Biography
Dr. Agarwal completed an Anatomic Pathology (AP) residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center (OUHSC, 2013-2016) followed by a one-year subspecialty surgical pathology fellowship in head and neck at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School (2016-2017). In addition, she successfully completed the cytopathology fellowship program at University of California Medical Center (UCSF), San Francisco (2017-2018).
Prior to joining residency/fellowship programs in the United States, Dr. Agarwal was a practicing pathologist in India and has experience working in various sub-specialty departments such as anatomic pathology, cytopathology, and clinical pathology at one of the best medical college/institutes in India.
Before joining UNM pathology, Dr. Agarwal worked at University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN as the director of head and neck pathology service, overseeing
gross examination of complex head and neck specimens and leading the pathology team towards providing quality and standardized pathology reports for the head and neck cancer cases.
In addition, she served as the associate program director for residency program, anatomic
pathology at UTHSC and was responsible for designing the anatomic pathology curriculum for the residents.
Personal Statement
My passion for anatomic pathology, in particular head and neck pathology dates back to 2010 when I was working at one of the biggest tertiary care hospitals in India/SE Asia where the most common cancer specimen that came across our grossing bench was "Squamous cell carcinoma" of the jaws, mouth, sinonasal cavities. I felt challenged by the difficult anatomy of the head and neck region and being an "honors" holder in Anatomy in medical school (being a visual-spatial learner), was immediately attracted to the subspecialty.
My career in United states began in 2013 wherein I completed an Anatomic Pathology (AP) residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center (OUHSC, 2013-2016) followed by a one-year subspecialty surgical pathology fellowship in "Head and Neck pathology" at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School (2016-2017) followed by a "Cytopathology" fellowship from University of California Medical Center (UCSF), San Francisco (2017-2018).
It is not very frequently acknowledged but head and neck pathology and cytopathology go hand in hand (as majority fine needle aspirates are from salivary glands, thyroid, and neck lymph nodes) and having focused training in both subspecialties has given me a strong hold on pattern recognition both on histologic as well as cellular level (cytology being a study of individual cells). This helps me put together pieces of complicated puzzles (pathology specimens and samples in our setting) and come up with a diagnosis, thereby contributing towards best patient care.
My research interests primarily revolve around salivary gland pathology, thyroid and endocrine pathology.
Areas of Specialty
Head and Neck Pathology
Cytopathology
Endocrine Pathology
Anatomic pathology
Education
Fellowships
Cytopathology, San Francisco, CA; University of California San Francisco Medical Center; Jul’17-Jun-18
Head and Neck Pathology, Boston, MA; Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School; Jul’16-Jun’17
Graduate education and trainingResidency - Anatomic Pathology; The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK; Jul’13-Jun’16
Diplomat of National Board (DNB) - Pathology (AP/CP); National Institute of Pathology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India; Dec’07-Apr’10
Diploma in Clinical Pathology (DCP) - AP/CP; B.J. Medical College (BJMC), University of Pune, Maharashtra, India; May’05-Jun’07
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS); GSVM Medical College, University of Kanpur, U.P., India; Sep’98-Mar’03
Certifications
1. Anatomic Pathology (American board of pathology board certified)
2. Cytopathology (American board of Cytopathology)
Achievements & Awards
William P. Illig Award for Outstanding Resident Research, 2015
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Department of Pathology
Key Publications
Agarwal, Shweta, Cheek Mass: Cyto-Histologic Correlation and Utility of Cell Block and Immunocytochemistry , ,
Journal Article
Cipriani, Nicole, A. Agarwal, Shweta, Dias-Santagata, Dora, Faquin, William, C. Sadow, Peter, M. 2017 Clear Cell Change in Thyroid Carcinoma: A Clinicopathologic and Molecular Study with Identification of Variable Genetic Anomalies THYROID, vol. 27, Issue 6, 819-824
Other
Sekhri, Radhika, Ortanca, Ibrahim, Boals, Christopher, Agarwal, Shweta, 2019 Salivary duct carcinoma: A case report of oncocytic variant with possible treatment implications and review of literature PATHOLOGY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, 21510,
Languages
- Hindi
Research and Scholarship
•Cipriani Nicole A, Agarwal Shweta, Dias-Santagata Dora, Faquin William C, and Sadow Peter M. Clear Cell Change in Thyroid Carcinoma: A Clinicopathologic and Molecular Study with Identification of Variable Genetic Anomalies. Thyroid. June 2017, 27(6): 819-824.
•Agarwal, S, Zhao, L., Zhang, R. and Hassell, L. FaceTime Validation Study: Low-cost streaming video for cytology adequacy assessment. Cancer Cytopathol. 2016 Mar; 124(3):213-20.
•Maurer AJ, Bonney PA, Toho LC, Glenn CA, Agarwal S, Battiste JD, Fung KM, Sughrue ME. Tumor necrosis-initiated complement activation stimulates proliferation of medulloblastoma cells. Inflamm Res. 2015 Apr; 64(3-4):185-92.
•Weygant, N., Qu, D., May, R., Tierney, R., Berry, W., Zhao, L., Agarwal, S., Chandrakesan, P., Chinthalapally, H., Murphy, N., Li, J., Sureban, S., Schlosser, M., Tomasek, J., & Houchen, C. (2015). DCLK1 is a broadly dysregulated target against epithelial-mesenchymal transition, focal adhesion, and stemness in clear cell renal carcinoma. Oncotarget, 6(4), 2193-2205.
•Shweta Agarwal and Roy Zhang. Lymphoepithelial cysts of the laryngeal vestibule: A rare case report. Egyptian Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, 2015 Oct; 6(3), 107-108. ????