Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD, an internationally renowned and highly accomplished leader in anatomic pathology, has been appointed Vice Chair and Director of Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology at Yale School of Medicine, effective May 1, 2022.
“I am pleased to announce Dr. Dacic’s appointment and look forward to working together with her to foster our collaborative working environment to help our faculty and staff reach their full potential,” said Chen Liu, MD, PhD, Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology and Chair of the Department of Pathology at Yale School of Medicine. “I am confident that Dr. Dacic will lead exciting, forward-thinking, innovative Anatomic Pathology programs for our department.”
Dr. Dacic is currently a Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology at University of Pittsburgh; Director of Anatomic Pathology at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital; Director of the Thoracic Pathology Center of Excellence; and Director of the FISH laboratory. She previously was Director of the Molecular Anatomic Pathology Laboratory at UPMC. Dr. Dacic received her medical and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, in Zagreb, Croatia, and completed her residency training at the University of Pittsburgh.
Her research focuses on diagnostic pulmonary and molecular pathology and the development of prognostic biomarkers. She is a key leader of impactful basic and translational research projects in lung cancer and pleural mesotheliomas, which have resulted in hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles, practice guidelines, book chapters, and reviews.
Dr. Dacic is a co-author of the original and revised College of American Pathologists/International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)/Association for Molecular Pathology guidelines for molecular testing in lung cancer. In 2020, she was awarded the IASLC Award for Translational Research. She was a member of the Editorial Board for the 5th WHO Classification of Thoracic Tumors (2019). Dr. Dacic is a deputy editor in chief of Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and serves on the editorial boards of high impact journals, including Modern Pathology, Human Pathology, American Journal of Clinical Pathology, Advances in Anatomic Pathology, and Translational Lung Cancer Research.
Dr. Dacic has served as a board member of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), as well as on its Education Committee and as a member and chair of its Young Investigators Awards Committee. She currently serves as president of the Pulmonary Pathology Society and is a member of the U.S. and Canadian Mesothelioma Group, the International Mesothelioma Panel, and the IASLC Pathology Committee.
Dr. Liu expressed his thanks to John Sinard, MD, PhD, for his leadership of the Yale Department of Pathology Anatomic Pathology division for the last seven years.