On Monday, October 24, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced that Dr. Constance DiAngelo has been appointed the city’s new Chief Medical Examiner. 

She is a board-certified anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathologist with over 20 years of experience. In that time, she has reviewed findings of or performed the autopsies for thousands of cases. She has also taught forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigation in the classroom and the field.

Dr. DiAngelo has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from George Washington University. She also has a Master of Science in Biology from Virginia Tech and a Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Wisconsin. 

In 2018, she completed a pediatric pathology fellowship. She also completed a year-long Forensic Pathology fellowship at the City of Philadelphia’s Medical Examiner’s Office. There, she trained with Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mirchandani and Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Hood. 

In 2019, Dr. DiAngelo became the first director of autopsy at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. 

She has experience with accreditation standards and has helped other ME offices get accreditation. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, only 4% of the country’s ME offices are accredited. Philadelphia’s ME is among the unaccredited. 

“Dr. DiAngelo’s reputation as a medicolegal death investigator, as evidenced by credentialing and a depth of experience, demonstrates her competence and capacity to lead the Medical Examiner’s Office,” said Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Frank Franklin. 

He added, “However, and equally important, Dr. DiAngelo has the keenness to diagnose the organizational health of the Medical Examiner’s Office and ensure the office’s operational capacity aligns with its statutory responsibilities and strategic objectives. I am confident Dr. DiAngelo will continue to move the Office and the City of Philadelphia in the right direction, and I look forward to supporting her leadership.”  

Her appointment comes a little over a year after her predecessor Dr. Sam Gulino resigned. Gulino resigned after the news came to light that he had cremated and disposed of remains belonging to one of the MOVE bombing victims without informing next of kin. 

He did this on the order of former Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.