The Medical College of Georgia’s (MCG) Department of Pathology has recently named Ravindra Kolhe, M.D., Ph.D., a molecular pathologist and director of the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory at MCG, as the new chair, starting on June 1.
Kolhe has been acting as the interim department chair since July 2022.
“Dr. Kolhe is a servant leader and a gifted investigator, who always seeks and finds innovative solutions to problems,” says David Hess, MD, MCG dean. “It was Dr. Kohle’s leadership that helped shape MCG’s, our health system’s, and Georgia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic had waned, he returned his efforts to finding genetic markers for both common and tough to treat cancers. As interim chair, he has led the Department of Pathology with that same focus and dedication. I look forward to our continued work together.”
Kolhe originally came to MCG as a postdoctoral fellow in 2007 with a focus on cancer epigenetics and therapeutics at the Georgia Cancer Center. He then completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at MCG and Wellstar MCG Health in 2012. He joined the school’s faculty in late 2012.
Kolhe helped develop the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular (GEM) Pathology Laboratory. Because of his leadership in the GEM Lab, it has become the gold standard for academic molecular labs.
He also worked with Jorge Cortes, M.D., Georgia Cancer Center Director, to start a Center for Cancer Geonomics at MCG, which is a hub for cancer-related genomics.
The GEM Lab developed and validated a PCR-based COVID-19 test in March 2020, becoming one of the first programs to have this important test in the Southeast. The lab worked to expand testing across the health system, which became an invaluable resource for Georgia. Because of this, Kolhe was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp’s Taskforce for COVID-19 as the lead pathologist.
Because of his work on the taskforce, Kolhe was able to secure funds from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, which allowed him to create the Georgia Pathogen Genomic Center of Excellence and the Center for Applied Pathogen Epidemiology and Outbreak Response (CAPE).
Kolhe has also served at MCG as the associate dean for translational research, associate director for genomics at the Georgia Cancer Center, and the clinical service chief for pediatric and adult clinical pathology at Wellstar MCG Health.
