The Department of Pathology offers detection and diagnosis of disease through analysis of cell and tissue samples. The pathologists work closely with the clinicians in an effort to provide a clinicopathologic understanding of disease processes. This sometimes involves biopsy reports during surgical procedures as an intraoperative aid to the surgeon.

The modern practice of pathology is divided into a number of subdisciplines within the discrete but deeply interconnected aims of biological research and medical practice. Biomedical research into disease incorporates the work of vast variety of life science specialists, whereas, in most parts of the world, to be licensed to practice pathology as medical specialty, one has to complete medical school and secure a license to practice medicine. Structurally, the study of disease is divided into many different fields that study or diagnose markers for disease using methods and technologies particular to specific scales, organs, and tissue types. The information in this section mostly concerns pathology as it regards common medical practice in these systems, but each of these specialties is also the subject of voluminous pathology research as regards the disease pathways of specific pathogens and disorders that affect the tissues of these discrete organs or structures.