Vice Chair and Director, Anatomic Pathology
Professor of Pathology

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
UC Davis Medical Center
PATH Building
4400 V St.
Sacramento, CA 95817

• Cytopathology, with a special interest in gyn cytology and breast FNA
• Breast and cervical pathology

• Cytopathology and surgical pathology training of residents and fellows
• Leadership training of faculty

• Automated technologies in cytopathology
• Health services research related to cervical cancer screening; HPV testing and vaccines; breast screening, risk factor evaluation, diagnosis, and prognostication
• Faculty affairs and faculty development

Lydia Howell graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1981. She did her residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship in cytopathology at the Lankenau Hospital (an affiliate of Jefferson Medical College) under the mentorship of Tilde S. Kline MD, one of the early pioneers of FNA. Lydia Howell joined the faculty of UCD SOM in 1986 where she has served in many roles including as Director of Cytology for 12 years and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for 5 years. She is nationally recognized for her contributions to women's health and has served on advisory panels for the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the State of California Dept. of Health Services. Notably, she participated in national consensus conferences that established national uniform terminology for gyn cytology, guidelines for the follow-up of abnormal gyn cytology and for the uniform practice of breast fine needle aspiration. Through her clinical service and creative work, Lydia Howell is working to improve protocols for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast and cervical cancer, and to increase access to gynecological care for low-income women.

Lydia Howell has also made meaningful contributions locally and nationally on faculty affairs and faculty development through her publications on mission-based reporting, the effect of generational differences in the academic medicine, and the role and challenges of clinical versus research faculty tracks in medical schools. During her service as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, she updated faculty compensation plans rendering salary negotiation more transparent and consistent with federal and UC policy, developed and implemented uniform school-wide leave policies with improvement in benefits, led a salary-equity study, co-chaired a school task force to review Adjunct series with recommendations to improve quality of life and career path, and co-developed and implemented an electronic faculty database and web-based academic packet preparation and review which was adopted across the UC Davis campus.

Lydia Howell is board-certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and has added qualification in Cytopathology. She completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program in 1998. She is a member of the Executive Board of the American Society of Cytopathology, is the current President of the American Society of Cytopathology Foundation, and is a member of the Papanicolaou Society, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the American Society of Cervical and Colposcopic Pathology, the College of American Pathologists, and the US and Canadian Academy of Pathology.