Geoffrey S. Baird, MD, PhD

Clinical and Research Background

Dr. Baird’s clinical and research interests include lab test utilization management, proteomics, tissue analysis, general laboratory medicine, pathology and pathophysiology of organ systems, and developing novel methods for clinical laboratory tests.

One technology of particular interest is the Luminex Platform, a system for performing multiplex, bead-based immunoassays, which is used on tissue homogenates. The goal of this project is to provide quantitative information that complements histomorphologic examination in the diagnosis of diseases in solid tissues. A second technology of interest concerns the use of oligonucleotide aptamers. Developed through the SELEX process, aptamers are short strands of DNA that can form very selective binding reagents, and Dr. Baird’s lab is attempting to develop novel tissue diagnostics with these reagents. Finally, Dr. Baird has established a long-term collaborative project with Ventana Medical Systems studying the formalin fixation process, aimed both at monitoring the process with novel methods, as well as determining optimized fixation protocols that yield the highest quality preserved tissue for downstream molecular and proteomic assays.