Rati Chkheidze, M.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Neuropathology, has been appointed section head of neuropathology, effective July 1.Chkheidze joined the UAB Department of Pathology in 2020 from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he completed a neuropathology fellowship following his anatomic and clinical pathology residency. Originally from the country of Georgia, he graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University in 2007. Before joining the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, he worked as a senior visiting scientist in the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics until 2014. His research interests focus on image analysis and machine learning applications in neurodegenerative and tumor neuropathology, and brain banking.
Chkheidze has been instrumental in the launch of the Department of Pathology’s digital efforts. He serves as medical director of both digital pathology and immunohistochemistry, and as neuropathology core leader at the UAB Alzheimer's Disease Center, a core he established in 2020. Chkheidze has served as neuropathology fellowship program director since 2023. In 2025, he served for four months as interim director of the Division of Neuropathology. Chkheidze is the first to serve in the newly established section head role.
The neuropathology service covers the University of Alabama Medical Center, a tertiary care major medical center, collaborates with the UAB Department of Neurosurgery and the Division of Neuro-Oncology, and receives cases from Children’s of Alabama, Birmingham VA Medical Center, UAB Pathology Community Practice Pathology Program and outside consultations. The Division of Neuropathology processes over 1000 cases per year of which about 50% are accompanied by frozen sections.