By Darby Kendall
Working in the field of pathology is a lot like solving a puzzle. Pathology is the study of what causes disease and its effects on the body, making pathologists the detectives of the disease world. Nicole Andeen, M.D. ’12, is proud to be an investigator of human health.
“Pathology is very intellectually stimulating,” Andeen said. “It’s detective work — difficult cases are the ones you spend time looking up and reading about. Often when you can’t get a complete answer that way, one is inspired to collect data or reach out to colleagues at other institutions to better understand similar rare cases.”
During her first few years attending medical school at OHSU, Andeen was undecided on which field to make her focus. Ultimately, it was her pathology instructors that led her to the specialty she was previously unfamiliar with — renal pathology, the diagnosis and study of diseases affecting the kidneys.
“I really loved what my pathology instructors talked about and the way they talked about it, but I didn’t think I was going to go into pathology. I thought I would just learn as much as possible and take that to surgery or a medical field,” Andeen remembered. “Then, toward the end of medical school, I realized that it was too fun to give up, and so I matched into pathology. I had some very helpful, wonderful mentors during my Pathology Student Fellowship year. Among them, Don Houghton and Megan Troxell were in renal pathology, and I did an elective with them. I actually did not like renal pathology much at the time, but I thought, ‘I really admire these people, and they really like this pathobiology, so there must be something more to it.’”
After finishing her medical studies at OHSU in 2012, Andeen went on to complete a Pathology residency and Renal Pathology fellowship at the University of Washington. When Andeen was offered a faculty position in the OHSU Department of Pathology in 2017, she happily moved back to Portland for the role.
“Science is a self-correcting discipline for the most part; that’s the beauty of it. We have to be open to that nasty little fact that forces us to question or relinquish attachments to a theory. I think that is essential for being a good physician and investigator.”
Since that time, in addition to leading the medical renal service at OHSU, Andeen is involved in national and regional organizations and has made significant research contributions to the field of renal pathology with over 90 published articles. She was selected by the OHSU School of Medicine Alumni Leadership Council to receive this year’s Early Career Achievement Award for Research. Andeen has also received international recognition for her research in renal pathology, including a discovery related to fibrillary glomerulonephritis, a rare and progressive disease that affects the millions of filtering units that make up the kidney.
Andeen credits her mentors for providing her with the support to win such an award. They have left a meaningful impression on her career, and Andeen carries their guidance with her to this day.
“One of my mentors, Don Houghton, gave me a sign that says, ‘a beautiful theory, destroyed by a nasty, ugly little fact,’” Andeen said. “Science is a self-correcting discipline for the most part; that’s the beauty of it. We have to be open to that nasty little fact that forces us to question or relinquish attachments to a theory. I think that is essential for being a good physician and investigator.”
Along with acknowledging her mentors, Andeen appreciates the collaborative spirit at OHSU which allows for greater discovery when it comes to disease. She looks forward to further investigations into kidney health alongside her fellow specialists at OHSU and beyond.
“One of the things I love about working in OHSU Pathology is that it’s big enough to have very interesting cases, but small enough to still be an intimate work environment where you see the people in the lab every day. I also work with the same clinicians every day and am engaged with the Glomerular Disease clinic in the Nephrology Division, and this allows us to see the direct impact on our patients,” Andeen said. “As renal pathologists, we also serve other groups in the region and state, and we have important relationships with nephrologists at other hospitals. It’s vital for the patients and all of us as a community to learn from these diseases to provide the best care. The community at OHSU matters.”
Community | Health Equity | Students & Alumni
Students & Alumni
Patient Care | Students & Alumni
