of multiple hospitals and commercial laboratories in the Southern California area. Most recently, he was Chief of Anatomic Pathology and Medical Director of Laboratories at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital, and AlliedPath Laboratory in San Diego. He was also Senior Attending Physician in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. In this capacity, Dr. Glassco participated in the training of UCLA Surgical Pathology Fellows. Dr. Glassco possesses special expertise in Dermatopathology and Transfusion Medicine. He was recently the Medical Director of OmniPath Laboratory in Canoga Park, a national Dermatopathology and General Pathology reference laboratory. He was also Director of Transfusion Medicine at Providence Saint Joseph and Providence Holy Cross Medical Centers in Burbank and Mission Hills, respectively. He is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Resolution Biomedical Inc., in Tustin, and is one of the founders of that company. Dr. Glassco is a recipient of many honors and awards, including honors in Internal Medicine from the University of Vienna, and has served as general medical and science advisor for multiple television shows and motion pictures. He is fluent in German and French.

Dr. Glassco holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara respectively. He received his medical education from Vanderbilt University (pre-clinical sciences) and the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria (clinical sciences). While at Vanderbilt, Dr. Glassco was a recipient of a medical scientist traineeship and did pioneering research in Virology and Immunohistochemistry, when this diagnostic modality was in its infancy. He did an internship in Internal Medicine at the General Hospital (Allgemeines Krankenhaus) of the University of Vienna. He completed his Pathology residency at Presbyterian-Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, and the Wadsworth (West Los Angeles) VA Medical Center where he also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Glassco is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.
 

George Csathy, M.D. 

 

Dr. Csathy is a general surgical pathologist with over 16 years of professional experience. Prior to joining Clarient, Inc., Dr. Csathy worked for several years at US Labs, where the primary focus of his work was uropathology. Prior to that, he worked for over 9 years in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, first at the Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center (North Hills, CA), and then at the West Los Angeles Healthcare Center. His duties in the VA healthcare system included general anatomic pathology (surgical pathology, cytopathology) as well as overseeing the training of pathology residents.

Dr. Csathy is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School. He completed his pathology residency training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA), where he also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Csathy is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.

Dr. Csathy is a member of the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the Los Angeles Society of Pathologists.
 

Vladislav Chizhevsky, M.D., F.C.A.P., F.A.S.C.P. 


 

Vladislav Chizhevsky is board certified in the areas of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and completed his fellowship in Hematopathology at the City of Hope under the tutelage of Dr. Larry Weiss.  Prior to his fellowship he was a resident at St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, where he was Chief Resident from 2003-2004.

Sing-Tsung “Steve” Chen, M.D., Ph.D.


 

Dr. Chen is board certified in the areas of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology as well as Hematology. He contributes over 20 years experience in medical research and numerous publications in the field to his credit.
 

Dr. Chen came to Clarient after having been the Director of Hematopathology and Flow Cytometry at US Labs since December 2002. Most recently, he served as Interim Medical Director at the same institution. He received a medical degree from Taipei Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan and completed his residency training in pathology at Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Chen received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from Temple University before moving to neighboring Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he served as the Associate Director of the Molecular Diagnostic Division and Assistant Professor of Pathology.  He completed a fellowship in Hematopathology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, where he also served as Assistant Professor in the Pathology Department. In 2000 he served as a fellow in Immunohistochemistry in the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Chen joined Quest Diagnostics at Nichols Institute in 2001 as a staff pathologist.  
 

His research interests include normal and abnormal cell proliferation. His expertise is in molecular biology and immunohistochemical applications in hematopathology.

Antony Bakke, Ph.D.
 

Dr. Antony Bakke joined Clarient, Inc. in June 2011, as the Director of Flow Cytometry. Tony received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Caltech in Pasadena. During a postdoctoral fellowship at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in San Diego, he learned flow cytometry on an early BD FACS II. He joined the Rheumatology faculty at the University of Southern California in 1980 and completed research projects on SLE, Scleroderma, Leprosy and Natural Killer cells, while directing flow cytometry labs for both the Department of Medicine and the Cancer Center. In 1984, he joined the pathology faculty at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, OR. During 27 years at OHSU, Dr. Bakke established and directed both the Clinical Immunology/Flow Cytometry Laboratory in the Pathology Dept and the Knight Cancer Institute Core Flow Cytometry Resource. He became a full professor at OHSU and completed research projects involving leukemia, lymphoma, PNH, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, rheumatoid arthritis, bacterial and viral infection, as well as teaching CLS and medical students. Dr. Bakke is a diplomat of the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology and has published 80 research papers and several book chapters. He will become president of the Association of Medical Laboratory Immunologists in Aug, 2011, and has been a member of the council of the International Clinical Cytometry Society from 2005 to the present. Dr. Bakke was an early adopter of eight color Flow Cytometry and cell sorting for clinical specimens. He will use his expertise to position the Clarient Flow laboratory as a leader in clinical Flow Cytometry.

When not working, Tony enjoys playing the tenor saxophone, jazz music, hiking and brewing craft beer.

Renuka Agrawal, M.D.
 

Renuka Agrawal, M.D., is Board Certified in Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, as well as in Hematopathology. She completed her residency in the Combined Anatomic & Clinical Pathology program at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, and her Hematopathology Fellowship training at the City of Hope National Medical Center with Dr. Lawrence Weiss. Following the fellowship, she worked as Faculty/Staff in the Department of Pathology at the City of Hope Medical Center, before joining Clarient in April 2011.