Michael Laposata

Michael Laposata is an American pathologist, fatty acid biochemist and specialist in blood coagulation. He was chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston and previously directed clinical laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital and Vanderbilt University.[1][2] He is known for developing diagnostic management teams to recommend the correct tests and provide expert driven, patient specific interpretations of test results. He is also well known for his work on bleeding disorders misdiagnosed as child abuse, and as a plaintiff in the 2024 lawsuit that overturned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's rule on laboratory developed tests.[1][3][4] In 2026 he founded ExpertDx, Inc.

Education

Laposata joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 1985.[6] In 1989 he became Director of Clinical Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was also on the faculty of Harvard Medical School ultimately as a tenured full professor.[1][6]

He moved to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2008 where he was the Pathologist-in-Chief at Vanderbilt University Hospital.[1] He joined the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston as professor and chair of the Department of Pathology in 2014. He also directed UTMB's MD-PhD program.[2][5]

At all three institutions he built diagnostic management teams to provide ordering physicians an expert's interpretation of complex laboratory results, with recommended next steps.[1] He organized three national conferences on forming diagnostic management teams.[source needed]

Laposata retired from academic medicine in September of 2026.

ExpertDx

In 2026, after retiring from academic medicine, Laposata founded ExpertDx, Inc. The company provides expert interpretations of complex laboratory and diagnostic cases to ordering physicians nationwide, extending the diagnostic management team model beyond individual hospitals.

Research and contributions

Laposata is the author of Laposata's Laboratory Medicine: Diagnosis of Disease in the Clinical Laboratory (McGraw Hill), now in its fourth edition.[2] He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers focusing on fatty acid metabolism and diagnostic studies in coagulation.[2]

As an expert in bleeding and clotting disorders that can mimic child abuse, his testimony has been reported to have contributed to exonerations and to children being returned to their families.[3]

Policy and advocacy

Laposata served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care. The committee produced the 2015 report Improving Diagnosis in Health Care.[5]

In August 2024 he served the Association for Molecular Pathology as a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the FDA's final rule on regulating laboratory developed tests.[2][4] In 2025 a federal district court in Texas vacated the rule.[4] That November, the Association for Molecular Pathology gave him its Champion for Innovation Award for his role in the case.[2]

Awards & Recognition

• 14 teaching awards from Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine[2]
• Named the most influential pathologist in the United States by The Pathologist in 2015[2][6]
• Inducted into the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) Hall of Fame[1]
• Champion for Innovation Award, Association for Molecular Pathology, 2025[2]

Bibliography

• Laboratory Medicine: The Diagnosis of Disease in the Clinical Laboratory. (McGraw Hill, 2010). ISBN 978-1-260-11679-3.

References

1. Hall of Fame: Michael Laposata." Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). Retrieved 30 September 2026.
2. "Association for Molecular Pathology Honors Michael Laposata with Champion for Innovation Award" (Press release). Association for Molecular Pathology. 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
3. Carried over from the current article: PBS Frontline, "If It's Not Abuse"; NBC News (13 December 2019); ProPublica (21 February 2012); NPR (28 June 2011).
4. Federal District Court Vacates FDA's Laboratory Developed Tests Final Rule." FDA Law Blog. Hyman, Phelps & McNamara. April 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
5. Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care (2015). Balogh, Erin P.; Miller, Bryan T.; Ball, John R. (eds.). Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/21794.
6. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Experts-say-the-state-should-add-safeguards-to-14902941.php
7. https://www.thepathologist.com/issues/2025/articles/december/michael-laposata-receives-champion-for-innovation-award/
8. https://www.thepathologist.com/issues/2025/articles/november/peertopeer-ivan-damjanov-interviews-michael-laposata/
9. https://www.thepathologist.com/issues/2016/articles/jun/it-s-our-turn/
10. https://www.thepathologist.com/issues/2016/articles/jun/we-need-to-talk-pathologists-patients-and-diagnostic-errors-part-i/
11. https://www.thepathologist.com/issues/2016/articles/aug/it-s-our-turn-to-talk-pathologists-patients-and-diagnostic-errors-part-ii/
12. Laposata, M.; Connor, A. M.; Hicks, D. G.; Phillips, D. K. (1989). The Clinical Hemostasis Handbook. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers.
13. Laposata, M. (2010–2013). Coagulation Disorders. Quality in Laboratory Diagnosis series. New York: Demos Medical Publishing. Laposata was also editor of the full six-volume series (Laboratory Management, Clinical Microbiology, Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, Hematology/Clinical Immunology, and Coagulation Disorders).
14. Laposata, M. (2016). Clinical Diagnostic Tests: How to Avoid Errors in Ordering Tests and Interpreting Results. New York: Demos Medical Publishing.
15. Laposata, M.; McCaffrey, P. (2022). Clinical Laboratory Methods: Atlas of Commonly Performed Tests and Molecular Test Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
16. Laposata, M., ed. (2025). Laposata's Laboratory Medicine: The Diagnosis of Disease in the Clinical Laboratory (4th ed.). Lange Series. New York: McGraw-Hill.
17. Laposata, M.; Dighe, A. S. (2007). "'Pre-pre' and 'post-post' analytical error: High-incidence patient safety hazards involving the clinical laboratory." Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. 45: 712–719.
18. Laposata, M. (2014). "Putting the patient first: Using the expertise of laboratory professionals to produce rapid and accurate diagnoses." Laboratory Medicine. 45: 4–5.
19. Graber, M. L.; Rusz, D.; Jones, M. L.; Farm-Franks, D.; Jones, B.; Cyr Gluck, J.; Thomas, D. B.; Gleason, K.; Welte, K.; Abfalter, J.; Westerhaus, K.; Adams, G.; Laposata, M.; Eichbaum, Q.; Nabatchi, T.; Compton, M. (2017). "The new diagnostic team." Diagnosis. 4: 225–238.

External links

1. UTMB faculty profile