Dr. Joe Guileyardo is presently the chief of the autopsy service at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (BUMC). He was born on April 15, 1952, in Bogalusa, Louisiana, and grew up there. At age 18, he and his family moved to Hammond, Louisiana, where he attended Southeastern Louisiana University. In 1973, he entered Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical School in New Orleans, graduating in December 1976. His residency in anatomic and clinical pathology was at the Charity Hospital of Louisiana, LSU Division, from January 1977 until December 1980. He joined the LSU pathology faculty upon completion of his residency training, and then in 1982 he moved back to Hammond as pathologist for Seventh Ward General Hospital. Also during this time he served as coroner's pathologist for Tangiaphoa Parish. In 1989, he moved to Dallas for his fellowship in forensic pathology at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences. He then entered active duty with the Army, serving as an Armed Forces medical examiner during the Gulf War before returning to Dallas as deputy chief medical examiner for Dallas County, a position that he held for the next 10 years. In 2001, he established his private forensic consulting firm in Dallas and remains its director.
In 2004, he joined the pathology department of BUMC and has been here ever since, and in 2010 he became the director of autopsy services. As such, Dr. Guileyardo plays a very important teaching and research role at BUMC. He interacts with physicians in all Baylor departments in a most pleasant fashion, and the morbidity and mortality conferences in this medical center have been enlightened considerably by his intellectual participation. Joe is a lovely guy, has a great sense of humor, and he and his wife, Sara, are a pleasure to be around. Professionally, Joe Guileyardo is a rarity in American and international medicine, and BUMC is fortunate to have him in our presence.
William Clifford Roberts, MD (hereafter, Roberts): Dr. Guileyardo, I appreciate your willingness to come to my house to have this interview. It is June 10, 2014. To start, could you talk about your early life, where you grew up, your parents, and your siblings?
Joseph Manuel Guileyardo, MD (hereafter, Guileyardo): Thanks for having me here. I was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana (Figure 1). My father's parents had emigrated from Sicily to New York and subsequently came through New Orleans and settled in this small town north of Lake Pontchartrain. My mother's parents were cotton farmers in north Louisiana. Bogalusa was on the border of Mississippi, close to the Pearl River. My paternal grandfather worked at the Great Southern Lumber Company, which was there because of the huge pine forests in that area. I was born on April 15, 1952—Tax Day. I was “my daddy's little deduction.”
Figure 1.
Joseph M. Guileyardo, about age 3, in Bogalusa, Louisiana.
I attended grammar school at Annunciation Catholic School in Bogalusa and public school for junior high and high school. My family then moved to Hammond, Louisiana, in 1970, where I attended Southeastern Louisiana University, whose main goal was to turn out teachers and educators for Louisiana. I had decided to become a professional photographer, got a job in Hammond as a newspaper photographer, and began my studies for a degree in photography. I was enrolled in Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, and they required 1 year of specific college credits prior to transfer there. After my first semester in college, I switched my major to premed, completed 2 more years of college, and entered Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans in 1973.
I completed my freshman year of medical school not knowing anything about pathology or even what it was, and that summer I completed an American Heart Association research fellowship, working on an animal model for renal ischemia. During my sophomore year, the pathology course was an intense experience, and we were saturated in pathology from morning to night for most of the year. Jack Strong was chairman of the Department of Pathology, and his research interest was cardiovascular pathology. Before lectures, the pathology residents would bring over fresh specimens from the previous day's autopsies. They presented the cases, and the staff pathologists would explain what we were looking at. This was the first time I had seen real pathology specimens. Listening to the discussions, I became fascinated with pathology, particularly with autopsy pathology, and that feeling has remained ever since. From then on, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to study pathology.
After completing several electives in the pathology department during medical school, I went to Dr. Strong and told him I would like to become a pathology resident. He said, “See you July 1.” (There wasn't any kind of formal selection or matching process as there is today.) I didn't apply anywhere else. Since I had completed my college program in 3 years and entered the accelerated medical school program, I finished both college and medical school in 6 years, and I was only 24 years old when I graduated from medical school (Figure 2). I then did 4 years of anatomic and clinical pathology residency and enjoyed every minute.
Figure 2.
Medical school graduation, December 1976, from Louisiana State University.
Towards the end of my residency, Dr. Strong was elected president of the International Academy of Pathology, and the meeting that year was in San Francisco. Dr. Strong wanted his department well represented, so he told us that anyone who had a manuscript accepted for presentation would receive an all-expense-paid trip to San Francisco. I had never even been on an airplane. There was an LSU professor, Pelayo Correa, MD, who had written a pathology textbook in Spanish and was well known in South America, and he was doing cancer and gastrointestinal research at LSU. The department had also collaborated with a researcher in Japan, Dr. Akazaki, on a prostate cancer project in which 500 prostate glands had been collected for study. The specimens went to Japan and were processed by Dr. Akazaki. They were made into whole mounts—full-size cross-sections on glass slides. The entire glands were subsectioned, and he had drawn maps of latent tumors within the prostate. The concept was evolving that there were probably two types of cancers in the prostate: some were latent and not destined to become a clinical problem, and others were more aggressive. I went to Dr. Correa and told him what Dr. Strong had offered for San Francisco and asked if he had anything that I could work on. He said that he had a whole room full of prostate slides that no one had done anything with, and there were maps of the prostates. I suggested measuring the tumor sizes in three dimensions and then classifying them histologically. We did this and reported the results in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Thus, I went to San Francisco in 1980.
I decided to focus on autopsy pathology so I applied for a fellowship in forensic pathology in Dallas in 1980 with the chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles Petty (Figure 3). I was accepted and was scheduled to come to Dallas when my first wife became seriously ill and was not able to leave New Orleans; therefore, I could not accept the fellowship. Dr. Strong offered to keep me on the faculty at LSU in the pathology department, primarily doing surgical pathology, where I stayed for 2 years. Then I got a call from a private pathology group in New Orleans. One of their satellite hospitals, Seventh Ward General Hospital in Hammond, Louisiana, was growing and demanding to have a full-time pathologist on site. They offered me this position, and I accepted. Therefore, in 1982, I left academic pathology, moved back to my hometown of Hammond, and began general hospital pathology. They also needed a coroner's pathologist to perform the forensic autopsies, and I volunteered to do that as well for Tangiaphoa Parish (Figure 4).
Figure 3.
At Dr. Charles Petty's “Festschrift,” with chiefs from around the country, about 1991. (Dr. Guileyardo is far left, third row.)
Figure 4.
Identification badges: (a) assistant coroner, Tangiaphoa Parish, Hammond, LA; (b) medical examiner, Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.
After a few years in Hammond, I decided to expand my horizons a little, and I called the Army to inquire about opportunities in the military. They didn't need any active-duty pathologists at that time, but suggested I join a reserve unit to improve my chances for an appointment. Therefore, I joined the 4010th US Army Reserve Hospital out of New Orleans in 1986. Around 1988, I decided general pathology was becoming too broad for me, and I decided to subspecialize in autopsy and forensic pathology. Therefore, I called the Dallas Medical Examiner's office again and told them I would like to reapply for a fellowship. The administrator apologized and said the fellows for next year were being decided on as we spoke. About a month later I got a phone call from Dr. Petty and he said, “Mildred remembered you and pulled your old application and put it on the pile to be considered. You got picked again!” So, I moved to Dallas and began the forensic fellowship in July 1989, and during my fellowship, Dr. Petty offered me a full-time faculty position to stay at the Dallas Medical Examiner's Office (Figures 5–7).
Figure 5.
In the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office, about 1989.
Figure 7.
Preparing pigskin for gunshot residue experiments in the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office, about 1993.
I was still in my Army Reserve unit, and in 1990 the Iraqis invaded Kuwait. Then President Bush activated the reserves for Desert Shield, which became Desert Storm. I wound up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a general hospital pathologist but soon received an order from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner to be transferred to their forensic unit in Washington, DC, where I was assigned during the Gulf War (Figure 8).
Figure 8.
US Army Medical Corps, about 1990 (standing, second from left).
Roberts: What dates did that occur?
Guileyardo: That was in late 1990 through part of 1991. After the Gulf War ended, I returned to the Dallas Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. Petty retired, Dr. Jeffrey Barnard took his place, and he offered me the deputy chief position, which I held for the next 10 years. Then, in 2001, I established a forensic consulting company in partnership with Dr. Linda Norton called Forensic Medicine of Dallas. Dr. Norton subsequently retired, and I have continued with my own consulting company since then.
Roberts: How did you come to work at Baylor?
Guileyardo: In 2004, I got a call from Dr. Elizabeth Burton, who was then the director of autopsy services at BUMC. I had recently consulted with her sister, who is a criminal defense attorney in Round Rock, involving a baby that was born in a hotel room, and an autopsy had been performed at the local medical examiner's office. They reached the conclusion that the baby died of blunt force trauma, and the mother was charged with murder. Through my private company I was asked to review the case prior to trial. Doing some additional microscopic work, I discovered severe acute chorioamnionitis. What appeared to be blunt trauma was really coagulopathy and bleeding from sepsis. In my opinion, this was not a homicide, and we were able to exonerate the mother of this murder charge (Figure 9).
Figure 9.
On the courthouse lawn during a capital murder trial, 1994.
Dr. Burton was interested in switching 50% of her time to research activities, and they were looking for somebody to cover the autopsy service part time. Her sister suggested me, and Dr. Peter Dysert offered me the job. I accepted and immediately fell in love with Baylor.
Roberts: You came to Baylor when?
Guileyardo: I was asked to cover the autopsy service in late 2004 during lab renovations, and I worked part-time until 2010. Then Dr. Burton left and Dr. Dysert asked if I would take over as director.
Roberts: Were you a good student in school? Did studies come easy for you?
Guileyardo: Yes, they did, but I had a lot of health problems. I had frequent and severe sinus infections, and masses were discovered in my right maxillary sinus. I underwent a Caldwell-Luc surgical procedure, and fortunately the lesions were benign inflammatory polyps.
Roberts: You didn't have any problem after the surgery?
Guileyardo: No, except for chronic migraines, which appeared around that time. My father had similar migraines, and as a child I remember several trips to the emergency room for his incapacitating headaches.
Roberts: Do you still have migraines?
Guileyardo: I do, but they are much less frequent, and better medications are now available.
Roberts: Do you have siblings?
Guileyardo: I have one sister, and she lives in Mississippi.
Roberts: What's her name?
Guileyardo: Mary Elizabeth Hastings. She is 6 years younger.
Roberts: What were your parents like?
Guileyardo: My dad owned a small beer distributing company, but he drove the trucks himself. He was a wonderful man and very caring. The townspeople had great respect for him, and he is my role model for how people should be treated.
Roberts: You two got along very well.
Guileyardo: We did, but he was interested in sports and I was more interested in books. I enjoyed music but to please him I went to football practice and then walked across the street for piano lessons. I don't think he understood me very well, but he was always kind and supportive. There was also a pretty well known physician from Bogalusa, Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Berenson, who became a very prominent cardiologist at Tulane and LSU Medical Schools in New Orleans. He and my dad were close friends. My dad told me to go look up “Jerry” when I got into medical school, and he became my advisor. The first thing he told me when I introduced myself was that I needed to lose some weight. My dad said he was always a little abrasive, but Jerry was the only one who had a car so we hung around with him. Jerry's parents had an eminent clothing store in Bogalusa—Berenson's. If you wanted to buy a nice suit, that's where you went. Jerry was a fine person and a brilliant teacher and mentor. He established what was called the “Score Project” in Bogalusa where they monitored blood pressures of everyone in town for a long time, similar to the Framingham studies.
Roberts: When you were growing up in Bogalusa, what was the population?
Guileyardo: It was around 18,000. It was a paper-mill town. Most of the people in town worked for the paper mill.
Roberts: What about your mother's family?
Guileyardo: They were from north Louisiana. My dad's side had Italian-Sicilian heritage. My mother's parents were farmers. She was all-American.
Roberts: What was your mother's name?
Guileyardo: Patsy Faye Huff, and she was also a very kind, intelligent, and supportive person.
Roberts: How did she and your father meet?
Guileyardo: I'm not sure. They met in Bogalusa (Figure 10). Her father was a barber and died from a stroke at a relatively young age. Her sister and brother-in-law lived in Bogalusa, and he worked for the paper mill. When her father died, they moved from north Louisiana to Bogalusa to be closer to the remaining family.
Figure 10.
Parents' wedding day, 1950.
Roberts: Your father was born when?
Guileyardo: He was born in 1921 and died in 1993. We had always celebrated his birthday on November 25, but when we got his birth certificate so he could apply for Social Security, we found that he had been born on Christmas day. We asked my older aunt, who said that their mother felt it would not be fair for him to share his birthday with Christmas, so she arbitrarily decided to tell him he was born on November 25th! He celebrated his birthday on the wrong day his whole life.
Roberts: Your mother?
Guileyardo: She was born in 1931 and died in 1995.
Roberts: Were they close? Was it a good marriage?
Guileyardo: They were a good match. They supported each other.
Roberts: In high school, did you play sports?
Guileyardo: I played football for a year and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it. I think physical contact sports can give a kid confidence, and I learned the importance of a team approach to problems, which I still use today.
Roberts: How many students were in your high school?
Guileyardo: About 170 in each class.
Roberts: How did you end up in your class standings?
Guileyardo: I am not sure. I was sick so much and missed most of my junior year.
Roberts: Did you read a lot?
Guileyardo: I read a lot of fiction and began a lifelong love of Joseph Conrad's works. At that time I was interested in photography, so I read a lot of technical books.
Roberts: How did you get interested in photography?
Guileyardo: I had a friend who was a photographer, and I was fascinated by the cameras and darkroom equipment. It seemed like a good career choice.
Roberts: Did your mother work outside the home?
Guileyardo: When I was younger, she worked as a bookkeeper, and my maternal grandmother, Myrtis Huff, took care of me. She was a wonderful person. When the tumor was discovered in my sinus, she was being treated for maxillary cancer, and we had the same doctor. He, by the way, was chairman of otolaryngology at LSU in New Orleans, and he also operated on me. I got to know him better when I attended medical school.
Roberts: What was home like growing up in Bogalusa?
Guileyardo: My paternal grandfather had many children and bought several contiguous properties for us all. He built several houses and a large common kitchen in a generally enclosed small city block. In those houses, my aunts, uncles, and cousins lived, and the big meals were prepared in the main kitchen. So I grew up in this sort of “commune,” which provided a very warm and supportive atmosphere.
Roberts: How many would be at the table at night?
Guileyardo: Most of the time people would eat in their own homes with their own family. At certain times we would eat at the big long table with up to 16 to 20 people. That wasn't every day. But you could eat anywhere you wanted to. So I would decide who had the best dinner and eat at their house.
Roberts: How many houses were there?
Guileyardo: There were three larger houses and the kitchen building in the back, all on a short city block. In one house next to me were my uncle and his wife and two sons. The next house was a much bigger one where my paternal grandparents lived with five daughters, four of whom never married. They maintained the big kitchen and common areas.
Roberts: When you, your parents, and your sister had your own dinner, did you sit down together?
Guileyardo: Yes.
Roberts: What did you talk about as a rule?
Guileyardo: We ate in the kitchen at the table. On the refrigerator was a television set, and the news was on while we were eating. We would discuss whatever was on the news or talk about what was happening in our lives.
Roberts: Were there many books in your house?
Guileyardo: Yes. My parents had purchased a set called Books of Knowledge, sort of like an encyclopedia for children. They sat behind glass doors in our home. I poured over those books, which were profusely illustrated, and was fascinated by it all. The local library was also within a short walking distance from our house.
Roberts: Did your parents read much?
Guileyardo: My mother read a lot of fiction. My dad read several newspapers every day, and he listened to sports on the radio. He would have two radios going and would often read two newspapers (with special attention to the sports pages).
Roberts: Did either of your parents or grandparents go to college?
Guileyardo: No. I was the first person in my extended family to go to college.
Roberts: How did you get interested in medicine?
Guileyardo: I had often thought of becoming a medical doctor, mainly because I was curious about how the body worked, but I more or less gave up on the idea since I was always sick and doubted I could handle it academically. When I started college to do photography, I did better than I expected, and people suggested that I may want to aim a little higher. I also loved my introductory science courses, and I was concerned that photography may not provide a reliable income.
Roberts: What kind of courses made you look at medicine?
Guileyardo: Biology, chemistry, and mathematics. For a small college, the professors and teachers were excellent and enthusiastic.
Roberts: Were there any teachers throughout your school years who had a major impact on you?
Guileyardo: I remember a high school English teacher who had been an Army nurse and was a little eccentric. I didn't have her courses, but a friend of mine and I would discuss books with her on our own. She had a library, mainly paperback books, in her classroom and she would lend out those books. She said that if you are successful, your associates will be discussing these books. It had nothing to do with specific school courses or grades, but she contributed toward my education as much as anyone. I still have many of those titles in my library. Also, my faculty advisor in college, Dr. Danny Acosta, was very supportive, and he got me a job at his uncle's New Orleans shipyards so that I could pay my first year's tuition to medical school.
Roberts: Do you read fast?
Guileyardo: No.
Roberts: Did your parents harp on you to make good grades, or did they not say too much about it?
Guileyardo: They didn't say too much about it. My grades were usually good except for “conduct” during grammar school. The nuns generally felt that my behavior wasn't up to their standards, and they were right. They did provide an excellent education, however, and by the eighth grade in their school, I probably knew more than most high school seniors.
Roberts: You mentioned music and playing the piano. Was music part of your life growing up?
Guileyardo: It was. I took piano lessons for many years, and I played keyboards and guitar in several small bands around Bogalusa. Later in Dallas I primarily played bass guitar.
Roberts: Are you still playing?
Guileyardo: Not professionally. Now there is no time to rehearse, and playing at late night venues is just not feasible. My time now is more focused on work, teaching, and writing.
Roberts: Did you sing?
Guileyardo: No. I have a terrible singing voice. They let me have a microphone, but I had to keep it switched off.
Roberts: You mentioned that your first wife was ill. What happened?
Guileyardo: She had a renal stone and had surgery to remove it. She developed an open fistula between her kidney and her back after that. She was too sick to move, and I couldn't continue with my education when we needed a steady income. Dr. Strong was gracious enough to let me stay in New Orleans, and I am grateful for that.
Roberts: Do you have children?
Guileyardo: Yes. I have a son and daughter. My daughter is a nurse in Louisiana. My son died suddenly at the age of 24.
Roberts: When did you get married?
Guileyardo: I got married in 1971 to my first wife, Claudine Killen.
Roberts: When was your son born?
Guileyardo: Joseph Manuel Guileyardo Jr. was born in 1977.
Roberts: What is your daughter's name?
Guileyardo: Carla Dean Guileyardo, born in 1979. She has three children, one son and twin girls.
Roberts: When did you divorce?
Guileyardo: In 1984.
Roberts: How did you meet Sara Tucker, and when did you marry?
Guileyardo: Sara and I were both working at the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office when we met in 1994. She was an administrator. We got married in 2000. In addition to being a wonderful and supportive wife, Sara became my administrator and assistant when we established our private forensic consulting firm in 2001. I owe any success that I've had to her organizational abilities, friendship, and support.
Roberts: It seems to me that you have done a terrific job at Baylor. You have gotten the departments of internal medicine, surgery, and radiology very much involved and interested in what you do. You communicate beautifully with individuals and other departments. Is it true that because of you Baylor does more autopsies than any other hospital in Dallas?
Guileyardo: Parkland probably does more, but I don't know their death rates.
Roberts: What percent of deaths at BUMC have an autopsy?
Guileyardo: Around 4%.
Roberts: But you do autopsies of deaths from all of the Baylor hospitals in the Dallas area?
Guileyardo: Yes, we cover most of the local Baylor system hospitals.
Roberts: What is your day like? What time do you get up in the morning?
Guileyardo: I get up at 5:15. I then go to my little neighborhood restaurant, Norma's, where my iced tea and breakfast are usually already prepared and waiting for me.
Roberts: What time do you get to work?
Guileyardo: About 6:45 am.
Roberts: What time do you leave the hospital?
Guileyardo: Around 4:00 pm unless we have a late case or I'm slipping behind on my turnaround times.
Roberts: So you work about 10 hours a day. What about weekends? Do you have to go to the office much on weekends?
Guileyardo: Not that often, but I'm on call if there is a case.
Roberts: You participate in virtually all autopsies done at BUMC?
Guileyardo: Yes.
Roberts: What time do you go to bed at night?
Guileyardo: Usually about 8:30 to 9:00 pm.
Roberts: You've always been a morning person?
Guileyardo: Yes.
Roberts: Do you have hobbies outside of medicine?
Guileyardo: Music was a big hobby, but reading is my only hobby now. Sara and I like to take cruises. We love ships and usually don't care where the ship is going. When I retire, we plan to cruise around the world.
Roberts: How much time do you take off a year for vacation?
Guileyardo: Between 2 and 3 weeks right now.
Roberts: What are you reading now?
Guileyardo: I'm reading the Selected Works of Bertrand Russell.
Roberts: How did you get interested in that?
Guileyardo: One of my favorite books is Men of Mathematics by E. T. Bell. There are some quotes by Russell in that book, and I became interested in knowing more about his life. He's written so much you can't read it all, but there is a collected set of basic writings from his essays and books.
Roberts: Bertrand Russell was an atheist?
Guileyardo: At times he called himself an agnostic, but he probably was an atheist.
Roberts: Are you religious?
Guileyardo: Not in a formal sense, but there were times in my life, such as after the death of my son, that spiritual people helped me greatly. Therefore, I have tremendous respect and a sense of gratitude to them and their work. People like Dr. Timothy Warren who led the Baylor Bible Study Group for a while and Mike Mullender, head chaplain of Baylor, have stood by me and supported me as well. All the Baylor chaplains have been extremely supportive of what I have tried to accomplish in our department, and we work closely together every day.
Roberts: I understand that you usually come to Baylor on a motorcycle. How long have you been riding a motorcycle?
Guileyardo: Over 30 years, since about 1982.
Roberts: Does Sara ride with you?
Guileyardo: No, she's too precious to me to take the chance.
Roberts: What kind of motorcycle do you have?
Guileyardo: A 2004 Harley Davidson “Fat Boy” (Figure 11).
Figure 11.
On the “Fat Boy,” 2006.
Roberts: Is that 1400 cubic centimeters? Have you ever had an accident?
Guileyardo: It's 1450 cc (88 cubic inches). I've had a couple of minor falls, but I've never been seriously injured.
Roberts: Do you wear a helmet?
Guileyardo: Not on a regular basis, only when it's cold or raining.
Roberts: Why not?
Guileyardo: It's more comfortable and I can see and hear better without one. I've actually avoided accidents because I could hear a vehicle in my blind spot. Nobody believes that, but I enjoy the experience more without a helmet, although I understand the concerns and drive very carefully.
Roberts: You come in so early that the traffic isn't too bad. Do you ride much on the weekends?
Guileyardo: No. I mainly just ride back and forth to work. I enjoy getting up early and getting out in the fresh air. It gives me a sense of peace and relaxation. I am a member of a small motorcycle group called “The Big Dog Crewe” (mostly FBI agents and SWAT team guys), but I no longer have time to take trips with them.
Roberts: How many motorcycles have you owned?
Guileyardo: Just a few. My present one is over 10 years old with 45,000 miles, but I've had two other ones. With proper maintenance and a little luck, they last a long time.
Roberts: How far is your home from Baylor?
Guileyardo: About 5 miles.
Roberts: What's your home like?
Guileyardo: I live in North Oak Cliff very near Methodist Hospital.
Roberts: You've lived there a long time?
Guileyardo: Sara and I moved there in 1999.
Roberts: Are there other topics you would like to talk about?
Guileyardo: I want people to understand how grateful I am to be given this opportunity to work at Baylor. This institution clearly was founded on and operates by altruistic and spiritual principles. Furthermore, the case material is so rich and interesting that I am constantly learning new things, even after all my years of practice. Working with giants such as you, Dr. Roberts, and others such as John Fordtran, John Krause, Michael Emmett, Randy Rosenblatt, the cardiologists, and the surgical teams has rekindled my passion for medical science and pathology (Figure 12). It's also interesting to see which doctors show up in the autopsy room in order to learn more about their patients. They are generally the top men and women in their fields, and I have a tremendous respect for them and their work. These are the doctors that I want treating me and my family.
Figure 12.
View from his chair at the Roberts Cardiovascular Pathology Conference. White coats are cardiologists and fellows.
Roberts: You have fulfilled a unique role at Baylor and have blended a lot of different groups together to increase the knowledge base.
Guileyardo: When I took over the autopsy department, I immediately implemented suggestions by Dr. Bill Sutker and Dr. Irving Prengler to streamline our reports and improve the turnaround times in response to the needs of the medical staff. John Fordtran also took an interest in the autopsy department, and his support and suggestions have been invaluable as well. And finally, I wish to acknowledge Dr. Peter Dysert, the chairman of the Department of Pathology. The only reason I'm here is that Pete thinks that autopsy work is important for medical education and patient safety. There is no financial reimbursement for autopsies, and there are few private hospitals in this country willing to expend the resources that he does for this type of work.
Dr. Dysert reaches into his wallet and takes out the cash because he thinks it's important. That needs to be on the record. Also, the other excellent pathologists at Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories, such as David Watkins, Jack Snipes, and Michelle Shiller, have been extremely helpful and supportive. Autopsy pathology around the world is in a bad state. Many pathologists performing hospital autopsies are not particularly interested in doing it, and not surprisingly, the results are often less than optimal.
Roberts: Joe, thank you for giving us a look into your life. It was great.
Figure 6.
A forensic identification in progress, about 1991.