Juan Rosai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Juan Rosai
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| Born |
Giovanni Rosai
August 20, 1940 Poppi, Italy
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| Died | July 7, 2020 (aged 79) Milan, Italy
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| Nationality | Italian, American |
| Alma mater | University of Buenos Aires, Argentina & Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri |
| Known for | Research in Surgical pathology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine & Pathology |
| Influences | Eduardo Lascano and Lauren Ackerman |
Juan Rosai (born August 20, 1940 – died July 7, 2020) was an Italian-born American doctor. He was famous for his work in surgical pathology. This is a special area of medicine where doctors study tissues removed during surgery to find out what diseases people have.
Dr. Rosai wrote and edited a very important textbook in this field. He also helped discover and describe new medical conditions, like Rosai-Dorfman disease and the desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Many doctors around the world looked up to Dr. Rosai as a great teacher and expert.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Juan Rosai was born in Poppi, a small town near Florence, Italy. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. They moved because of money problems in Italy after World War II. His first name was originally Giovanni, but it was changed to Juan in Argentina.
At age 15, Juan started studying medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. During his third year, he met Eduardo Lascano, a pathologist. A pathologist is a doctor who studies diseases by looking at body tissues. Dr. Lascano helped Juan become very interested in this field.
Juan earned his medical degree when he was just 21. Then, he did special training in Anatomic Pathology at the same university. Later, he met another important doctor, Lauren Ackerman, who invited him to train in the United States.
Working in the United States
Dr. Rosai completed more special training in St. Louis, Missouri, with Dr. Lauren Ackerman. He stayed at Washington University School of Medicine until 1974. At only 34 years old, Dr. Rosai became a Professor and Director of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Minnesota.
He later worked at Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut. From 1991 to 1999, Dr. Rosai was the head of Pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. This is a very famous cancer hospital.
Work in Italy and America
Juan Rosai always kept strong connections to Italy, his home country. In 1982–1983, he spent a year studying and working at universities in Florence and Bologna.
In 2000, Dr. Rosai moved back to Italy for good. He became the head of Anatomic Pathology at the National Cancer Institute in Milan. Later, he opened his own center in Milan. There, he continued to help doctors by giving expert opinions on cancer cases and teaching others.
Even while in Italy, Dr. Rosai stayed connected to the United States. He was a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and a visiting professor at Harvard University. He also helped doctors in the U.S. by looking at patient slides from Italy using telepathology. This means he could see the slides on a computer screen from far away.
Later Life and Passing
Dr. Rosai developed Parkinson's disease when he was in his late 60s. He managed the condition for many years. He passed away in July 2020 at the age of 79 due to problems from the disease.
Important Scientific Work
Dr. Rosai wrote over 400 scientific papers about pathology. He was the first to describe several important conditions, such as Rosai-Dorfman disease and the desmoplastic small round cell tumor. He was also the main editor of the International Journal of Surgical Pathology until 2014.
One of Juan Rosai's most famous works is his textbook, Rosai and Ackerman's Surgical Pathology. This book was first started by his mentor, Lauren Ackerman, in 1953. Dr. Rosai continued to update and edit it for many years. The tenth edition came out in 2011.
This textbook is known for being very clear and easy to understand. It has many pictures that help doctors learn how to diagnose diseases. It has been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Chinese, and Italian. This book has helped teach countless surgical pathologists around the world. Today, other experts continue to update the book.
The Juan Rosai Collection of Seminars
During his career, Juan Rosai collected many slides from interesting and educational pathology cases. These collections were used in seminars where doctors learned from each other. In 2010, Dr. Rosai gave his entire collection away for free.
Thanks to Dr. Rosai and the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), these slides are now available online. Doctors everywhere can look at them using digital pathology files. The collection has over 18,000 cases with digital images of the slides, patient information, and notes from Dr. Rosai and other experts. It's a huge learning resource for doctors.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Rosai received many awards and honors from universities and medical groups around the world. Some of these include:
- Life Trustee of the American Board of Pathology;
- Doctorate Honoris Causa (an honorary degree) from the University of Bologna, Italy (1988);
- Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (1999);
- Honorary Membership in the Royal College of Pathologists, England (2001);
- The Golden Medal Award of the International Academy of Pathology (2011).
More to Explore
- Surgical pathology
- Digital pathology
- List of pathologists
