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Ali Nael Amzajerdi

Ali Nael Amzajerdi

•Staff Physician, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), Director of Anatomic Pathology
•Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine (Health Sciences Clinical Series, Without Salary)

Biography

Ali Nael Amzajerdi, M.D., is Director of Anatomic Pathology at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He received his M.D. from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2005, completed residency training in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at University of California, Irvine, and pursued fellowship training in both Pediatric Pathology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Hematopathology at University of Southern California. He is board-certified in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology, Pediatric Pathology, and Hematopathology.

Amzajerdi has contributed to research spanning multiple areas of pathology and oncology, with early work focusing on glioblastoma resistance mechanisms and later transitioning to pediatric pathology and hematopathology. His research has been published in journals including Cancer Discovery, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Pediatric Blood Cancer. He has served as a consulting pathologist at Caris Life Sciences since 2019 and was appointed to the Children's Oncology Group Pathology Discipline Committee in 2024.

Amzajerdi was recognized on the 2020 American Society for Clinical Pathology 40 Under Forty list and received the Orange County Physician of Excellence award in 2024. He has received multiple teaching awards, including the Warren L. Bostick Award for Excellence in Residency Teaching in 2016 and the John Budd Golden Scope Award for dedication to residency education in pathology in 2024.

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Education

  • Diploma in Biological Sciences, Tohid Typical High School, 1998
  • MD, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 2005
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Distinctions

  • American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) 40 Under Forty, 2020
  • The John Budd Golden Scope Award, UCI Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 2024
  • Edward R. Arquilla Award for Excellence in Research, UCI Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 2016
  • Warren L. Bostick Award for Excellence in Residency Teaching, UCI Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 2016
  • American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Case Report honorarium, 2014
  • Orange County Physician of Excellence, 2024
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Areas of Expertise

  • Pediatric Pathology
  • Hematologic Malignancies
  • Central Nervous System Tumors
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Associations
  • Rare Pediatric Neoplasms
  • Molecular Fusion Diagnostics
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease Histopathology

Recent Publications

  • Chau L, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford JR, “Rare AGK-BRAF gene fusion in an adolescent with supratentorial pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. e258878, 2024.
  • Salongo L, Nael A, Navalkele P, Crawford JR, “Unusual low-grade neuroepithelial tumour in a child”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. e262692, 2024.
  • Chou S, Nael A, Crawford JR, Sato M, “A rare case of pediatric MN1-altered astroblastoma with concomitant ATM germline mutation”, Pediatr Blood Cancer, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. e30502, 2023.
  • Ho C, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford JR, “Primary intracranial Ewing sarcoma in an infant”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. e255110, 2023.
  • Buchbinder D, Hsieh L, Frediani J, Zadeh N, Nael A, “MDS and MIRAGE”, J Pediatr Hematol Oncol, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 421-422, 2022.
  • Xu J, Suzuki S, Chrislip J, Nael A, Loudon W, “Embolization of a third ventricular choroid plexus papilloma: illustrative case”, J Neurosurg Case Lessons, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. CASE21516, 2022.
  • Kumar N, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford JR, “Delayed diagnosis of diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumour in a young child presenting with communicating hydrocephalus”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 15, no. 12, pp. e253238, 2022.
  • Ralbovsky A, Reyna T, Kabeer M, Nael A, Yang C, “Not All that Strictures Is IBD: Gastric Heterotopia Leading to Perforation and Small Bowel Obstruction Mimicking IBD”, JPGN Rep, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. e106, 2022.
  • Shestakova A, Nael A, Nora V, Rezk S, Zhao X, “Automated leukocyte parameters are useful in the assessment of myelodysplastic syndromes”, Cytometry B Clin Cytom, vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 299-311, 2021.
  • Morales S, Nael A, Buchbinder D, “Copper Deficiency and Cytopenias”, J Pediatr Hematol Oncol, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 68-69, 2021.
  • Lee W, HaDuong J, Sassoon A, Dao T, Nael A, “A Liver Transplant for Local Control in a Pediatric Patient with Metastatic TFE3-Associated Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Tumor (PEComa) to the Liver”, Case Rep Pathol, vol. 2021, pp. 3924565, 2021.
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Contact Information

Email: anaelamz@uci.edu

Phone: (714) 509-9012

Address: CHOC, Irvine, CA 92697-4805

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 2/18/2026.