Joseph W. Carlson, M.D., Ph.D., is chief of the Division of Anatomic Pathology at City of Hope® Cancer Center Duarte and a professor of clinical pathology. With more than 15 years’ experience as a board-certified pathologist, Dr. Carlson is committed to helping cancer receive the most effective treatment possible by ensuring their diagnoses are accurate and complete, with results delivered in a timely manner.
After earning his medical degree from the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health Science and Technology M.D. program, Dr. Carlson completed an internship and residency in anatomic pathology, followed by a fellowship in women’s and perinatal pathology, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Carlson also holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and computational biology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His career in medicine was inspired by his desire to translate the research discoveries he saw in the lab into therapies and technologies that benefit patients.
Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Carlson was associate director of surgical pathology at Los Angeles General Hospital and professor of clinical pathology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He also spent 13 years at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in several academic and research roles.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Carlson is an active physician-scholar. He has written and co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and several books, including the recent publication as lead author of Atlases of Tumor and Non-Tumor Pathology, Series 5, “Tumors of the Ovary and Fallopian Tube”. He has received awards for his teaching excellence and has been involved in multiple grant-funded research projects focusing on developing more advanced diagnostic tools for cancer patients.
