La'Tonzia L. Adams, MD, MS, FASCP, FCAP, CLT

The Doctor's Doctor

Dr. Adams is an anatomically trained-board certified Clinical Pathologist with sub-specialty training in Medical Microbiology. What does that mean? In short, she completed her anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During her medical microbiology fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she was introduced to another exciting level of clinical pathology. This excitement resulted in her to deciding to devote her career to Clinical Pathology; thus she decided to become solely board certified in Clinical Pathology. Her anatomical training remains a vital tool used in consulting cases especially where the worlds histology and microbiology meet.

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In 2016, her passion for clinical pathology took Adams, to the west coast where currently she is a staff pathologist serving as Medical Director of the following departments: Microbiology/Molecular Microbiology, Chemistry, and Support Services/Send-outs at the VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) in Portland, Oregon. Through this role she serves on numerous hospital interdepartmental committees bridging the gap between the clinical laboratory and her clinician colleagues. At VAPORHCS, she was named Outstanding Graduate of the Veteran's Administration Leadership Development Program and featured as being influential in advocating for women's equality within the health care facility at the 2020 Women's Equality Day.    

In 2019, Dr. Adams was selected as an honoree for the American Society for Clinical Pathology's (ASCP) 40 Under Forty Award for being a revolutionary and innovator of her field. She envisions the role of the pathologist in this constant evolving healthcare landscape as one where the pathologist steps from behind the microscope and out of the laboratory. As a Clinical Pathologist, she views laboratory medicine as an integral part of the health care system. The information ascertained from laboratory medicine is key in many clinical decisions and plays a role in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management.

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Dr. Adams serves as the Co-Director of the Pathology Residency Program at VAPORHCS and Affiliate/Assistant Professor at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). In this she provides oversight of resident training of microbiology and surgical pathology rotations. Also, she enthusiastically volunteers her time speaking to the future physicians and microbiologists about the fields of microbiology and pathology. 

Lastly, Dr. Adams is an advocate for many causes. One that touches home is her advocacy for Lipedema Awarness. In 2019, she was diagnosed with the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) disorder, called Lipedema. Due to a late diagnosis, her condition rapidly advanced from Stage 2/3 to Type 4 to Stage 4/Lipo-Lymphedema where she developed secondary lymphedema. Like any physician she dove deeply into the research of this condition. She was shocked at how little is taught about the lymphatic system, lymphedema, and other SAT conditions in medical schools. Dr. Adams decided to enhance her knowledge and become a certified lymphedema therapist (CLT) to not only gain insight on her journey and healing, but to help others. Using her existing expertise as a pathologist and enhanced knowledge as a CLT she began bringing awareness to Lipedema so that more physicians are aware of this condition and no more women have to go undiagnosed.