Alexandra Kovach, MD

Director, Hematopathology
Director, Hematology Laboratory
Director, Bone Marrow Laboratory
Staff Hematopathologist and Pediatric Pathologist
Attending Physician
Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Dr. Alexandra Kovach is the Director of Hematopathology, the Director of the Hematology and Bone Marrow Laboratories, the Staff Hematopathologist and Pediatric Pathologist, and an Attending Physician under the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Her major areas of research interest include pathobiology of leukemia, lymphoma and lymphoproliferative disorders in children and adolescents/young adults, refinement of diagnoses in pediatric hematopathology, ,and pathology applications in monitoring and novel therapies for hematologic malignancies.

Education

Medical School

CCLCM of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Residency

Massachusetts General Hospital, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology

Fellowship

Boston Children's Hospital, Pediatric Pathology

Accomplishments

Certification

American Board of Pathology: Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Hematology, Pediatric Pathology

Memberships

United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP)
College of American Pathologists (CAP)
Society for Hematopathology (SH)
Society for Pediatric Pathology (SPP)
Children's Oncology Group (COG)
American Society of Hematology (ASH)

Medical Awards

Pathologist-In-Training (PIT) Award

Publications

Kovach AE, Zerkalenkova E, Zemtsova L, Borkovskaya A, Gaskova M, Kazanov M, Popov A, Baidun L, Maschan M, Maschan A, Gaynon PS, Bhojwani D, Novichkova G, Olshanskaya Y, Raca G. Acute myeloid leukemia with t(X;6)(9p11;q23);MYB-GATA1 and female sex: GATA1 insufficiency may be insufficient for pathogenesis. Cancer Genetics 2022;260-261:37-40. PMID: 34915342. 

Myers RM, Taraseviciute A, Steinberg SM, Lamble AJ, Sheppard J, Yates B, Kovach AE, Wood BL, Borowitz MJ, Stetler-Stevenson M, Yuan CM, Pillai V, Foley T, Chung P, Chen L, Lee DW, Annesley C, DiNofia A, Grupp SA, John S, Bhojwani D, Brown PA, Laetsch TW, Gore L, Gardner RA, Rheingold SR, Pulsipher MA, Shah NN. Prior blinatumomab exposure and high disease burden are associated with inferior outcomes after CD19-CAR for B-ALL. J Clin Oncol 2022;40(9):932-944. PMID: 34767451.

Lamble AJ, Myers RM, Taraseviciute A, John S, Yates B, Steinberg SM, Sheppard J, Kovach AE, Wood BL, Borowitz MJ, Stetler-Stevenson MA, Yuan CM, Pillai V, Foley T, Chung P, Chen L, Lee DW, Annesley C, DiNofia A, Grupp SA, Verneris M, Gore L, Laetsch TW, Bhojwani D, Brown PA, Pulsipher MA, Rheingold SR, Gardner RA, Shah NN. Pre-infusion factors impacting relapse immunophenotype following CD19 CAR T-cells. Blood Adv 2022 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 35482927.

Alaggio R, Amador C, Anagnostopoulos I, Attygalle AD, Araujo IBO, Berti E, Bhagat G, Borges AM, Boyer D, Calaminici M, Chadburn A, Chan JKC, Cheuk W, Chng WJ, Choi JK, Chuang SS, Coupland SE, Czader M, Dave SS, de Jong D, Du MQ, Elenitoba-Johnson KS, Ferry J, Geyer J, Gratzinger D, Guitart J, Gujral S, Harris M, Harrison CJ, Hartmann S, Hochhaus A, Jansen PM, Karube K, Kempf W, Khoury J, Kimura H, Klapper W, Kovach AE, Kumar S, Lazar AJ, Lazzi S, Leoncini L, Leung N, Leventaki V, Li XQ, Lim MS, Liu WP, Louissaint A Jr, Marcogliese A, Medeiros LJ, Michal M, Miranda RN, Mitteldorf C, Montes-Moreno S, Morice W, Nardi V, Naresh KN, Natkunam Y, Ng SB, Oschlies I, Ott G, Parrens M, Pulitzer M, Rajkumar SV, Rawstron AC, Rech K, Rosenwald A, Said J, Sarkozy C, Sayed S, Saygin C, Schuh A, Sewell W, Siebert R, Sohani AR, Tooze R, Traverse-Glehen A, Vega F, Vergier B, Wechalekar AD, Wood B, Xerri L, Xiao W. The 5th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours: Lymphoid Neoplasms. Leukemia 2022 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 35732829.

Research

  • Pathobiology of Leukemia, lymphoma and lymphoproliferative disorders in children and adolescents/young adults
  • Refinement of diagnoses in pediatric hematopathology
  • Pathology applications in monitoring and novel therapies for hematologic malignancies