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FACULTY

Jonathan Somma, MD

Professor of Clinical Pathology
Pelayo Correa, MD Endowed Professor of Pathology

Pathology
Academic Office:

Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation
Department of Pathology
2021 Perdido St., 7th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70112

Clinical Office:

University Medical Center - New Orleans
2000 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA 70112

Bio

Dr. Somma serves LSU Health Sciences Center’s School of Medicine as a Professor of Clinical Pathology and Director of Cytopathology at University Medical Center-New Orleans. He instructs LSUHSC fellows, residents and medical students in the areas of thyroid neoplasia, cytopathology and surgical pathology. He directs the pathology residency cytopathology rotation, and implemented and directs the pathology residency informatics rotation. In addition to his clinical and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Somma serves as an Item Writer on the American Board of Pathology Continuing Certification Program, an Inspector for the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program, a member of the LSUHSC School of Medicine Council on Student Professional Conduct and a member of the LSUHSC Pathology Department Residency Program Evaluation Committee.

Recent awards include: 2020 Pathology Resident Education and Commitment Award

Education

Degree:
Doctor of Medicine
(Cum Laude) State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York

Residency:
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency (Chief Resident)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York

Fellowship:
Cytopathology Fellowship
Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York

Affiliated Hospitals

University Medical Center-New Orleans
Lallie Kemp Medical Center
New Orleans East Hospital

Publications

Jilishitiz I, Quinones J, Patel P, Chen G, Pasetsky J, VanInwegen A, Schoninger S, Jogalekar M, Tsiperson V, Yan L, Wu Y, Gottesman SRS, Somma J, Blain SW. NP-ALT, a liposomal:peptide drug, blocks p27Kip1 phosphorylation to induce oxidative stress, necroptosis and regression in therapy resistant breast cancer cells. Mol Cancer Res 2021;19(11):1929-1945. oi.org/10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-21-0081

Yousefi E, Sura GH, Somma J. The Gray Zone of Thyroid Nodules: Using a Nomogram to Provide Malignancy Risk Assessment and Guide Patient Management. Cancer Med 2021;10(8):2723-2731. doi.org/10.1002/CAM4.3866

Somma J, Gottesman SRS, Tsiperson V, Dresner L, Govindarajulu U, Patel P, Blain SW. Tyrosine phosphorylation of p27Kip1 correlates with Palbociclib responsiveness in breast cancer tumor cells grown in explant culture. Mol Cancer Res 2019;17(3):669-675. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-18-0188

Buscaglia J, Tiriac H, Bucobo JC, Tzimas D, Grewel S, Lacomb JF, Rowehl LM, Nagula S, Wu M, Kim J, Sasson A, Vignesh S, Martello L, Munoz-Sagastibelza M, Somma J, Li E, Tuveson DA. Successful Creation of Pancreatic Cancer Organoids by means of EUS-guided Fine-Needle Biopsy for Personalized Cancer Treatment. Gastrointest Endosc 2018;87(6):1474-1480. doi: 10.1016/j.gie.2017.12.032

Patel P, Tsiperson V, Gottesman SRS, Somma J, Blain SW. Dual inhibition of cdk4 and cdk2 via targeting of p27 tyrosine phosphorylation induces potent and durable cell cycle arrest in breast cancer cells. Mol Cancer Res 2018;16(3):361-377.doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-17-0602

Boroujeni AM, Yousefi E, Somma J. Computer assisted cytologic diagnosis in pancreatic fine needle biopsy: an application of neural networks to image analysis. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125(12):926-933. doi: 10.1002/cncy.21915

Jiang H, Gupta R, Somma J. EZH2, a Unique Marker of Malignancy in Effusion Cytology. Diagn Cytopathol 2014;42:111-116. doi: 10.1002/dc.22999

Somma J, Schlecht NF, Fink D, Khader SN, Smith RV, Cajigas A. Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology: Follicular Lesions and the Gray Zone. Acta Cytol 2010;54:123-131. doi: 10.1159/000324996 

Research

Clinical and research interests overlap and span several areas of cytopathology, especially cytopathology of the pancreas and of the thyroid. He is adept in the performance of ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsies, particularly of the head and neck and of lymphadenopathy.

He has studied the use of digital pathology with artificial intelligence to improve diagnostic accuracy in cytopathology. In thyroid fine needle biopsy, he has investigated the problem of indeterminate nodules, most recently with a binary logistic regression model that uses a combination of microscopic, clinical and radiologic findings to predict malignancy risk.

Another area of research interest is the use of immunochemistry to diagnose and prognosticate malignancies. He has contributed to the development of a pY p27 biomarker immunoassay to predict responsiveness to CDK4 inhibitor therapy, which shows great promise for utilization in breast, ovarian and potentially other cancer patients as well. Additionally, he collaborated on a study of NP-ALT, a liposomal:peptide drug, that directly targets p27 and appears highly effective in cell cycle blockade.