Revised 29 October 2024

Education

Detroit Regional Chamber: Leadership Detroit XXXII, September 2010-June 2011.

Fellowship: Surgical pathology and research, Wayne State University / Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, July 1999 to June 2000.

Residency: Wayne State University / Detroit Medical Center, Combined Anatomic-Clinical Pathology, July 1995 to June 1999. Chief Resident, July 1998 to June 1999.

Graduate: Wayne State University, Masters in mathematics courses plus artificial intelligence, molecular biology and computer simulation of biological systems.

Legal: University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1986.

Medical: University of Michigan Medical School, M.D., 1983.

Undergraduate: Wayne State University, B.S. in mathematics with high distinction, March 1979. Phi Beta Kappa, Nominated outstanding graduating senior, Wayne State Merit Scholarship, Liberal Arts Honors Program, Mathematics teaching assistant.

Work Experience

August 2001 to date: Founder and President of PathologyOutlines.com, Inc., which provides a comprehensive, continuously updated pathology textbook for practicing pathologists, with links to images and references. The website also has extensive listings of related jobs, fellowships, conferences and books, as well as a Worldwide Directory of Pathologists. It is free with no registration required and is entirely supported by advertising.

August 2014 to January 2016: Medical Director, Octapharma Plasma, Madison Heights, Michigan.

February 2008 to September 2015: Founder and Executive Director, The Detroit College Promise, a Michigan 501(c)(3), grassroots version of the Kalamazoo Promise, whose mission is to motivate Detroit students to make education a priority. In September 2015, The Detroit College Promise became a program of the Detroit Public School Foundation.

January 2006 to December 2008: Pathologist consultant to Asterand, PLC, a human tissue bank in Detroit.

October 2000 to May 2003: Technology consultant to Consultants in Laboratory Medicine of Toledo, Inc.

July 2000 to December 2005: Locums tenens coverage in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Oakwood-Annapolis Hospital (Wayne, Michigan); BiCounty Community Hospital (Warren, Michigan); North Oakland Medical Center (Pontiac, Michigan), Riverside Osteopathic Hospital (Trenton, Michigan) and St. Mary Mercy Hospital (Livonia, Michigan).

January 1995 to December 1997: Medical / computer consultant to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan regarding managed care of diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

August 1987 to 2009: Private legal practice in suburban Detroit, Michigan with an emphasis on commercial litigation and collections. Appointed Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Michigan in 1990 by Attorney General Frank Kelley, reappointed in February 2000 by Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, serving under Attorney General Michael Cox from 2004-2009.

May 1987 to August 1987: Law clerk, health care department, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, Detroit.

May 1985 to May 1987: Senior computer programmer in Data Analysis Department at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan.

September 1984 to May 1985: Implemented a laboratory graphics package, evaluated physician use of computers in critical care units and designed scheduling programs for the research unit at University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

May 1984 to April 1992: Consultant in Computers and Medicine to the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Developed computer programs to aid in the management of diabetes mellitus (see publications).

September 1976 to August 1983: Designed and maintained a laboratory information system for Livonia Doctors Clinic and CRT Management Company, Detroit, used by 25 other medical laboratories. Also developed payroll, bookkeeping and medical billing programs.

June 1975 to August 1979: Designed and maintained job costing, bookkeeping, payroll and engineering programs for Halpert & Associates and Neyer Tiseo & Hindo, Ltd., two soil engineering companies in suburban Detroit.

July 1974 to June 1975: Computer programmer for Wang Laboratories office in suburban Detroit. Designed medical billing and bookkeeping programs.

Publications-Medical

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Click here for ResearchGate entry

1. N Pernick. Sleep Deprivation during Internships. University of Michigan Medical School student magazine (The Paeon), Winter 1983 (link).

2. N Pernick, M Beveridge, ML Jaffe, R Parker, D Rodbard. A microcomputer consultation system for self-adjustment of insulin dosage. Medical Management and Computing, Vol 2. American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics 1983;62-7 (link to Table of Contents).

3. D Rodbard, M Jaffe, M Beveridge, N Pernick. A data management program to assist with home monitoring of blood glucose and self adjustment of insulin dosage for patients with diabetes mellitus and their physicians. Proceedings of the Eight Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care. IEEE Computer Society 1984;321-4 (link)

4. N Pernick, D Rodbard. Diabetes data management program available for microcomputers (letter). Diabetes Care 1984;7:401-2 (link, text)

5. NL Pernick, D Rodbard. Personal computer programs to assist with self-monitoring of blood glucose and self-adjustment of insulin dosage. Diabetes Care 1986;9:61-9 (link)

Described in:
- High-tech diabetes care: present and future (editorial). Diabetes Care 1986;9:87-8 (link)
- Computer programs can help diabetics monitor, manage their glucose levels. JAMA 1986; 256:1097.

6. N Pernick. Outpatient versus inpatient cardiac catheterization (letter). N Eng J Med 1989;320:938 (text)

7. NL Pernick, M DaSilva, MD Gangi, J Crissman, V Adsay. "Histiocytic Markers" in Melanoma. Mod Pathol 1999;12:1072-7 (link)

8. NL Pernick, L Biernat, W Du, DW Visscher. Clinicopathologic Analysis of Fas, Fas Ligand and other Biomarkers in Locally Advanced Breast Carcinoma. The Breast Journal 2000;6:233-41 (link)

9. Bonnett M, Wallis T, Rossmann M, Pernick NL, Carolin KA, Segel M, Bouwman D, Visscher D. Histologic and radiographic analysis of ductal carcinoma in situ diagnosed using stereotactic incisional core breast biopsy. Modern Pathology 2002;15:95 (link)

10. NL Pernick, FH Sarkar, P Tabaczka, G Kotcher, NV Adsay. Fas and Fas Ligand expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Pancreas 2002;25:E36-41 (link).

11. NL Pernick, FH Sarkar, PA Philip, P Arlauskas, AF Shields, VK Vaitkevicius, MC Dugan, NV Adsay. Clinicopathologic analysis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in African-Americans and Caucasians. Pancreas 2003;26:28-32 (link)

12. M Bonnett, T Wallis, M Rossmann, NL Pernick, D Bouwman, KA Carolin, D Visscher. Histopathologic Analysis of Atypical Lesions in Image-Guided Core Breast Biopsies. Mod Pathol 2003;16:154 (link)

13. LA Newman, NL Pernick, K Carolin, D Bouwman, M Kosir, M White, DW Visscher. Histopathologic evidence of tumor regression in the axillary lymph nodes of patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy correlates with breast cancer outcome. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2003;10:734-9 (link)

14. Wheeler, D. Pathology and the Internet. Adv Anat Pathol 2004;11:64 (describes PathologyOutlines.com website, link)

15. Shekhar MP, Biernat LA, Pernick N, Tait L, Abrams J, Visscher DW. Utility of DNA postreplication repair protein Rad6B in neoadjuvant chemotherapy response. Med Oncol 2010;27:466 (link)

16. Pernick NL. The Laws of Complexity and Self-Organization: A framework for understanding neoplasia. Posted December 2011 (link), PDF, revised June 2017 (link), PDF, presented at The Ninth International Conference on Complex Systems, July 2018, Cambridge, MA, USA, link, PDF.

17. Pernick NL. How Cancer Arises Based on Complexity Theory. Posted December 2017 (link), PDF.

18. Pernick N. Focusing on Preinvasive Neoplasia (Letter to the Editor). Arch Pathol Lab Med 2018;142:558.

19. Pernick N. How Lung Cancer Arises, Based on Complexity Theory, presented at the College of American Pathologists Annual Meeting, October 2018. Abstract, table, Poster, All abstracts - see Session 400, Poster No. 36, paper (link), PDF

20. Zynger DL, Pernick N. Understanding the Pathology Job Market: An Analysis of 2,330 Pathology Job Advertisements from 2013-2017 (Letter to the Editor). Arch Pathol Lab Med 2019;143:9, Slideshow.

21. Pernick NL. How cancer arises from chronic inflammation, based on complexity theory. Abstract #5494, Poster Session, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology > Mathematical Modeling. Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting II, June 22-24, 2020, link, abstract, poster, audio, audio (text), paper (HTML), paper (PDF).

22. Pernick NL. How colorectal cancer arises and treatment approaches, based on complexity theory. Presented at the International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS), July 2020, abstract, paper (link), PDF.

23. Pernick N. How Pancreatic Cancer Arises, Based on Complexity Theory (February 2021), paper (link), PDF.
Related abstracts (not accepted):
* Monitoring Dysfunctional Networks To Support Curative Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer (May 2021)
* Random Chronic Stress Is a Major Cause of Pancreatic Cancer (May 2021)

24. Pernick N. What's New in Pathology Newsletter by PathologyOutlines.com, J Pathol Transl Med 2021 (March);55:159.

25. Zynger DL, Pernick N. The Pathology Job Market Post-COVID: Where are We Now? Arch Pathol Lab Med 2023;147:1227.

26. C Luchini, PathologyOutlines.com Review Committee, PathologyOutlines.com Contributors and N Pernick, Benign Tumors and Tumor-Like Conditions of Ampulla and Small Intestine: The PathologyOutlines.com Review, Int J Surg Pathol 2024 Oct 8, Online ahead of print.

Curing Cancer Network

Latest versions: Strategic plan, American Code Against Cancer, How you can help

Cancer Precursor Project (2024): Overview

Essays

10 Feb 2021: Dustin Diamond dies of lung cancer (link), Blog, PDF.
27 Apr 2021: Let's cure cancer together (link), Blog, PDF.
16 May 2021: What should our national cancer goals be? (link), Blog, PDF.
1 Jun 2021: The importance of systemic networks in cancer treatment (link), Blog, PDF.
11 Jun 2021: What will success look like in the war on cancer? (link), Blog, PDF.
23 Jun 2021: Combinations of therapy to substantially reduce cancer deaths (link), Blog, PDF.
4 July 2021: New ideas about cancer (link), Blog, PDF.
18 July 2021: Strategic plan to substantially reduce cancer deaths (3 minute video), Blog.
28 July 2021: Random Chronic Stress Is a Major Cause of Pancreatic Cancer - abstract (link), Blog, PDF.
8 September 2021: Pancreatic cancer update (link), Blog, PDF.
12 September 2021: Video-Strategic Plan to Substantially Reduce Cancer Deaths (Sept 2021) (link), Blog, PDF.
7 April 2022: Curing cancer - Reductionism versus complexity.
23 April 2022: Curing cancer - Adult versus childhood cancer.
19 June 2022: Curing cancer - Curative cancer treatment based on complexity theory
1 July 2022: Curing cancer - Random chronic stress / bad luck as a major cause of cancer
28 September 2022: Curing cancer - Strategic plan to substantially reduce cancer death
4 December 2022: Curing cancer - How cancer kills
9 January 2023: Curing cancer - The American Code Against Cancer (revised)
7 Feb 2023: Curing cancer - Premalignant disease
9 May 2023: Curing cancer - How metastases arise, Part 1
30 June 2023: Curing cancer - How metastases arise, Part 2
26 July 2023: Curing cancer - How metastases arise, Part 3
18 August 2023: Curing cancer - How metastases arise, Part 3a
4 January 2024: Curing cancer - How metastases arise - Part 3b-1 - What cells normally migrate
17 January 2024: Curing cancer - How metastases arise - Part 3b-2 - How cells normally migrate


Letters

4 July 2021: Letter to Director, National Cancer Institute (link), Blog, PDF.
25 July 2021: Letter to President Joe Biden - July 2021 (link), Blog, PDF.
10 August 2021: Letter to President Biden - August 2021 (link), Blog, PDF.
13 September 2021: Letter to President Biden - September 2021 (link), Blog, PDF.


Interviews

27 April 2020: People of Pathology Podcast: Podbean, Spotify, Apple Podcasts (must scroll).

April 2021: The Pathologist: Creating a Living Textbook

January 2023: WXYZ (Channel 7, Detroit): Colonscopy screenings

April 2023: Digital Pathology Place: The best online pathology book ever


Presentations

3 July 2018: Israeli Society of Pathologists: How to use PathologyOutlines.com to help your practice, Ichalov Hospital, Tel Aviv

7 November 2018: Massachusetts Society of Pathologists: How to use PathologyOutlines.com to help your practice, Waltham, Massachusetts

1 December 2018: Michigan Society of Pathologists: New Features from PathologyOutlines.com to help your practice, Plymouth, Michigan

20 December 2018: Mt. Sinai Medical Center: How to use PathologyOutlines.com to help your practice, Miami Beach, Florida

5 April 2019: The University of Michigan Complex Systems Advanced Academic Workshop: How Cancer Arises Based on Complexity Theory, Ann Arbor, Michigan

11 May 2019: The Ohio Society of Pathologists Spring Meeting: How to Use PathologyOutlines.com More Effectively for your Pathology Practice; How to Write an Effective Pathologist Job Advertisement and Recent Job Trends, Columbus, Ohio

13 June 2019: The 5th Digital Pathology & AI Congress: Preparing for Change in the Pathology Community, New York, link

23 January 2020: Presentation to the Pathology Society, Oakland University: 10 Questions about Pathology, Auburn Hills, Michigan


Boards and Committees

1980: Michigan State Medical Society convention, student delegate
1980 to 1981: Ann Arbor Energy Committee Renewable Resources Task Force
1980 to 1981: Secretary, American Medical Student Association-University of Michigan
1986 to 1988: American Civil Liberties Union Board Member, Oakland County Chapter
1988 to 1995: East Michigan Environmental Action Council, member Finance and Endowment Committees
1988 to 1994: Oakland County Community Mental Health Services Board. CMH is a quasi-governmental agency with a (then) $100 million budget for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled in Oakland County, Michigan
1997 to 1998: Michigan representative, College of American Pathologists Residents Forum


Licenses

Michigan (Medicine, Law)


Board Certification

Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, September 2000


Professional Memberships

Fellow, College of American Pathology
United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology
Michigan Society of Pathologists
State Bar of Michigan