Jonathan D. Somma, M.D.
Professor, Clinical Pathology
Pelayo Correa Professorship
Director of Cytopathology
Director of Immunochemistry/Special Procedures
LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans
Department of Pathology
Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation
2021 Perdido St., 7th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70112
Jsomma@lsuhsc.edu
Degrees
Cytopathology Fellowship, 2009, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency (Chief Resident), 2008, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center
M.D., 2004 (Cum Laude) State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
Certifications
Certificate of Recognition in USFNA, College of American Pathologists, 2011
Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology, Cytopathology, 2009
Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, 2008
Bio
Dr. Somma joined the Department of Pathology at LSUHSC in January 2018 as an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Director of Cytopathology at University Medical Center-New Orleans. Prior to this, he was teaching and practicing pathology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York where he also served as Director of Cytopathology and Director of their ACGME accredited Pathology Residency Training Program.
Dr. Somma supervises and instructs medical students, resident physicians, fellows, and occasionally other graduate students in a variety of settings ranging from individually to small groups in the classroom to large formal lectures. Most of his teaching, however, occurs daily with resident physicians, where he supervises and instructs them in various aspects of pathology including microscopic diagnosis, medical billing, laboratory and quality management, and informatics.
Clinical Interests
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.
Research Interests
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.
Selected Publications and Presentations
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
Affiliated Hospitals & Clinics
University Medical Center-New Orleans
Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center
New Orleans East Hospital