
- Biomedical Science Tower E1558 Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- 412-648-4166
- woodma4@upmc.edu
MICHELLE A WOOD-TRAGESER, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Pathology, Division of Liver and Transplantation Pathology; Co-Director of Transplant Pathology Research Services Laboratory
BS, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA; PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Research Area(s):
Transplant Pathology
Biomarkers/Novel Diagnostics
Dr. Wood-Trageser serves as the Operations Manager of the Transplant Pathology Research Services Laboratory. Under the direction of Dr. A.J. Demetris, the laboratory is CAP and CLIA certified and provides routine and specialized histology services to principal investigators and researchers throughout the University and in the external biomedical community. We provide core pathology laboratory services for clinical trials in liver, kidney, and heart transplantation that are sponsored by academic, government funded, and corporate funded trials. We specialize in multiplex immunohistochemistry, high resolution digital imaging, and image analysis services.
Our current research endeavors focus on understanding operational tolerance in the liver. In addition, we are developing next generation pathology methodologies that can be applied to routine clinical testing and exploring addition of molecular interrogation of tissue that incorporates spatial context.
Highlighted Publications:
Wood-Trageser MA, Lesniak D, Gambella A, Golnoski K, Feng S, Bucuvalas J, Sanchez-Fueyo A, Demetris AJ. Next-generation pathology detection of T cell-antigen-presenting cell immune synapses in human liver allografts. Hepatology. 2022 Jul 12;. doi: 10.1002/hep.32666. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 35819312.
Feng S, Bucuvalas JC, Mazariegos GV, Magee JC, Sanchez-Fueyo A, Spain KM, Lesniak A, Kanaparthi S, Perito E, Venkat VL, Burrell BE, Alonso EM, Bridges ND, Doo E, Gupta NA, Himes RW, Ikle D, Jackson AM, Lobritto SJ, Jose Lozano J, Martinez M, Ng VL, Rand EB, Sherker AH, Sundaram SS, Turmelle YP, Wood-Trageser M, Demetris AJ. Efficacy and Safety of Immunosuppression Withdrawal in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients: Moving Toward Personalized Management. Hepatology. 2021 May;73(5):1985-2004. doi: 10.1002/hep.31520. PubMed PMID: 32786149.
Li T, Zhang Z, Bartolacci JG, Dwyer GK, Liu Q, Mathews LR, Velayutham M, Roessing AS, Lee YC, Dai H, Shiva S, Oberbarnscheidt MH, Dziki JL, Mullet SJ, Wendell SG, Wilkinson JD, Webber SA, Wood-Trageser M, Watkins SC, Demetris AJ, Hussey GS, Badylak SF, Turnquist HR. Graft IL-33 regulates infiltrating macrophages to protect against chronic rejection. J Clin Invest. 2020 Oct 1;130(10):5397-5412. doi: 10.1172/JCI133008. PubMed PMID: 32644975; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7524467.
Wood-Trageser MA, Xu Q, Zeevi A, Randhawa P, Lesniak D, Demetris AJ. Precision transplant pathology. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2020 Aug;25(4):412-419. doi: 10.1097/MOT.0000000000000772. Review. PubMed PMID: 32520786; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7737245.
Wood-Trageser MA, Lesniak AJ, Demetris AJ. Enhancing the Value of Histopathological Assessment of Allograft Biopsy Monitoring. Transplantation. 2019 Jul;103(7):1306-1322. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000002656. Review. PubMed PMID: 30768568; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6594872.
Team
Faculty:
A.J. Demetris, MD
Parmjeet Randhawa, MD
Michelle Wood-Trageser, PhD
Histology and Digital Imaging:
Stephanie Traczek, BS HTL(ASCP)CM, MT(ASCP)
Lauren Lesniak, BS
Software Engineering and Bioinformatics:
Benjamin Popp, BS
Drew Lesniak
Mitch Ellison, PhD
Molecular and Digital Spatial Profiling:
Yuchen (Cathy) Huang, BS
Trainees:
Alessandro Gambella, MD, PhD candidate
Project Manager/Administration:
Kerry Smith, BS