Yuri E. Nikiforov, MD, PhD

• Professor of Pathology and Director of the Division of Molecular Anatomic Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Dr. Nikiforov’s clinical interests and expertise include the genetics and pathology of thyroid cancer. He has received international acclaim for his extensive research which includes the discovery of several novel types of chromosomal rearrangements and findings that have linked chromosomal rearrangements in thyroid cancer to exposure to ionizing radiation. These discoveries have been reported in journals including Science, Journal of Clinical Investigations, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

Dr. Nikiforov’s current research efforts focus on the identification of novel mutations in thyroid cancer using next-generation sequencing, and the application of current knowledge in molecular genetics of thyroid cancer to the clinical management of patients with thyroid nodules. His recent article on this investigative research received the Endocrine Society’s International Award for Publishing Excellence in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Dr. Nikiforov received his medical and doctoral degrees from the Minsk Medical Institute in Belarus. He completed his residency in anatomic pathology at the University of Cincinnati and postdoctoral fellowships in pathology and endocrinology at Brown University and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

He is an author of more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and more than 10 book chapters, and is a senior editor of the popular textbook “Diagnostic Pathology and Molecular Genetics of the Thyroid.” He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and has received many honors, including the prestigious Van Meter Award from the American Thyroid Association.