Neuropathology Fellowship

Overview

This two-year, ACGME-accredited neuropathology training program is designed to foster the careers of future leaders in neuropathology and neuroscience. One position is available each year.

The neuropathology service annually receives over 800 biopsies, 300 muscle biopsies, 600 consultations, and 200 brains obtained from autopsies at Stanford, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center and regional private and forensic institutions.

Under close supervision of the Director and other faculty neuropathologists, the trainee is responsible for the complete examination of all neurosurgical specimens, which includes:

In depth exposure to intraoperative consultations including frozen sections and cytological preparations
Muscle and nerve pathology
Molecular studies including NGS, FISH,
Immunohistochemistry
Electron microscopy
Examining the brains and spinal cords removed at autopsy

Trainees participate actively in joint conferences with the Clinical Neuroscience Department and are encouraged to pursue research projects that can be followed in greater depth during the second, predominantly research-oriented year of training.

Candidates with a strong background or interest in neuroscience are especially encouraged to apply.

Additional funding may be available for qualified graduates of Stanford's AP/NP residency program, who wish to pursue an academic career as an independent investigator by continuing their research beyond the period of the formal fellowship. Funding is subject to the approval by the Pathology Chair.

Requirements: AP or AP/CP training and eligibility for California medical license

Stipends: Commensurate with experience

Hannes Vogel, MD

Professor of Pathology and of Pediatrics (Pediatric Genetics)
and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery, Neurology and of Comparative Medicine; Director, Neuropathology Fellowship Program

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How to Apply

Foreign Students & Visa Sponsorship

Canadian Visa Requirements

Graduates of Canadian medical schools will be placed on ECFMG sponsored J-1 visas. They are not required to take the qualifying examinations such as FMGEMS, NBME, and USMLE in order to obtain their visas.

Note: At this time, the government of Canada is restricting approval of physicians wishing to obtain clinical training outside Canada. SHC is unable to obtain a J-1 visa without the consent of the Canadian government.

Non-Canadian Visa Requirements

All trainees in residency and clinical fellowship programs will be placed on ECFMG sponsored J-1 visas.

Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC) does not sponsor such trainees for the H-1B visa. ECFMG requires a valid ECFMG certificate obtained by successful completion of their qualifying examinations (VQE, FMGEMS, NBME, or USMLE) coupled with the appropriate English language examination to be eligible for a visa.

Allow 120 working days for ECFMG to process an initial visa.

For further information, please contact:
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
3624 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2685
Tel: [215] 386-5900

California Medical License

California law states that all U.S. and Canadian graduates are required to obtain a California medical license before starting a fellowship at Stanford.

If you have any questions please visit the Stanford Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) and/or the California Medical Board website for more information.

Stipends & Bonuses

Applying

Deadlines:

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Required Materials:

Completed Standardized Application for Pathology Fellowships form (CAP with supplemental available below) with your signature
Updated Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Cover letter and/or personal statement
3 letters of recommendation
Photo

Please click the button below to apply

Apply Here

CAP Application with Supplemental Form

Visit the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for more information on the application process

Program Contact

Neuropathology Faculty

Donald Born, MD, PhD

Clinical Professor of Pathology (Neuropathology)
Assistant Director, Neuropathology Service

Dr. Born obtained his medical degree from the University of Virginia where he also completed a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. His next training occurred at the University of Washington as an Anatomic Pathology resident and Neuropathology fellow. He moved to Stanford in 2013 and as Clinical Professor of Pathology he sees a wide range of samples related to the field of neuropathology.

Stanford Profile

Inma Cobos, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pathology (Neuropathology)

Inma received her medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Murcia in Spain and completed post-doctoral training in Developmental Neurobiology at the University of California, San Francisco. She then pursued a clinical residency and fellowship in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Before joining Stanford, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Neuropathology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.

Her research program combines her background in diagnostic neuropathology, knowledge of developmental neuroscience, and state-of-the-art cellular and molecular technologies to advance the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. She is currently applying single-cell methods to human brain to dissect the contributions of distinct cell types to Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and investigate the mechanisms of tau-mediated neurodegeneration in human brain. Her work is supported by the NIH National Institute of Aging (R01), the Alzheimer’s Association, and BrightFocus. She recently received the Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).

Stanford Profile

Thomas Montine, MD, PhD

Stanford Medicine Endowed Professor in Pathology
Chair, Department of Pathology
Director, Pacific Udall Center

Dr. Montine received his education at Columbia University (BA in Chemistry), the University of Rochester (PhD in Pharmacology), and McGill University (MD and CM). His postgraduate medical training was at Duke University, and he was junior faculty at Vanderbilt University where he was awarded the Thorne Professorship in Pathology. In 2002, Dr. Montine was appointed as the Alvord Endowed Professor in Neuropathology and Director of the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Washington. He was Director of the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, one of the original 10 Centers in the US, and passed that responsibility to able colleagues. In 2010, Dr. Montine was appointed Chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington. In 2016, Dr. Montine was appointed Chair of the Department of Pathology at Stanford University where he is the Stanford Medicine Endowed Professor in Pathology.

Stanford Profile

Birgitt Schuele, MD

Associate Professor of Pathology (Neuropathology)

Birgitt Schuele, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on medical genetics and stem cell modeling to unlock disease mechanisms and pathways leading to neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, and to develop new therapeutic strategies to advance precision medicine.

She received her medical training from the Georg-August University Göttingen and Medical University Lübeck, Germany (1993 - 2001) and completed doctoral degree in medicine (Dr. med.) in neurophysiology at the Georg-August University Göttingen (2001). During her neurology internship from 2001 to 2002 at Medical University of Lübeck with Prof. Christine Klein, Dr. Schuele studied genes for inherited forms of Parkinson’s disease and dystonia. From 2003 to 2005, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in human genetics with Prof. Uta Francke at Stanford University School of Medicine. From 2005-2019, Dr. Schuele led key clinical research programs and biospecimen repositories for neurogenetics, translational stem cell and brain donation at the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center.

Stanford Profile

David Solomon, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pathology (Neuropathology)
Director, Neuropathology Service

Dr. David A. Solomon is a physician-scientist neuropathologist and brain tumor researcher who has specialized expertise in diagnostic testing for tumors of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. He performs neuropathology evaluation both for adult patients at Stanford Healthcare and pediatric patients at Stanford Children's Health. He also consults on brain tumor cases sent from hospitals around the world seeking diagnostic review and molecular testing at Stanford Medicine.

Dr. Solomon has a special interest in the genetic alterations that drive cancer development and progression, particularly for brain and nerve sheath tumors. He serves as Stanford’s Director of Neuropathology, supervising all diagnostic testing performed on brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerve tumors.

His research lab brings together diverse expertise in cell biology, mouse modeling, genomics, and computational analysis to the study of brain tumors and sarcomas. They employ next-generation sequencing, genome-wide DNA methylation profiling, single cell profiling, and genetically-engineered cell and mouse models to advance the classification of and improve clinical outcomes for the many different types of brain and nerve sheath tumors. Their studies aim to reveal the mechanisms by which the different genetic alterations cause brain tumors to form, and how to better therapeutically intervene using a genomically-tailored precision medicine approach. His group's studies have identified the genetic and mechanistic basis of several brain tumor types including chordoid glioma, myxoid glioneuronal tumor, pineal gland tumors, pediatric bithalamic gliomas, and radiation-induced gliomas.

Dr. Solomon earned both his doctorate in tumor biology and his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in neuropathology at UCSF and worked as an attending neuropathologist and research faculty member at UCSF prior to joining the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Raymond A. Sobel, MD

Professor of Pathology (Neuropathology)
Director of Neuropathology at VA Palo Alto Healthcare System

Dr. Sobel is a Board Certified neuropathologist who has practiced academic neuropathology service and teaching for 40 years. His research interests are primarily in immune responses in the central nervous system as they relate to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.

Stanford Profile