Francesca S. Vacca, MD

I am a general pediatric pathologist, the kind of doctor who doesn’t often meet my patients, but who makes diagnoses behind the scenes based on microscopic analysis of tissue and fluid samples. I come to work each day to provide my patients, their families, and their treatment teams with meaningful answers about the conditions that cause patient suffering in the hopes of finding the best way forward, and so they might also take comfort in understanding what is happening to their bodies or those of their loved ones.

I endeavor also to improve our understanding of disease as a society and to optimize the way we diagnose and treat illness. To these ends I have broad research interests, but my current projects are developing primarily around dermatopathology and the clinical applications of digital imaging. I am excited to teach trainees of multiple levels of expertise and to support their progress.

In my free time I enjoy a variety of hobbies including painting, hiking, fly fishing and travel.