Welcome to the Department of Pathology

The Department of Pathology at the University of Cape Town is a large academic department comprising eight  divisions:  Anatomical Pathology, Chemical Pathology, Haematology, Human Genetics, Immunology, Forensic Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology.

The Department hosts the Pathology Learning Centre which holds an extraordinary collection of teaching specimens that have been accumulated over more than 80 years.

The Department provides a comprehensive Pathology service to the Western Cape and South Africa, and undertakes basic & applied scientific research aimed at understanding mechanisms, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases.  It contributes to training of undergraduate medical students, and has a large post-graduate teaching and training programme.  

The Department is located in the Falmouth Building at the Faculty of Health Sciences, with service facilities located in Groote Schuur Hospital, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Salt River Mortuary.  The Department is supported by the National Health Laboratory Services and Western Cape Government.  It has over 80 academic members of staff, and has approximately 200 registered post-graduate students registered for the following degrees:  PhD, MMed, MSc, MPhil (Forensic Medicine), MSc (Med) (by dissertation) and BSc(Hons).

Prof Pillay met Dr Bienvenue Solal at the 2024 CMSA Pholela lecture on Implementing UHC:  Health systems and challenges awarded to Dr Krishna Vallabhjee.

Dr Solal kindly assisted Mr Gavin Williams with his MSc project on Assessment of progressive pigmentary changes in interface dermatosis using longitudinal histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy at three-time intervals in Fitzpatrick skin types III – VI.   Mr Williams passed his Masters with distinction in 2023 and Dr Solal is a recent fellow of the College of Dermatology in the CMSA.

Prof Komala Pillay and Dr Bienvenue Solal	Prof Komala Pillay and Dr Bienvenue Solal

Adam Bagg, who went to medical school and trained in Haematopathology at Wits (a very long time ago) is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA has been on sabbatical at UCT.  For the past 15 years, he was voted by his peers as one of Philadelphia’s “Top Doctors”, the only haematopathologist in the region (which includes five university medical centers) so recognised.  In 2012 (and since), he was noted by US News and World Report to be in the top 1% of doctors in the US.  Dr. Bagg has lectured extensively nationally in the USA (including at ASH, USCAP, SH, ASCP, AMP and CAP meetings and at prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, Mayo Clinic) and internationally (for EA4HP, IAP and ISLH) in over 20 countries.  He has over 240 publications, many on the molecular pathology of haematologic malignancies.

From L to R: Prof Komala Pillay, Prof Adam Bagg, A/Prof Jessica Opie and Prof Vernon Louw.	From L to R: Prof Adam Bagg, A/Prof Jessica Opie and Prof Vernon Louw.