Lena Berena, MD

Bio

I grew up in St. Petersburg (Russia) and Budapest, where I was educated at the Semmelweis Medical University. I graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1984. After spending a short time in Venezuela, I came to the United States and worked for a year in medical research, studying the immunology of arteriosclerosis. Due to my interest in basic sciences, I chose Pathology and completed residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center (Chicago, IL) and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with subsequent board certification in both subspecialties. I elected to do an additional year of surgical pathology fellowship at Stanford University Hospital, and upon completion in 1993 was very glad to find a position in lovely Santa Rosa. Being a Kaiser Permanente member since 1989, I was familiar and comfortable with the system.

I do mostly surgical pathology, examining biopsies (skin, breast, lung, liver, gastro-intestinal tract, etc), operating room resection specimens and cytology specimens (PAP-smears, fine needle aspirations, body fluids), assisting other physicians in making diagnosis and selecting treatment. I additionally participate in overseeing the Clinical Lab, where other samples (blood, urine, various microbiology specimens, etc) are evaluated.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

General anatomic pathology includes surgical pathology (examination of the biopsies and operating room resection specimens), cytology (PAP-smears, fine needle aspirations and body fluids) and autopsy pathology, while clinical pathology has to do with the Clinical Lab, where chemistry, hematology and microbiology tests are performed.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

Anatomic and Clinical Pathology

American Society of Clinical Pathologists
Sonoma County Medical Association

Great health resources that I refer to:

PathologyOutlines.com
Cytopathology.org/NIH

Photos from My Training Years or of Practicing Medicine in My Field:

Rush-Presb.-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL

Interests

Hobby Photos & Links:

Chess game with a colleague

Family & Friends

Pet Photos:

Pygmy goat Brownie

Mr. Birdy the Brave

Travel

An adventure I've had:

My son and I were very fortunate to visit China. This was an incredible experience. And surprise! most people we met either spoke or tried to speak English.

Favorite place in the world:

My children and I love Lake Tahoe area and we used to camp every summer at the Stanford Sierra Camp near Fallen Leaf Lake.

Travel Photos:

Shanghai at night

Yangtze River

Xian: Terracota Warriors

We climbed the Great Wall

A Photo of One of My Favorite Places:

Fallen Leaf Lake

Lake Tahoe area

Other Links & Photos