Close

Lara Harik, MD

Dr Harik is associate professor of Pathology at Emory University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Clinical Pathology Hospital Service Line at Emory University Hospital. Dr Harik completed her residency training in combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Emory University in 2005 followed by 2 years of fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in Oncologic Surgical Pathology and Urologic Pathology. She joined the faculty at the department of Pathology at Columbia University for 8 years before returning to Atlanta and joining the faculty at Emory. She is heavily involved in educational initiatives and has won education awards at both Columbia University and Emory University. She chaired the inaugural GAP Education committee. Under her leadership, the education committee successfully organized 3 annual meetings and initiated the GAP Virtual Presentations and GAPNews, Gap’s periodic newsletter. She is heavily involved in the College of American Pathologist, specifically within the Cancer Committee which oversees the synoptic worksheets. In her free time, Dr Harik enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 boys, soccer (Go Atlanta United!), cooking, hiking, gardening and traveling.

Close

Dr. Keith Andrew Stevens was born in Atlanta, GA into a medical family. His father is a retired anesthesiologist and his mother is a retired labor and delivery nurse, both having practiced for more than 30 years. After high school, Keith entered the University of Georgia as a premedical student. He graduated from UGA in 2007 with a degree in biology. After four successful years in Athens, Keith moved on to Augusta, GA to study medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. Keith took an early interest in pathology due to his interest in cancer biology and his love for looking at slides under the microscope. Keith graduated from medical school in 2011, and then went on to complete a Clinical and Anatomic Pathology residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. After a surgical pathology fellowship, Keith took his position as a staff pathologist as St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System in Savannah, GA in 2016. He has been on staff for 6 years in a generalized practice, which spans the full scope of pathology, and he has recently been asked to serve as Medical Director of the hospital laboratories. In his free time, Keith enjoys music and golf. He joined the GAP in 2021, and became treasurer at the beginning of January, 2023.

Close

Dean Joelson, MD
dean.joelson@piedmont.org

Dr. Dean Joelson was born in South Carolina, and the first football game he ever went to was USC-Clemson. His parents quickly recognized the errors of their ways, and the family moved to Atlanta where Dean has only been to Georgia Tech and UGA games. He did leave to go to college at Yale (also Bulldogs up there! by the way, there’s a great [true] story about how and why UGA copied Yale’s mascot) before returning to Emory for medical school. He did his residency and surgical pathology fellowship at UCSF where he met his wife, who was pursuing a career in architecture. Dr. Joelson convinced her to study at Georgia Tech, and the two ended up back in Atlanta. He has been at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital (PAH) and Piedmont Fayette Hospital (PFH) since 2006 and at Piedmont Newnan Hospital (PNH) since 2020. Dr. Joelson has headed up both the Chemistry and Blood Bank Departments within the lab at PAH, during which times he discovered his love for laboratory utilization issues. He serves as Medical Director for Piedmont Healthcare’s Patient Blood Management Program, and he is Medical Director of the laboratory at PFH. Outside of work, he loves his wife, his three children, and growing conifers (pines, spruces, firs, cedars, cypresses, oh my!), although he has been accused of confusing those priorities. He assures everyone the accusations are baseless.

Close

Dr. David Cohen is a practicing general pathologist with South Suburban Pathologist, PC a private pathology group covering five hospitals in the metro Atlanta area.

Dr. Cohen is board-certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and received his medical degree from University of Miami School of Medicine in 2013 after completing a post-sophomore pathology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his residency at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX where he also served on the CAP Resident Forum Executive Committee (RFEC) and the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Committee. He continued his training with a surgical pathology fellowship at Emory University, with a focus on gastrointestinal pathology.

David's clinical focus is in GI and GU pathology with a special interest in laboratory utilization and patient blood management (PBM). Dr. Cohen also is a section editor for the College of American Pathologists' Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Journal.