Edinburgh Pathology

Comparative Pathology

The integrative study of human and animal disease biology.

Comparative pathology is the integrative study of human and animal disease biology to gain knowledge by comparing disease mechanisms across species and to use this for the benefit of both human and animal health. In order to critically assess the differences and similarities in disease processes between species, we are currently developing open-source bioinformatics tools for comparative and molecular pathology studies for multispecies histopathology, imaging and ‘omics data sets. Human and veterinary medicine and pathology are informed by a process of data integration from many sources to build a comprehensive picture of pathology. The relative strengths of different animal models can be evaluated. A wide range of cutting edge technologies is used across the Centre’s research to understand the biological and pathological mechanisms of a broad range of diseases. The research areas that we cover include cancer, cardiovascular disease, developmental disorders and paediatric pathology, innate immunity, infection and inflammation, neuropathology, and regenerative medicine. We study these using a combination of investigative tools, including animal models and naturally occurring veterinary and human diseases, imaging, integration and interrogation of multimodal data, next generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics analysis.

Centre for Comparative Pathology Website 

Principal Investigators

Prof Mark Arends