Education

Surgical Pathology Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA

Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA

Combined Anatomic/Clinical Pathology (AP/CP) Residency
St. Barnabas Health Care System, New Jersey

MD
L’Università degli Studi, “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

AB
College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University

Research

Dr. Catroppo received his AB in Biological Sciences from the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences and his MD degree with honors from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy). He subsequently completed residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology at St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, training under Dr. Robert V.P. Hutter (the then editor of the journal Cancer), where he served as Chief Resident as a PGY-4, and specialty training in gastrointestinal pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) under Dr. Leslie Sobin (Chairman of the TNM Prognostic Factors Project of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC)).

Before coming to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine he completed successive fellowship training programs in surgical as well as genitourinary pathology at the University of Pittsburgh under Drs. E. Leon Barnes (Director of the Surgical Pathology Fellowship program) and Rajiv Dhir (Director of the Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship program as well as Director of the Health Sciences Tissue Bank). He also trained in transplantation pathology under Dr. Anthony Demetris at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Specialized Therapies (ISMETT) in Palermo, Italy.

His most recent academic posting prior to joining USCSOMC was as an assistant professor of pathology at the Ross University School of Medicine, Commonwealth of Dominica, where he taught general and organ systems-based pathology, as well as serving as course director for the general pathology course, over a period of four years. He has a passion for the role of the humanities in medical education, medical education research initiatives, and educational leadership, having received the DeVry “Legacy of Service Award” on two successive occasions, each time after recommendation and nomination by his own students, as well as Faculty Member of the Year Awards and “Pearls of Wisdom” nominations while teaching at USCSOMC.

During his time at Ross University, he was deeply involved as an initiator and developer of the institution’s Master Educator Training Program (METP), as well as mentor to medical education fellows in the program (one of whom went on to receive a Teacher of the Year award), while serving as Vice-Chair of the Faculty Development Committee and Chair of the Medical Library Committee. He has particular didactic interest in pediatric and genetic pathology, immunopathology, neoplastic pathology, cardiovascular and renal pathology, musculoskeletal system pathology, pathology of the upper aerodigestive tract (head & neck), endocrine system pathology, and reproductive system pathology.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the American Medical Association (AMA), the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), the Undergraduate Medical Educators Section (UMEDS) of the Association for Academic Pathology (AAPath), Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), and the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), from which he holds an Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME) certificate.