Meet Our Pathology Team
Mark A. Super M.D., Chief Forensic Pathologist
Dr. Super joined the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office in January 2002 as the Chief Forensic Pathologist and has more than 20 years of experience and expertise in the field of forensic pathology. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and forensic pathology.
As Chief Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Super is responsible to perform medico-legal autopsies on persons whose deaths fall under the Sacramento County Coroner’s jurisdiction. He also supervises other staff forensic pathologists and serves as the Coroner’s consultant on day-to-day forensic pathology issues. In addition to his responsibility for all cause of death determinations and autopsy report quality assurance, he often attends death scenes and testifies in court when needed.
From the start of his residency at the San Diego Naval Hospital in 1980, Dr. Super enjoyed the field of autopsy pathology. He says the overlap between law enforcement and medicine allows him to work with many different professionals including police officers, lawyers, criminalists, and family members of deceased individuals.
Dr. Super finds that performing autopsies is a problem-solving tool to answer questions about why or how someone died. These answers help family members and law enforcement, and sometimes even influences public health policy. He says that each autopsy uncovers something new or different which keeps the job interesting and rewarding. Because the field is so expansive and connects with nearly every branch of medicine, Dr. Super notes the challenge for pathologists is to stay current and open to new methods of investigating the cause of death.
Elizabeth Albers M.D., Forensic Pathologist
Dr. Elizabeth Albers received her medical degree from the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1999. After graduation, she served her residency at the University of San Diego working at the Veteran’s Administration and UCSD Medical Centers.
Dr. Albers joined the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office in August, 2004 as a forensic pathologist. Her duties include conducting autopsies and assisting in death investigations, as well as testifying in civil and criminal proceedings as needed. In addition, her responsibilities include teaching students, medical residents, and other non-medical professionals. She is also an assistant clinical professor in the Pathology Department at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Dr. Albers says working in the field of forensic pathology is satisfying and stimulating because it is constantly changing, and offers a new question to be answered or a mystery to be solved with each case. She adds that it is equally unsatisfying when there are no easy answers to provide to the loved ones of a deceased person.
Stephany E. Fiore M.D., Forensic Pathologist
Intrigued by forensic pathology while taking elective courses in medical school, Dr. Stephany Fiore became “hooked” on the field. After completing her medical degree from the St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis Missouri in1995, she did post-graduate training for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York, NY. She was on staff during the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Dr. Fiore joined the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office in July 2002 as a forensic pathologist and neuropathology consultant. Her duties include conducting autopsies and assisting in death investigations, as well as testifying in criminal and civil proceedings as needed. In addition to her position with Sacramento County, Dr. Fiore currently serves as an assistant clinical professor in the Pathology Department at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Regarding her job as a forensic pathologist, Dr. Fiore says she enjoys the intellectual challenge of solving the puzzles of why people have died, the interdisciplinary aspects, and the new technologies being used in the field to help pathologists make the correct determinations of death.