Dr. Yamac Akgun is the Medical Director of Apheresis at Jackson Memorial and Associate Director of Medicine Fellowship. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics from Boston University and his Doctor of Medicine from Trinity School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Akgun then pursued advanced fellowship training in Molecular Genetics Pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in Transfusion Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His areas of expertise include clinical pathology, molecular diagnostics, and transfusion medicine.
Dr. Akgun’s career is marked by notable achievements that reflect his contributions to both research and patient care. His top accomplishments include earning board certifications in Clinical Pathology, Molecular Genetics Pathology, and Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine, ranging from COVID-19 diagnostics to hematologic malignancies, and more recently extending to the frontiers of space medicine with publications on innovative blood management strategies and the role of apheresis in astronaut health. His additional clinical research spans reducing allogeneic blood exposure in pediatric apheresis procedures, describing the effect of pathogen reduction in platelet products, exploring plasma exchange for osteoarthritis and aging, and evaluating new treatment options in transfusion-related lung injury. He received multiple honors, including the Chief Resident Honor Award at the University of Miami and receiving travel grant by the American Society for Clinical Pathology as well as recognition as a Blue Ribbon Finalist for his research. In his previous role, he served as Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Through his clinical service, research, and teaching, Dr. Akgun continues to advance innovations in transfusion medicine and laboratory diagnostics.
