Biography
Marlena Chavez received a B.S. in Biology (2007) from the University of New Mexico. She earned her M.S. degree as a Pathologists' Assistant (2014) from Rosalind Franklin University. She is the Charge Pathologists' Assistant and has been in her current position for 12 years. She was recently promoted to Principal Lecturer III.
Personal Statement
I began working for UNM as a research tech in 2008 and discovered the Pathologists' Assistant profession. I immediately fell in love with the highly dynamic and hands on work environment of the gross room that involves interaction with clinicians, laboratory personnel, and trainees. After obtaining my degree as a Pathologists' Assistant in 2014, I was thrilled to be able to come back to UNM. Under the direction of our Anatomic Pathologists, I help manage the Surgical Pathology Gross Room.
Areas of Specialty
My clinical service and expertise consists of grossing, which is the macroscopic examination, dissection, and dictation of surgical specimens resulting in the surgical pathology report and sections selected for microscopic examination. I specialize in frozen sections and other operating room consultations as well as specimen gross photography. My teaching is centered on resident education and mentorship our junior faculty Pathologists' Assistants.
Achievements & Awards
Promotion from Lecturer III to Senior Lecturer III July 2020
iTeach Award 2021
Promotion from Senior Lecturer III to Principal Lecturer III July 2026
Gender
Female
Languages
- English
Research and Scholarship
My research consists of collaborating with UNM's Human Tissue Repository. I submit normal and tumor tissue to be banked, deidentified, and made available for future research as formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue and frozen tissue. I also collaborate with Pediatric Oncology for COG studies.