Fabio Tavora, MD, PhD

I am a surgical pathologist, scientist, and academic based in Fortaleza, Brazil, with subspecialty expertise in pulmonary pathology, genitourinary pathology, cardiovascular pathology, and molecular diagnostics.

I completed my medical degree at the Federal University of Ceará (2002), followed by residency training in Anatomic Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore), a fellowship in Pulmonary and Mediastinal Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Washington, DC), and a fellowship in Genitourinary Pathology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Epstein. I subsequently served as a Staff Pathologist in the Department of Genitourinary Pathology at AFIP, and more recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Brown University (2019–2020).

I earned my PhD from Universidade Federal de São Paulo/EPM (2013), with a focus on mutations on desmossomal genes related to sudden death and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. My mentors were Prof. Allen Burke and Prof Marcelo Franco, to whom I feel imensely grateful.

In 2011, I co-founded Argos Laboratory, a reference anatomic and molecular pathology laboratory in Fortaleza that processes over 100,000 specimens annually, with a strong emphasis on oncologic pathology. I serve as its CEO and Director, overseeing clinical operations, quality assurance, and the integration of digital pathology and AI-assisted diagnostic workflows.

I hold a faculty position at the Federal University of Ceará Graduate Program in Pathology, where I mentor graduate students and lead multiple ongoing research projects focused on lung cancer biomarkers (PD-L1, ALK, EGFR, GSK-3β), prostate cancer (PTEN, ERG), and immune profiling in thoracic oncology.

My scientific contributions include co-authorship of three major pathology textbooks — Practical Cardiovascular Pathology and Atlas of Tumor Pathology: Tumors of the Heart and Great Vessels (both with Dr. Allen Burke), and Practical Thoracic Pathology — along with over 100 peer-reviewed publications. I have been an invited contributor to the WHO Classification of Tumours (Lung/Thymus/Heart: 2014, 2020–21, 2025–26; Genitourinary: 2021) and serve as a member of the Pathology Committee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) (2025–2027).

Beyond the laboratory, I am passionate about education, particularly expanding pathology training across Latin America and Africa. I am an active speaker, podcast contributor, and course director, translating complex diagnostic concepts for students, pathologists, and oncologists.