Dr. Mark Sobel received his BA from Brandeis University in 1970, his MD from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1975 and his PhD from the Graduate School of the City University of New York in 1975 with a concentration in Biochemistry. He completed a one-year residency in pediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1976. He began a 25-year career at the National Institutes of Health in 1976.
From 1992 to 2001 Dr. Sobel was Chief of the Molecular Pathology Section of the National Cancer Institute. His main research interests were gene regulation, molecular basis of metastasis, and molecular diagnostics. He was the Course Director and main lecturer of the Concepts in Molecular Biology Course offered by the American Society for Investigative Pathology from 1987 to 1999 and he trained several of the current Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory Directors in the United States. He was awarded the United States Public Health Service Commendation Medal in 1989, the Saul J. Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1991, and was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha in 1995.
Dr. Sobel was President of the American Society for Investigative Pathology from 1999 to 2000 and President of the Association for Molecular Pathology in 1999. He is the recipient of the Leadership Award from the Association for Molecular Pathology (2006), the Friend of Pathology Award from the Association of Pathology Chairs (2013), and the Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Award from the Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine (2017).
Since 1996, Dr. Sobel has focused his attention on biomedical ethics, human subjects protections, and the application of molecular diagnostics to improving healthcare. He has been a major spokesperson within the pathology and oncology communities to educate and discuss appropriate means for clinicians and researchers to access human biological materials to improve knowledge about human disease and simultaneously respect human subjects and was a member of the Board of Directors of AAHRPP (Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs) from its inception in 2001 until 2008.
In 2001, Dr. Sobel left the National Cancer Institute to become the Executive Officer of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (publisher of The American Journal of Pathology and co-publisher of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics), the Association for Molecular Pathology (co-publisher of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics), the Intersociety Council for Pathology Information (publisher of The Directory of Pathology Training Programs), and several affiliated societies involved in pathology and tissue resources. He is currently Executive Officer Emeritus of the American Society for Investigative Pathology, the Intersociety Council for Pathology Information, and the Association for Molecular Pathology.
Brief CV (NIH Format)
Sobel ME, Dreyfus JC. Disruptive Influences on Research in Academic Pathology Departments: Proposed Changes to the Common Rule Governing Informed Consent for Research Use of Biospecimens and to Rules Governing Return of Research Results. Am J Pathol. 2017. 187: 4-8
Sobel ME. Variations on a Theme by Darwin. Am J Pathol. 2018. 188:836-837
Sobel ME, Dreyfus JC, Dillhay McKillip K, Kolarcik C, Muller WA, Scott MJ, Siegal GP, Wadosky K, O’Leary TJ. Return of individual Research Results: A Guide for Biomedical Researchers Utilizing Human Biospecimens. Am J Pathol. 2020. 190:918-933
Disruptive Influences on Research Biorepository Workshop
Annual Meeting of the Association of Pathology Chairs.
July 12, 2016
Disruptive Influences on Research in Academic Pathology Departments
University of Michigan
Nov 16 2015
Is the Anonymized Sample an Endangered Species?
This lecture was presented at the Stowell Symposium: Trends in Experimental Pathology: The Role of Biospecimens in Precision Medicine at the ASIP 2014 Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology on Saturday, April 26, 2014 in San Diego, California.
Best Practices for Biobanking in the Era of Precision Medicine
This lecture was presented at the JSCO 50th Annual Meeting in Yokohama, Japan.
October 27, 2012
How a Hospital Biobank Supports Patient Care and Research Programs
English translation
Japanese translation
This lecture was presented at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo, Japan.
October 25, 2012
Whole Genome Sequencing and Incidental Findings in Clinical Laboratory Settings
This lecture was presented at the Eighth Meeting of the CEER Investigators, NHGRI.
October 12, 2012
Best Practices of Biobanking and Biospecimen Collection
This lecture was presented at the 2012 ASIP Annual Meeting “Lunch & Learn” Program at EB2012.
April 23, 2012
Pharmacogenetics and the Management of Breast Cancer: Optimization of Tamoxifen Therapy
This lecture was presented at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Bio.
November 6, 2009
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Potential of Small Nucleic Acid Molecules
This lecture was presented at the “Surgical Pathology Update” Conference in Madrid, Spain.
December 3, 2007
How to Prevent Institutional Shutdowns: Safeguarding Your Human Subjects Research Programs
This session was presented at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting, and described comprehensive approaches that researchers and their institutions can take to conduct ethically sound scientific research utilizing human biological materials and human subjects without compromising the quality of the research.
The Importance of Tissue Banking and Tissue Research
Dr. Sobel presented the keynote talk at a PRIM&R meeting on privacy, confidentiality, and tissue resources.
May 5, 2004.
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Potential of Small Nucleic Acid Molecules
This lecture was presented at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
August 11, 2009
Pathology in the Genome Era: Challenges to Diagnosis, Prognosis, Therapeutics, and Implications for Training Programs
This lecture was presented at Temple University School of Medicine.
October 29, 2010
