Hunt Named UAMS Pathology Department Chair

By David Robinson

 Jennifer L. Hunt, M.D.

LITTLE ROCK – Jennifer L. Hunt, M.D., has been named chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Services in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Hunt, who will join UAMS in September, is associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and associate chief of pathology and chief of anatomic and molecular pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Hunt is recognized nationally and internationally for her clinical subspecialty expertise in head and neck, endocrine, and molecular anatomic pathology. She is the author of more than 110 publications in head and neck, endocrine and molecular pathology and in quality assurance and laboratory operations.

She is certified in anatomic pathology by the American Board of Pathology, and in molecular genetic pathology by the American Board of Medical Genetics. Among many national leadership positions, Hunt recently was elected president-elect of the Association for Molecular Pathology.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Hunt lead our Department of Pathology and Laboratory Services,” said College of Medicine Dean Debra H. Fiser, M.D. “She brings extensive leadership experience and distinguished clinical and academic skills to our institution.”

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Services assists physicians, hospitals, industry, community health agencies, home health agencies, government agencies and researchers throughout the state.

Hunt earned her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Hunt completed her residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

She was an assistant professor in pathology and laboratory medicine and otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Penn. She went on to serve as an associate professor in pathology and laboratory medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University before taking the same position at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and six institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,836 students and 761 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.