Michael B. Prystowsky

Michael B. Prystowsky is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. He leads a department with ~700 staff, managing ~10 million annual diagnostic tests. His research focuses on developing molecular diagnostics for head and neck cancers, including biomarkers and gene expression profiling. He has extensive administrative experience in pathology service lines and education. Dr. Prystowsky chairs national committees like the Association of Pathology Chairs’ Undergraduate Medical Education Committee and College of American Pathologists’ Board of Governors.

Education: B.S. cum laude from Pennsylvania State University; postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University and residency at University of Chicago. His educational initiatives include national standards for medical student pathology curricula and test utilization courses for residents.

Research: His lab collaborates across disciplines (oncology, molecular biology) to study tumor behavior and molecular classifiers. Key projects include HPV-driven head and neck carcinomas and epigenetic changes in CDKN2A. Over 30 publications span immunology, cancer biology, and diagnostics.

Awards: AAAS Fellow, Michele Raible Teaching Award, American Cancer Society recognition. Grants include leadership roles in Einstein Cancer Center Shared Facilities.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Program, integrating basic science and clinical care to improve patient outcomes through precision diagnostics.