Columbia, MO — Lester J. Layfield, MD, FASCP, is being recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Exceptional Physician in the Medical Field and in acknowledgment of his work as a Pathologist at University Hospital.
Dr. Layfield graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 1979. He performed his internship in pathology, anatomic pathology, and clinical pathology at the University of Washington Medical Center. He completed his residency in pathology, anatomic pathology, and clinical pathology at the University of California in San Diego.
Dr. Layfield is a board-certified pathologist and works at University Hospital in Columbia, MO. He is also a professor and the Director of Surgical Pathology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He helped develop a new scoring system for a common lung cancer diagnostic test that may help physicians better understand the risk for malignancy when evaluating patients.
According to Dr. Layfield, pathology is a branch of medical science that involves the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of surgically removed organs, tissues, bodily fluids, and in some cases the whole body. Pathologists are physicians who specialize in the diagnosis and management of diseases and can help a patient’s primary care doctor make a diagnosis about their medical condition.
Dr. Layfield is considered an expert in cytopathology with fine needle aspirations, and surgical pathology involving head, neck and musculoskeletal pathology. He has written and published articles and book chapters regarding aspirations of the lung and pancreas and has authored several articles for the World Health Organization regarding cytopathology.
Dr. Layfield is licensed to practice medicine in Missouri, North Carolina, and California. He is also board-certified in cytopathology and anatomic and clinical pathology by the American Board of Pathology. The doctor notes that its mission is to serve the public and advance the profession of pathology by setting certification standards and promoting lifelong competency of pathologists.
Dr. Layfield has been nurturing and cultivating students in the areas of evaluation clinical pathology and cytology, and he continues to strive for excellence in his every endeavor. He was inspired to pursue his career path by an innate enjoyment of the visual elements demonstrated throughout the industry.
Dr. Layfield’s research interests include the cytopathology of soft tissue bone lesions and head, neck, and breast tumors. In addition to his clinical diagnostic work and teaching of medical students and pathology trainees, he has published nearly 300 articles, contributed to or written more than a dozen books, and lectured around the world to a host of audiences.
With another milestone on his journey, Dr. Layfield received the 2011 Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Service to Clinical Pathology at the 2011 annual meeting in Las Vegas. The award recognizes an ASCP member who has made a significant contribution to pathology through sustained service to the profession and ASCP. Dr. Layfield is the fifth ARUP pathologist to receive the award.
His professional memberships and associations include: Papnicolaou Society of Cytopathology; Fellow of the American Society of Cytopathology; American Society of Clinical Pathology; US/Canadian Division of the International Academy of Pathology; Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathology.
The doctor is an avid traveler in his spare time and has been married to Julia Crim, MD, for 31 years. They have two children. He would like to thank his mentors, Britt Marie Ljung, MD; Walter Coulson, MD; and Joseph Mirra, MD.
For more information, visit https://wellbeing.missouri.edu
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