Dani Zander, MD, Chosen to Chair Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has selected Dani Zander, MD, as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, effective Sept. 1 and pending UC Board of Trustees approval. Dr. Zander also will hold the MacKenzie Chair of Pathology.

Zander has abundant experience in leading and managing an academic department and working with faculty, administrators and staff to achieve excellence in clinical work, teaching and research. She comes to Cincinnati from the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center/Penn State College of Medicine, where she served as chair of Pathology for more than nine years.

After earning her medical degree at the University of Florida in 1986, Zander completed an internship in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at  and New York Hospital. She then returned to the University of Florida for a four-year residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. In 2008 she completed the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program. 

Zander has more than 20 years of clinical experience and has held tenured faculty positions at the University of Florida College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, serving as Chief of Anatomic Pathology at both institutions.

The author of "Pulmonary Pathology" with a second edition in progress, she designed, directed and launched the first Pathology Leadership Academy by the Association of Pathology Chairs. She is an active participant in key national pathology professional organizations, including serving as secretary-]treasurer of the Association of Pathology Chairs and the American Society for Investigative Pathology, president of the Association of Clinical Scientists and the Binford-Dammin Society of Infectious Disease Pathologists and chair of the Department of Defense Integration Panel for the Lung Cancer Research Program.

Fred Lucas, MD, who has served as chair of the department since July 1, 2012, will return to faculty as professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. Lucas spent four years of service as chair during which time he made monumental contributions to the department. He was instrumental in rebuilding the UC Health Clinical Lab, which allowed volume to grow by 45 percent between 2012 and 2015 and revenues to increase by more than 75 percent. Under his leadership, he nearly tripled the number of faculty, stabilized the department's financial position, strengthened its operations and increased clinical faculty academic involvement in education and research.