Oct. 7, 2015: Memorial Service for Patricia Charache, M.D., on Oct. 14 in Tilghman

Dear Colleagues,

A few weeks ago, we announced the Sept. 12 passing of our beloved colleague, Patricia Charache, M.D., a nationally and internationally known infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist who practiced at Johns Hopkins for more than 50 years. A gifted teacher and researcher, she also held the title of distinguished professor emerita of pathology, medicine and oncology. To pay tribute to Dr. Charache's extraordinary contributions, I would like to invite you to attend a memorial service on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Tilghman Auditorium on the East Baltimore medical campus.

Dr. Charache's long and distinguished career at Johns Hopkins began in 1964 as an instructor in the school of medicine's Division of Infectious Diseases. Over the next five decades, she persevered in a male-dominated work environment and would serve in multiple positions of increasing responsibility—some of them concurrently. From 1966 to 1969, she was the assistant chief of medicine at Baltimore City Hospitals, now Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. When the microbiology laboratory was part of the Department of Medicine, Dr. Charache served as the lab's medical director from 1967 to 1970. The microbiology division later became part of the Department of Pathology, and she served as the director of the division and its various laboratories for 20 years, until 1993. 

As a result of her energetic and wise leadership, the lab grew and obtained national recognition. Her early research interests involved the detection of genetic abnormalities using immunologic approaches. Later in her career, she focused on developing new approaches to detect microbial pathogens, including AIDS and tuberculosis. She was a laboratory consultant in 30 developing countries, particularly applying her expertise in microbiology and lab quality assurance and standards.

In 1992, Dr. Charache was promoted to full professor in the school of medicine—the 30th woman to attain that rank. With a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, she worked tirelessly and courageously to advocate for the professional development of all faculty members, especially women, and mentored many as they advanced in their careers. She also published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than a dozen books or book chapters.

After stepping down as microbiology director in 1993, she served as the Department of Pathology's deputy director of clinical affairs, a physician advisor and director of quality improvement for the next three years. As part of the department's consultant program, she served as director of the Park Medical Laboratories from 1996 to 2003, and as the director of the Department of Pathology at Zayed Military Hospital and associated hospitals in the United Arab Emirates during an 18-month tenure. From 1998 until her retirement in 2010, she took on the role of program director of quality assessment and outcomes research programs in the Department of Pathology.

A staunch patient advocate, she lent her expertise on patient care and quality as a member of several advisory boards and scientific committees for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the American Society for Microbiology. She was the president of the Maryland branch of the American Society for Microbiology, and in 2010, she earned one of its most prestigious awards, the bioMeriéux Sonnenwirth Award for Leadership in Clinical Microbiology.

Our thoughts and condolences are with her husband of 64 years, Samuel Charache, professor emeritus of pathology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; her daughter, Barbara Charache Coleman, a research nurse at Johns Hopkins Bayview; her four grandchildren, Debra, David, Dean and Daniel; and other family members. 

Again, please join me on Oct. 14 as we recognize Dr. Charache's accomplished career.

Ralph H. Hruban, M.D.
Baxley Professor and Director of Pathology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Pathologist-in-Chief, The Johns Hopkins Hospital