Histopathology Laboratory

Pathobiology Diagnostics Services Online Portal
(submit requests, access reports, and pay your bill online)

Fee increases effective March 1, 2024

About Us

The Department of Pathobiology offers a surgical pathology service to a broad clientele of practicing veterinarians and the Auburn University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. These academically-based services offer a panel of histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques to enhance their diagnostic and clinical research capabilities. Services are validated by the Veterinary Laboratory Association Quality Assurance Program. In the past 5 years, our Department has handled an average of 2,266 biopsy cases yearly.

The Department is composed of a vibrant, collegial, and diverse group of faculty with 5 ACVP board-certified anatomic pathologists with special research and diagnostic interests in varying fields, such as aquatic animals, poultry, hepatic, ophthalmic, and neuropathology, who also mentor and supervise anatomic pathology residents in training.

Why Us

To support the College’s mission of teaching

In addition to being evaluated by one of our faculty anatomic pathologists, the cases you submit are used to train pathology residents and future veterinarians. If you or a member of your practice is an Auburn graduate, you can take pride in knowing that in addition to getting high quality service you are also contributing in a vital way to the education of Auburn students and specialist trainees.

To gain access to multiple second opinions

Consultation with multiple pathologists on difficult cases is just a few steps away. Because we are educators and researchers as well as diagnostic pathologists, many of us are able to develop expertise in a particular area and to share that expertise with our colleagues.

Because we don’t operate as a high-volume practice

Because we have a smaller daily caseload than large commercial labs, we are able to give each case as much time as necessary and don’t hesitate to ask our colleagues for consultation and discussion on challenging cases.

Because special stains are included in the price

You might not realize it, but many specimens require additional special stains to definitively diagnose the disease process. In cases of possible infections, it might be stains to identify bacteria or fungi. In cases of poorly-differentiated tumors, it might be immunohistochemistry to identify the cell of origin. At commercial labs, you are charged for most of these stains. This could amount to either significant extra cost to arrive at a definitive final diagnosis or receiving inconclusive results. Having a definitive diagnosis (for example “plasmacytoma”), rather than a broad category of tumor type (“round cell tumor”) helps you make more informed treatment decisions and allows you to offer your clients more specific prognostic information.

Please note: we no longer have the short form/standard form option. The decision to provide abbreviated or omitted descriptions for common benign neoplasms or unambiguous non-neoplastic diagnoses is at the discretion of the pathologist and may be done in order to provide faster service for you and your patients. All biopsies are evaluated with the same degree of thoroughness regardless of whether or not a detailed description is provided on the report.

Why should you use the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine for your histopathology needs? (PDF)

Facilities and Resources

The Department boasts an automated histopathology laboratory and experienced histology technicians, delivering high-quality slides in a timely manner. Each faculty is equipped with a teaching dual-headed microscope dedicated to surgical biopsy review with residents in training. An additional multi-headed microscope for 9 simultaneous users attached to a high-fidelity digital camera is available for classes, group consults, and histopathology rounds.

Forms and Fees