Last year we asked our readers who they believed were the most influential figures in pathology and laboratory medicine, and in November, after open nominations and judging by an independent, multidisciplinary panel, we celebrated the top 100 (1). And the number 1 spot? It was awarded to Manuel Sobrinho-Simões, founder and director of globally-renowned IPATIMUP (the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto), a man who was described by nominators as someone who “represents the perfect combination of scientific intelligence and nobility,” is “an educator par excellence,” and whose “contributions to the clinical diagnosis of thyroid cancer have been outstanding.” Here we speak with the pathologist who has taught and inspired thousands of students and made ground breaking contributions to the field of thyroid oncology. Manuel Sobrinho-Simões speaks with The Pathologist about his diverse and interesting career, his focus on education, his fears surrounding overuse of molecular and digital pathology. And he tells us what he still has to do…
I then returned to Portugal to continue my career. By 1988, I became a full professor of pathology at the University of Porto. Through the course of my career, and even now, I have worked overseas for short periods. I always combined my profession with research, and I have always tried to teach. Why? Because I wanted to be as good a professional pathologist and as good a researcher as possible; not because I wanted to do research per se, but because I wanted to be a better teacher.
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References
- “The Power List”, The Pathologist, 13, 19–35 (2015).
- P Soares et al., “Braf mutations and ret/ptc rearrangements are alternative events in the etiopathogenesis of ptc”, Oncogene, 22, 4578–4580 (2003).
- J Vinagre et al., “Frequency of tert promoter mutations in human cancers”, Nature Comms, 4, 2185 (2013). PMID: 23887589.
- V Maximo et al., “Somatic and germline mutation in grim-19, a dual function gene involved in mitochondrial metabolism and cell death, is linked to mitochondrion-rich (hurthle cell) tumours of the thyroid”, Br J Cancer, 92, 1892–1898 (2005). PMID: 15841082.
- P Castro et al., “Pax8-ppar gamma rearrangement is frequently detected in the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma”, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 91, 213–220 (2006). PMID: 16219715.
- Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, “Integrated genomic characterization of papillary thyroid carcinoma”, Cell, 159, 676–690 (2014). PMID: 25417114.
