ASCP Proudly Recognizes the 2025 Top Five 40 Under Forty Honorees

In acknowledgement of their contributions to the field of pathology and laboratory science, ASCP is proud to honor 2025’s 40 Under Forty Top Five. This highly prestigious award is granted to professionals under the age of 40 who have moved the needle on innovation, achievement, and leadership.  

This year’s honorees stood out from an impressive pool of 140 highly qualified applicants under age forty. They are pathology’s rising stars and poised to be future leaders of the field.  

This year’s Top Five were chosen through a selection process that combined committee selection and public voting. They herald from diverse geographic locations that include Nepal, Haiti, and the U.S. 

We are pleased to introduce you to this year’s Top Five.  

Swikrity U Baskota, MBBS, MD, FASCP 

Swikrity Baskota, MBBS, MD, FASCP, is Clinical Assistant Professor and Cytopathology Fellowship Director, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, at UC Davis Health Medical Center. She is thrilled and excited to have been selected as one of ASCP’s 2025 40 Under Forty Top Five. “This is an unexpected honor, and I have no words. I’m very grateful to all of my supporters and to the people who voted for me. This honor will be pivotal to my career and to the work I wish to achieve,” she says.    

Dr. Baskota was born and raised in Nepal, where she started on her path to pathology, as a medical school student. Her professional journey took her to Australia, and eventually to the U.S., where she zeroed in on a distinct passion for cytopathology. “I love interacting with patients as well as clinicians. In cytopathology, I can connect with patients in person and provide them with rapid evaluation, and an instant diagnosis,” she explains. In addition to bedside care, Dr. Baskota is also heavily involved in breast and neoplastic lung cancer diagnosis and research.     

Dr. Baskota engages in generating mentorship opportunities, as well as advancing knowledge and wisdom for aspiring pathologists. Toward that end, she founded Match to Path, a website and heavily trafficked social media sites that serve as a one-stop resource for budding pathologists. “Match to Path is chock full of blogs, bootcamps, podcasts, and other resources, geared towards nurturing the next generation of pathologists. In addition to providing wisdom and insight about the field, our goal is to help aspiring pathologists match into a U.S.-based residency program,” she says. “By offering insight and mentorship, Match to Path supports my hope that pathology is an accessible field. I want to encourage future generations to pursue pathology,” she adds. 

Santosh Kadel DCLS, MS, CC(NRCC), MLS(ASCP)^CM 

 Santosh Kadel, DCLS, MS, CC(NRCC), MLS(ASCP)^CM, is Clinical Architect, Laboratory Medicine for ChristianaCare health system. He left his native Nepal to study biochemistry in the U.S. at the start of his career. Dr. Kadel was a bench technologist who rapidly rose through the ranks, thanks to his personal ethos of hard work, grit, and determination. His current accomplishments in the areas of laboratory stewardship, test standardization, education, quality assurance, research, and regulatory compliance have enhanced patient care, and elevated his institution to new heights. 

“I did not expect to be in the Top Five, and I’m truly overwhelmed by this honor. For a laboratory professional who started out as a bench technologist and over the years progressed as a laboratory supervisor, biochemist, and to a unique role of Clinical Architect for Laboratory Medicine, this recognition clearly shows that ASCP values hard work and innovation. It gives me goose bumps and tells me that there are bigger and better things we can go on to achieve in the field of pathology and laboratory medicine,” he says.   

Dr. Kadel is highly motivated to have the laboratory recognized as the center of patient care. “I want to promote and publicize laboratory medicine, so that physicians will reach out to us when they need help with lab test selection and results interpretation. We want physicians to know there are experts in the lab who can help them with anything laboratory related,” he says. “My goal is to improve patient outcomes. I find pride in being able to sit behind the scenes in the laboratory and yet, be able to help with direct patient care,” he adds.    

Sophia B. Bellegarde, MD, MBA, MLS(ASCP) 

By her own admission, Sophia B. Bellegarde, MD, MBA, MLS(ASCP), hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in many years. A Haitian political refugee who came to the U.S. as a child, Dr. Bellegarde has spent most of her career working several jobs around the clock. She began her laboratory career in microbiology in New York, later transitioned to overnight shifts in clinical chemistry, and ultimately found her passion in the blood bank. She is now an Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.  

“I was an undergraduate majoring in biology when one of my professors approached me about a pilot program in laboratory medicine science. I knew nothing about the lab but thought this program would help me get a job right out of college, which I needed to help support my family. The program was pivotal, because I fell in love with laboratory medicine—and eventually with transfusion medicine,” she says.  

Dr. Bellegarde also earned a master’s degree in business administration prior to attending medical school and becoming a physician.  

“I hope whoever looks at my path realizes that the only limits that truly exist are the ones you put in your own head. I’m so grateful to have been chosen as one of the Top Five. It’s an honor to be among some of the best in the field. It means that the little girl in me who dared to dream would probably stand beside me right now, clapping,” Dr. Bellegarde adds. 

Yembur Ahmad, MD  

Yembur Ahmad, MD, is Medical Director of the Blood Donor Center and Associate Medical Director of the Blood Bank at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is also a faculty member at Harvard Medical School.   

A Houston native, Dr. Ahmad started traveling the world with her parents as a young child. That early exposure to other cultures and ideas extended her worldview and set the stage for the career she would go on to have. “There is such disparity in the quality and access of laboratory medicine across the world. The lab is essential for high-quality patient care. I’m passionate about being part of the solution to this global problem,” she says. Dr. Ahmad’s recent work, implementing a pilot proficiency testing program in Accra, Ghana, is illustrative of her commitment to standardizing and improving laboratory testing worldwide. In line with her powerful commitment to global healthcare equity, Dr. Ahmad also wants to continue working toward improving blood safety and access worldwide.   

Despite her large body of accomplishments, Dr. Ahmad was surprised to be chosen as one of ASCP’s Top Five. “This honor means a lot to me. I always noticed the groups being chosen year after year, and it seemed like such an extraordinary honor. To be considered on par with the prior recipients, as well as with this year’s recipients, is amazing to me. Being chosen as one of the Top Five will also increase my visibility within the field, and provide me with more collaboration opportunities,” she says.  

June L. Chan, PhD, D(ABMM), M(ASCP)^CM  

June Chan, PhD, D(ABMM), M(ASCP)^CM, is an assistant attending on the clinical microbiology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the director of the Microbiology Core, Mycobacteriology, Parasitology, and Virology sections, and an assistant director of the Clinical Laboratory at Koch Center.   

Dr. Chan started her professional journey as an undergraduate, majoring in chemistry.     

Taking an introduction to microbiology course changed the trajectory of her professional career and training. “Once I was exposed to microbiology, I fell in love with it and changed my major. Through that pathway, I had the opportunity to learn about microbiology in different contexts, including its role in infectious diseases—clinical microbiology. I was hooked!” she explains.   

Dr. Chan went on to join an NIH postbaccalaureate fellowship program that enabled her to do two years of research science in a laboratory setting. She ultimately went on to earn her PhD and served as a public health fellow for the New York State Department of Health, during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I will take that experience with me throughout my career forever,” she says. That experience, as well as many others she has had throughout her career, including formative fellowship training received at UCLA, led her to the strong belief that microbiology Is pivotal to optimal patient care, and to healthcare in general.  

Dr. Chan is shocked and humbled by being selected as one of the 40 Under Forty Top Five. “There are so many pathologists doing extraordinary work throughout a variety of disciplines and roles, I really just threw my name into the hat, not expecting anything to come of it,” she says.  

She feels strongly that this honor is a recognition of all the people who helped her along the way, from mentors and professors to friends and family. “Earning this honor makes me want to pay it forward, by taking the time to connect with professionals early on in their career, and to be a mentor. I got to speak to a group of middle school students at P.S. 1 in Brooklyn, New York, about microbiology earlier this year. The gratification I felt from being able to connect with those students continues to motivate me. I’m delighted to have this recognition and am so appreciative of everyone who helped me pursue this path,” she adds.