The Patricia Charache, M.D. Clinical Microbiology Fund
Support a Fellow in Microbiology
The Patricia Charache Clinical Microbiology Fund, an endowed fund in the Department of Pathology which provides fellowship support in the Division of Microbiology, was established to pay tribute to Patricia Charache, M.D., D(ABMM), a nationally and internationally known infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist who practiced at Johns Hopkins Medicine for more than 50 years. Pat received her bachelor's degree from Hunter College and her medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine. It was during medical school that she began her lifelong love of microbiology. After medical school, Dr. Pat (as she was affectionately known by colleagues and trainees) completed an internship in internal medicine at the Baltimore City Hospitals (now Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center) and then completed research and clinical fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Harvard University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital. She returned to Johns Hopkins in 1964 where she started her career as an instructor in the School of Medicine's Division of Infectious Diseases. Over the next five decades, she served in multiple positions of increasing responsibility—some of them concurrently. When the microbiology laboratory was part of the Department of Medicine, Pat served as its medical director and continued to serve as the director of the division and its various laboratories for 20 years after the microbiology division became part of the Department of Pathology. Under her direction, the laboratory grew and obtained national recognition, added faculty members and organizational structure, expanded services such as virology and molecular diagnostics, and was responsible for launching an active applied research program.
Promoted to full professor in 1992, Pat was the 30th woman to reach that rank in the history of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and went on to hold the positions of Deputy Director of Clinical Affairs' Physician Advisor and Director of Quality Improvement for the Department of Pathology; Director of the Park Medical Laboratories; and an 18-month tenure as the Director of the Department of Pathology, Zayed Military Hospital and associated hospitals, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Beginning in 1998, until her retirement in 2010, Pat served as program director of Quality Assessment and Outcomes Research Programs. Her early research interests involved the detection of genetic abnormalities using immunologic approaches. Later in her career, she focused on developing approaches to detect microbial pathogens, including AIDS and tuberculosis. An innovator, Pat developed a novel 19-test, agar-based, computer-assisted method of bacterial identification and susceptibility testing which revolutionized testing and was in use in the clinical laboratory for 30 years.
A gifted teacher, valued mentor, and exemplary researcher, Pat also held the title of Distinguished Professor Emerita of pathology, medicine and oncology in the School of Medicine, and a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Throughout her career at Johns Hopkins, she worked tirelessly and courageously to advocate for the professional development of all faculty members, especially women, and mentored many as they advanced in their careers. Pat published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than a dozen books or book chapters, and continued to be an active member of the pathology and microbiology fields until her death on September 12, 2015.
If you would like to honor Dr. Pat Charache's legacy, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution in her memory to the Patricia Charache Clinical Microbiology Fund through the Department of Pathology's secure online giving form by clicking the button below.
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