Pathology is the study of disease. It is the bridge between basic sciences, such as human biology and molecular biology, and medicine. Pathology contributes to every aspect of patient care, from diagnosis and treatment to preventing severe disease. 

Doctors, laboratory technologists and scientists working in pathology are experts in illness and disease. They support every aspect of healthcare, from guiding doctors on the right way to treat common diseases, to using cutting-edge technologies to treat patients with life-threatening conditions.

Pathology plays a critical role in research and in advancing medicine to fight diseases such as cancer, chronic inflammation and also degenerative diseases. Recently, the Department of Pathology turned digital and the primary diagnostic tool is now a digital microscope.

For our research, we use a wide range of different techniques, which can be roughly divided into four groups with partial overlap:

1) Tissue morphology is examined with light microscopy, digital imaging analysis, histomorphometry, 3D-microscopy and tissue culturing.

2) Cells are classified and quantified using flow cytometry and cell sorting techniques and ultrastructurally using electron microscopy (EM). We also perform cell culturing.

3) We use a wide range of molecular genetic techniques, such as gel and capillary electrophoresis, in situ hybridization, quantitative real-time PCR, pyro sequencing, Sanger sequencing, DNA methylation profiling, next-generation sequencing (NGS) and RNA profiling.

4) Proteins are analysed using techniques such as immunohistochemistry, double- and multiplex immunostaining, Western blotting, ELISA and enzymatic activity assays.