Degrees

M.D., Louisiana State University; B.S., Louisiana State University, 1983

Short Bio

Dr. Ross, a native of Louisiana, grew up in one of the rural Florida Parishes of south Louisiana where she graduated as the Valedictorian from Silliman Institute in Clinton, La., prior to entering Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge.  She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology in 1983 from LSU then earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans in 1987.   Following completion of residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) and Parkland Hospital in Dallas (1987-1988) and LSUMC and Charity Hospital in New Orleans (1988-92), she chose to pursue subspecialty training in Forensic Pathology through a fellowship at UTSW and the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS) in Dallas (1992-1993). 

Dr. Ross accepted a job as a Medical Examiner in Dallas at SWIFS following completion of her fellowship in 1993 and worked there for 7 years.  She also served as an Instructor in Pathology at UTSW and was promoted to Assistant Professor during this time with responsibilities including supervision of medical students, residents, and fellows with the added duty of coordination of the medical student rotations.  She returned to Louisiana in 2000 and joined LSUMC as an Assistant Professor in Clinical Pathology in January of 2001.  Included with her responsibilities to LSU, she also served as a Forensic Pathologist to the Coroner in Orleans Parish.  Dr. Ross actively participated in teaching medical students, residents and fellows during this time and in September 2001 she was appointed the director of the Fellowship Program at LSU where she also served as the Course Director of Pathology 200 in the Masters program in Pathology. 

In July 2002, Dr. Ross moved across the river from New Orleans to the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office to serve as a Forensic Pathologist and Assistant Coroner and is currently employed there.  She continues teaching various groups including nursing students, interns at various levels of education from high school to fellowship, and professional organizations including the Louisiana Association of Forensic Scientists.  In July 2005, she began teaching Introduction to Forensic Sciences at Concordia University of Wisconsin (Metairie campus) and in March 2007 Forensic Pathology in the Criminal Justice program, Minor in Forensic Science at Loyola University of New Orleans.

During her time in Dallas, Dr. Ross began presenting scientific papers to her peers at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) on topics ranging from sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood (including those associated with fatty acid oxidation defects) to suicides due to multiple firearm injuries.  In 2002 she served as the Program Chairman of the Pathology/Biology section of the AAFS and subsequently as Section Secretary then Chair in 2006.  Dr. Ross has also chaired and/or participated in Workshops at the AAFS including infant death investigation and sponsored Luncheon Seminars.  She was the Program Chair of the Interim Meeting of NAME in 2005 (Current Controversies in Pediatric Forensic Pathology) at the AAFS annual meeting in New Orleans.  She served as the associate editor then editor of NAME News for several years, and now sits on the Editorial Board of the NAME journal The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology.   She was an invited speaker at the Pediatric Forensic Issues Conference in 2005 and 2006 discussing Hereditary Arrhythmias and Metabolic Disorders that may cause disease.  From these presentations an AAFS workshop was born and from that a Pediatric Forensic Medicine and Pathology text by the faculty of that workshop is planned.

In addition, Dr. Ross actively participates in AAFS and NAME committee work.  She has also served on the editorial board of Check Path, a mail order continuing education program of the American Society for Clinical Pathology following service on the Forensic Pathology committee, and currently is a member of the Autopsy Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP).  She also served on the CAP Foundation Hurricane Katrina Humanitarian Relief committee in September of 2005.  She is a charter member of the Medical Examiner Coroner Committee of the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation.

 

Courses Taught

• Forensic Pathology