Michael Laposata

Michael Laposata is an American biochemist, pathologist, blood-clotting expert and professor. He is the chief of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston. He researched cases of children with diseases that were mistaken for child abuse.

Education

Laposata graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Bucknell University in 1974. He earned a Medical Degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1981.

Career

In 1985 Laposata joined the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as an assistant professor. In 1989, he became Director of Clinical Laboratories at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2008, he joined Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Over a period of 20 years he researched and collected cases of diseases that led to child abuse misdiagnoses. In 2005, he co-published a study in which he focused on diseases that can cause bleeding disorders like Von Willebrand disease, Vitamin K deficiency, leukemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and Henoch-Schonlein purpura. According to Laposata, it's difficult to differentiate between bruises as a result of a disease and child abuse, and such a misdiagnosis can lead to people being wrongfully incarcerated on child abuse charges.

Recognition

Laposata is the recipient of teaching prizes at Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 2015, the journal The Pathologist identified Laposata as the most influential pathologist in the United States. According to the Eastern Tribunal, he is "ranked among the top 0.05% of his peers in the country".