Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D. (PATH ’79)

Board Member

(originally published in 2014)

Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor of Pathology

Professor of Surgery

Professor of Cell, Development, & Integrative Biology

UAB School of Medicine

Director, Division of Anatomic Pathology, UAB

Executive Vice Chair, Pathology, UAB Medicine

Birmingham, Alabama

“My years at Mayo taught me the value that every member of the health care team brings to patient care along with a strong sense of loyalty that this engenders among the thousands of employees in the Mayo system and the institution that sustains them.”

 

• Fellowship: Surgical Pathology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis; Pathology Research, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
• Residency: Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
• Graduate Degree: Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• Medical School: University of Louisville, Kentucky
• Undergraduate: Adelphi University, Garden City, New York
• Native of: Plainview, New York

Why did you train at Mayo Clinic?

My dream was to pursue a clinician-scientist program, and Mayo had just instituted such a program in the Department of Pathology. I viewed it as an opportunity too great to pass up. I looked at approximately 25 programs that allowed me to pursue a Ph.D. along with a residency in pathology. Mayo had the mystique, and I had the outstanding good fortune to find Dr. Harold Moses (PATH ’73), who was a young faculty member in the Department of Pathology. He agreed to take me under his wing, and the rest is history.

What was your initial impression of Mayo Clinic?

Mayo helped solidify my belief that one could do high-quality diagnostic pathology in parallel with competitive extramurally funded basic research. My mentors showed me that it could be done, and I was pleased to try to follow in their large footsteps.

What valuable lesson have you learned at Mayo Clinic?

Rochester is the ultimate company town in the best sense of the words. My years at Mayo taught me the value that every member of the health care team brings to patient care along with a strong sense of loyalty that this engenders among the thousands of employees in the Mayo system and the institution that sustains them.

Mayo does an extraordinary number of things exceedingly well, but it was rewarding to me after almost six years at Mayo to complete my training at other institutions. This helped round out my experience and let me better understand the huge diversity that is American medicine.

What do you contribute to the Mayo Clinic Alumni Association?

I hope to bring a balance to the discussion between those in academia and those many distinguished members of the Alumni Association who have achieve great success in community practice and other forms of high-quality health care and basic research.

What do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy traveling with my wife, reading and spending time with my children and, more recently, my four grandchildren.