Marguerite Pinto, MBBS

Marguerite M. Pinto, MBBS, is a pathologist who specializes in diagnosing different types of diseases based on the appearance of cells in a patient’s tissue sample—called cytopathology. Dr. Pinto looks for evidence of the human papilloma virus (HPV) in Pap smears and for unusual patterns in liver and pancreatic tissue, for example, to diagnosis cancers.

Dr. Pinto’s decision to become a physician came naturally. Dr. Pinto’s father served as a medical school dean, and her grandfather and great-grandfather were also doctors. “And the tradition continues with my daughter, who graduated from Yale School of Medicine and is now a transplant cardiologist,” Dr. Pinto says.

From a young age, Dr. Pinto understood that the opportunity to be a doctor was an honor—not just a job. “All my career I’ve been focused on patient care,” Dr. Pinto says. “For example, when a pathologist is making a diagnosis, it must be correct in order to avoid unnecessary testing that wastes the patient’s tissue, and to avoid the need for him or her to come back for another biopsy.”

At Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Pinto is an assistant professor of pathology.