David Gordon, MD

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Get to know Cardiovascular Pathologist Dr. David Gordon, who serves patients at the University of Michigan Health System (Michigan Medicine).

Dr. Gordon is an Active Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Gordon’s clinical and research focus is on cardiovascular pathology and autopsy pathology. He is the director of Cardiovascular Pathology for the University of Michigan Department of Pathology. He also serves as a consultant on cardiovascular pathology cases referred to the University of Michigan from other hospitals.  He also teaches medical students and other pathology trainees.

In addition to handling cardiovascular pathology, Dr. Gordon   currently is also the Director of Faculty Programs at the University of Michigan Medical School’s Office for Health Equity and Inclusion. In this second role, he helps to recruit and mentor a diverse faculty in the Medical School.

Finally, Dr. Gordon gives occasional health education talks to various community groups on topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, colorectal cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and on other requested medical diseases.

Dr. Gordon received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Amherst College, and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, he also did a research fellowship in vascular biology with Dr. Morris Karnovsky. He then went on to complete an internship in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts, before being trained in anatomic pathology and in vascular biology research at the University of Washington in Seattle.

An expert in his field, the doctor is board-certified in anatomic pathology by the American Board of Pathology (ABPath). The mission of the ABPath is to promote the health of the public and advance the practice and science of pathology by establishing voluntary certification standards and assessing the qualifications of those seeking to practice the specialty of pathology. Pathology is a branch of medicine that involves the study and diagnosis of diseases through direct gross and microscopic tissue analyses (e.g. of biopsies). Pathologists also analyze various body fluids (e.g. blood) and whole bodies (autopsies). Pathologists are physicians who specialize in the diagnosis of diseases using laboratory methods. 

Upon completing his residency, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington as a human diagnostic and experimental cardiovascular pathologist, and was recruited to the University of Michigan in 1991, where his focus has been on human atherosclerosis biology and gene therapy for vascular diseases. He also served as an Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs for the University of Michigan Medical School.

From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Gordon was with Pfizer’s Cardiovascular Therapeutics preclinical division where his group did further preclinical work on gene therapy for therapeutic angiogenesis. He returned to the University of Michigan full time in 2001 to do pathology teaching and clinical service.  He also eventually became the Medical School’s Associate Dean for Diversity and Career Development. 

Other administrative roles Dr. Gordon has held include: being the Dean of the School of Health Professions and Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint campus, and becoming the inaugural Dean of the College of Health Professions at the University of Akron (Akron, Ohio). 

Other administrative roles Dr. Gordon has held include: being the Dean of the School of Health Professions and Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint campus, and becoming the inaugural Dean of the College of Health Professions at the University of Akron (Akron, Ohio). 

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