George Yousef

MD, FRCPC, PhD, MSc

Scientist

Biography

Dr. George Yousef is an anatomical pathologist and the Chief of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children. He is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and an Associate Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr. Yousef’s research laboratory is internationally recognized in miRNA research. It is one of the leading laboratories focusing on the cancer biomarkers in renal cell carcinoma and prostate cancer using an integrated genomic, quantitative proteomic, transcriptomic and miRNA approaches with extensive bioinformatics analysis. He has published extensively about the discovery of the kallikrein family of tumor markers and their roles as cancer biomarkers.

Dr. Yousef is a founding member of the International Scientific Committee of Kallikreins and was the Chair of the 5th International Symposium on Kallikreins in 2013. He is also the Vice President of the International Society of Enzymology.

He has over 250 published research papers and review articles and 15 book chapters. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Pathology and serves as a reviewer for over 40 journals. He is also the Editor of a book on “Molecular Pathology in Cancer”. He serves as a reviewer for many national and international granting agencies.

He has served on numerous academic and governmental advisory committees, including the International Kallikrein Nomenclature Committee and the International Society of Urologic Pathology Kidney Cancer Classification in 2012. He is also a co-leader of the Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada personalized medicine initiative; and member of the steering committee for prostate cancer management in Ontario.

At the pathology education frontier, he is a member of the Royal College Examination Board in Anatomical Pathology and is leading the committee to digitalize the Royal College Exam in Pathology. He is also a founding member and Chair of Pathology Informatics at the Canadian Association of Pathologists. His research has been recognized by prestigious awards from the Royal College of Physicians, Canadian Association of Pathologists, and the United States National Academy of Clinical Chemistry.

Please note: Dr. Yousef is not taking any summer students.

Recent Publications

  1. Zabihollahy, F, Shi, K, Wangulu, C, Prassas, I, Masoomian, M, Saleeb, R et al.. Clinical-Grade Interpretable Artificial Intelligence Tool for Automated Detection of Lymph Node Metastasis in Prostate Cancer. Mod Pathol. 2025;39 (1):100934. doi: 10.1016/j.modpat.2025.100934. PubMed PMID:41223994 .
  2. Athanasopoulou, K, Adamopoulos, PG, Tsiakanikas, P, Daneva, GN, Prassas, I, Yousef, GM et al.. Deciphering the m6A Epitranscriptomic Landscape of mRNAs in Breast Cancer Cells. Mol Cell Biol. 2025; :1-20. doi: 10.1080/10985549.2025.2560956. PubMed PMID:41047957 .
  3. Chavarriaga, J, Langleben, C, Lobo, J, Nappi, L, Yousef, GM, Ozcan, G et al.. MicroRNA as a Liquid Biomarker to Detect Malignancy in Small Testicular Masses. Eur Urol Oncol. 2025; :. doi: 10.1016/j.euo.2025.08.004. PubMed PMID:40998685 .
  4. Clarke, B, Carment-Baker, C, Bruce, C, Hanna, K, Yousef, GM. Large scale implementation of DP for clinical diagnoses: experience, challenges, and lessons learned. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2025; :1-15. doi: 10.1080/10408363.2025.2549309. PubMed PMID:40905836 .
  5. Daniel, M, Nowak, K, Vajpeyi, R, Clarke, B, Evans, A, Carment-Baker, C et al.. From Microscopes to Monitors: Unique Opportunities and Challenges in Digital Pathology Implementation in Remote Canadian Regions. Diagnostics (Basel). 2025;15 (16):. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15161983. PubMed PMID:40870835 PubMed Central PMC12386070.
  6. Soliman, J, Weiser, K, Ahmed, I, Carment-Baker, C, Hockley, M, Prassas, I et al.. Selecting high-throughput scanners for clinical use: A multicenter institution experience. Am J Clin Pathol. 2025;164 (4):589-599. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/aqaf083. PubMed PMID:40856617 .
  7. Zabihollahy, F, Mankaruos, M, Mohareb, M, Youssef, T, Soleymani, Y, Yousef, GM et al.. Simplified Artificial Intelligence Terminology for Pathologists. Diagnostics (Basel). 2025;15 (13):. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15131699. PubMed PMID:40647698 PubMed Central PMC12248457.
  8. Zabihollahy, F, Wu, HH, Sisk, AE, Reiter, RE, Raman, SS, Fleshner, NE et al.. Deep Learning-based Anatomy-Aware Morph Model for Registration of Prostate Whole-Mount Histopathology to MRI. Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2025;7 (3):e240336. doi: 10.1148/rycan.240336. PubMed PMID:40445100 PubMed Central PMC12130720.
  9. Chatanaka, MK, Yousef, GM, Diamandis, EP. The Unholy Grail of cancer screening: or is it just about the Benjamins?. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2025;63 (9):1888. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2025-0531. PubMed PMID:40418679 .
  10. Hsu, YR, Ahmed, I, Phlamon, J, Carment-Baker, C, Chan, JYT, Prassas, I et al.. An adapted & improved validation protocol for digital pathology implementation. Semin Diagn Pathol. 2025;42 (4):150905. doi: 10.1016/j.semdp.2025.150905. PubMed PMID:40273530 .
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Division Head, Molecular Diagnostics, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Anatomical Pathologist, Laboratory Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto
  • Professor, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto
  • Member, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto