Bio
Dr. Tsai received his undergraduate training at the University of California, Los Angeles (B.S., Biochemistry, summa cum laude), followed by combined medical and graduate training at the University of Southern California (M.D., Ph.D., Biochemistry). He completed anatomic and clinical pathology (AP/CP) residency and hematopathology fellowship at Stanford University, receiving board certification in AP/CP and hematopathology. As an instructor, he performed clinical diagnostic duties on the hematopathology service while doing postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Sean Bendall, with funding from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
As a physician and hematopathologist, he seeks to mechanistically dissect myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) using highly-multiplexed immunophenotyping — mass cytometry / cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) and multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI). MDS is an especially complex and heterogeneous disease of abnormal blood cell development with increasing prevalence and few treatments. By combining practical experience clinically diagnosing MDS, next generation single cell proteomic approaches, fundamental discoveries in the biology of MDS, and knowledge of clinical laboratory testing, we hope to develop new clinical diagnostics for personalizing MDS therapies and therapeutic monitoring.
His clinical diagnostic duties are on the hematopathology service, primarily in the diagnosis of MDS, leukemias, lymphomas, and other hematopoietic diseases from blood, bone marrow, and tissue samples.