Alejandro Best, MD renal pathologist at arkana laboratories

Alejandro Best, MD Nephropathologist,
Assistant Physician Chief

About

Dr. Alejandro Best Rocha joined Arkana in 2016 after graduating from medical school at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (Mexico), completing anatomic pathology residency at Baylor College of Medicine, and completing renal pathology fellowship at Arkana Laboratories. Dr. Best is also a board-certified pediatric pathologist and completed a fellowship in pediatric pathology at Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine prior to coming to Arkana Laboratories. In 2017, Dr. Best was invited to speak at the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Fellow’s Luncheon: Battle of the Brains during the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco, CA. At Arkana Labs, Dr. Best oversees quality improvement for the immunofluorescence lab and performs many biopsy case conferences with our clients. He is also a social media contributor, producing weekly “Teaching Point” cases and providing disease-specific content for “Disease Week.” In his free time, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife and daughter. He is also a foodie who is always looking for exciting new gustatory experiences and has a passion for Mexican wines.

In 2014, Dr. Alejandro Best became board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Dr. Best is a member of the American Society of Nephrology, Renal Pathology Society, Society for Pediatric Pathology, and the United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology. From 2021 to 2025, Dr. Best was the Fellowship Program Director at Arkana.

Education & Stats

Our fellowship-trained pathologists have decades of experience interpreting biopsies.

Download CV
Joined The Arkana Team 2016
Doctor of Medicine Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency Baylor College of Medicine
Renal Pathology Fellowship Arkana Laboratories
Health Science Fellowship University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pediatric Pathology Fellowship Texas Children’s Hospital
Board Certification American Board of Pathology

Publications by Alejandro Best, M.D.

The Characteristics Of Patients With Kidney Light Chain Deposition Disease… The Characteristics Of Patients With Kidney Light…

By Said SM, Best Rocha A, Valeri AM, Paueksakon P, Dasari S, Theis JD, Vrana JA, Obadina MO, Saghafi D, Alexander MP, Sethi S, Larsen CP, Joly F, Dispenzieri A, Bridoux F,…

November 2021

The type of monoclonal light chain nephropathy is thought to be largely a function of the structural and physiochemical…

The type of monoclonal light chain nephropathy is thought to be largely a function of the structural and physiochemical properties of light chains; hence most affected patients have only one light chain kidney disease type.

The characteristics of patients with kidney light chain deposition disease concurrent with light chain amyloidosis graphical abstract
Read on PubMed

Detection Of Sars-Cov-2 In Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Sections Using… Detection Of Sars-Cov-2 In Formalin-Fixed…

By Best Rocha A, Stroberg E, Barton LM, Duval EJ, Mukhopadhyay S, Yarid N, Caza T, Wilson JD, Kenan DJ, Kuperman M, Sharma SG, Larsen CP

November 2020

Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, was initially recognized in Wuhan, China and…

Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, was initially recognized in Wuhan, China and subsequently spread to all continents.

SARS-CoV-2 IHC and ISH in lung.
Read on PubMed

Apol1-Associated Collapsing Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis In A Patient With… Apol1-Associated Collapsing Focal Segmental…

By Abid Q, Best Rocha A, Larsen CP, Schulert G, Marsh R, Yasin S, Patty-Resk C, Valentini RP, Adams M, Baracco R

February 2020

Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) risk variants G1 and G2 are known to result in risk for kidney disease in patients of African…

Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) risk variants G1 and G2 are known to result in risk for kidney disease in patients of African ancestry.

Collapsing glomerulopathy. (A, B) Collapse of the glomerular tuft associated with prominent epithelial cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy
Read on PubMed

α1-Heavy Chain Deposition Disease With Negative Immunofluorescence Staining On… α1-Heavy Chain Deposition Disease With Negative…

By Best Rocha A, Larsen CP, Delyria PA, Polavaram LS, Said SM, Shibata RS, Rech KL, Nasr SH

September 2018

Monoclonal Ig deposition disease (MIDD) is a form of end-organ damage caused by extracellular deposition of pathogenic…

Monoclonal Ig deposition disease (MIDD) is a form of end-organ damage caused by extracellular deposition of pathogenic monoclonal Igs, or their fragments, secreted by B-cell or plasma-cell clones.

Bone marrow biopsy. Immunohistochemistry showing plasma cells staining for CD138 (a) and IgA (b) (original magnification ×200 for [a] and ×400 for [b]).
Read on PubMed

Doctor Directory

Josephine Ambruzs, MD, MPH

Nephropathologist

Alejandro Best, MD

Nephropathologist, Assistant Physician Chief

Vanesa Bijol, MD

Nephropathologist

Christie Boils, MD

Nephropathologist

Stephen Bonsib, MD, MS

Emeritus Nephropathologist

T. David Bourne, MD

Neuropathologist, Nephropathologist

Clarissa Cassol, MD

Nephropathologist

Tiffany Caza, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist, Scientist

River Charles, MD

Nephropathologist

L. Nicholas Cossey, MD

Physician Director, Nephropathologist

Rachelle Gietzen, MD

Nephropathologist

Eric Goold, MD

Neuropathologist, Molecular Pathologist

Samar Hassen, PhD

Research Scientist

Randy Haun, PhD

Senior Scientist

Danni Holanda, MD

Nephropathologist

Chris Larsen, MD

Executive Director, Nephropathologist

Alan Lim, MD

Nephropathologist

Rebecca May, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist

Paul Miller, MD

Nephropathologist, Fellowship Program Director

Odia Molen, MD

Nephropathologist

Joel Murphy, MD

Nephropathologist, Visiting Scholars Program Director

Mohammad Obeidat, MD

Nephropathologist

Jason Paris, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Miran Rhee-Anagnost, MD

Nephropathologist

Shree Sharma, MD

Laboratory Director, Nephropathologist

Fred Silva, MD

Emeritus Nephropathologist

Jaime Singh, MD

Nephropathologist

Joshua Sonnen, MD

Neuropathologist

Cherry Starling, MD

Nephropathologist

Aaron Storey, PhD

Director of Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Patrick D. Walker, MD

Founder, Nephropathologist

Jon Wilson, MD

Neuropathologist, Molecular Pathologist

Jason Paris, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Josephine Ambruzs, MD, MPH

Nephropathologist

Alejandro Best, MD

Nephropathologist, Assistant Physician Chief

Vanesa Bijol, MD

Nephropathologist

Christie Boils, MD

Nephropathologist

Stephen Bonsib, MD, MS

Emeritus Nephropathologist

T. David Bourne, MD

Neuropathologist, Nephropathologist

Clarissa Cassol, MD

Nephropathologist

Tiffany Caza, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist, Scientist

River Charles, MD

Nephropathologist

L. Nicholas Cossey, MD

Physician Director, Nephropathologist

Rachelle Gietzen, MD

Nephropathologist

Danni Holanda, MD

Nephropathologist

Chris Larsen, MD

Executive Director, Nephropathologist

Alan Lim, MD

Nephropathologist

Rebecca May, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist

Paul Miller, MD

Nephropathologist, Fellowship Program Director

Odia Molen, MD

Nephropathologist

Joel Murphy, MD

Nephropathologist, Visiting Scholars Program Director

Mohammad Obeidat, MD

Nephropathologist

Miran Rhee-Anagnost, MD

Nephropathologist

Shree Sharma, MD

Laboratory Director, Nephropathologist

Fred Silva, MD

Emeritus Nephropathologist

Jaime Singh, MD

Nephropathologist

Cherry Starling, MD

Nephropathologist

Patrick D. Walker, MD

Founder, Nephropathologist

T. David Bourne, MD

Neuropathologist, Nephropathologist

Eric Goold, MD

Neuropathologist, Molecular Pathologist

Joshua Sonnen, MD

Neuropathologist

Jon Wilson, MD

Neuropathologist, Molecular Pathologist

Josephine Ambruzs, MD, MPH

Nephropathologist

Clarissa Cassol, MD

Nephropathologist

Tiffany Caza, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist, Scientist

Samar Hassen, PhD

Research Scientist

Randy Haun, PhD

Senior Scientist

Rebecca May, MD, PhD

Nephropathologist

Jason Paris, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Joshua Sonnen, MD

Neuropathologist

Aaron Storey, PhD

Director of Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

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