David Chapel, MD

David Byron Chapel grew up on a family farm in Parma Township, Michigan. He completed undergraduate studies in microbiology and Germanic languages & literature at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He began his research work during his undergraduate years, studying mechanisms of norovirus infection and propagation.

David attended medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he was a trainee in the Columbia-Bassett Program. While in medical school, David was a research fellow at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, where he conducted field research in agricultural epidemiology and occupational health.

After finishing medical school, David relocated to the University of Chicago for residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology. He was a trainee in the department for four years and served one year as chief resident. During residency, David began translational clinical research in mesothelioma and in gynecologic cancer. His published studies in mesothelioma include examinations of MTAP, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, and PD-L1 as diagnostic and predictive markers, and he is an active member of the International Mesothelioma Panel. David’s published research in gynecologic oncology includes studies of PAX8 expression in peritoneal mesotheliomas, Lynch syndrome screening, and accumulation of unstable microsatellite loci in the progression from endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia to endometrioid adenocarcinoma. The latter study won the Chicago Pathology Society Resident Research Competition and received a Stowell-Orbison Certificate of Merit at the 108th annual meeting of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology.

David is currently a fellow in Women’s and Perinatal Pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he remains actively involved in clinical and research work, with ongoing projects examining the molecular determinants of patient outcome in mucinous ovarian tumors. David occupies his spare time comparing recordings of orchestral music and opera, cooking and baking, and meeting friends for brunch.