BMC Health System providers, staff, and affiliated medical professionals: Explore our Frequently Asked Questions to learn Pathology & Laboratory Medicine departmental procedures and workflows.
The Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine strongly believes that the cultural and social diversity of our faculty, staff, residents, and students is vitally important to the distinction and excellence of our clinical, research and academic programs. As a department and institution, we are committed to health equity and reducing healthcare disparities. We embrace and champion justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. While our organization has a rich history of inclusion and diversity, we recognize that there is much work to be done to create a fair and just society.
We are committed to the active pursuit of equity and inclusion for our faculty, residents, students and staff. We commit to the support of our local and regional community to create opportunities for employment and education. We support education about social determinants of health and embrace anti-racism.
Divisions
Anatomic Pathology
Anatomic Pathology serves all patients who undergo a procedure that results in the removal of tissue, as well as all services that generate these specimens.
Laboratory Medicine
Laboratory Medicine oversees all clinical laboratory testing throughout BMC, reference lab referrals, lab information systems, point-of-care testing, and more.
Laboratory & Biorepository Research Services (LABS) Core
The Laboratory & Biorepository Research Services (LABS) Core is an institutional core housed within BMC's Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. Its mission is to provide high-quality research services to members of the BMC and Boston University research community in order to support innovative and impactful science.
The LABS Core serves to provide a central, standardized process for receiving, processing, and fulfilling research service requests and has three primary service pillars:
- COVID-19 Biorepository: Access to prospectively collected and clinical remnant samples from COVID-19 patients. The LABS Core serves as the umbrella for this formerly independent service as of 2021.
- Clinical Remnant Sample Services: Investigator-initiated access to clinical remnant samples, including tissue and slides (that is, leftover sample initially collected for clinical purpose).
- Biospecimen Archive Research Core (BARC): Sample processing services (for example, PBMC isolation, plasma), storage, and shipping. The LABS Core serves as the umbrella for this formerly independent service as of 2021.
BMC serves a highly diverse patient population, with more than 70 percent identifying as African American, Hispanic, or Latinx and nearly 76 percent coming from underserved populations such as low-income or elderly. Samples and services provided by LABS can therefore support and elevate research that addresses health disparities, risk factors, and outcomes that disproportionately impact our patient populations.
Our services are designed to be cost-effective (as a cost-neutral core, all services we provide are designed to be "at-cost") and able to elevate your research. For instance, leveraging clinical remnant samples for your ongoing study may allow you to reduce the number of study visits or burden on study participants. Leveraging our sample processing services can remove the need to hire laboratory staff and cover costs associated with accessing a laboratory.
Core Director: Elizabeth Duffy, MA