What is a Biomedical Scientist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine?
A PhD biomedical scientist in Pathology and/or Laboratory Medicine is a person who is scientifically trained in the life sciences to investigate the pathogenesis of human disease.
Scientific training entails acquiring a doctoral degree in one of the basic sciences or in a department of pathology and laboratory medicine followed by postdoctoral training in a field of interest. Postdoctoral training can be acquired in any one of a number of departments, including Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Once fundamental basic scientific knowledge on mechanisms of disease is obtained, the biomedical scientist can tailor a career in an academic research setting, a hospital research institute, or in industry to investigate the pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease. Biomedical scientists form a broad group of individuals with various levels of scientific expertise who can drive academic laboratory medicine in various areas of healthcare. In addition, biomedical scientists are able to provide leadership to physicians and medical teams on the basic mechanisms of disease and facilitate translational research studies with clinical applications.