We specialize in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura, peritoneum, or pericardium and its distinction from other malignancies involving these sites. In addition, we specialize in pneumoconiosis or all types and their distinction from other interstitial diseases that involve the lung parenchyma.
The division is internationally recognized for its research and expertise in asbestos-related diseases. We perform lung fiber burden analyses for types and amounts of asbestos fibers, which provide useful information regarding causation of disease. The methodology used for this analysis is a JEOL JSM scanning electron microscope equipped with a 4pi energy dispersive spectrometer and analyzer and a Robinson backscattered electron detector. This technology is also useful for identifying other particulate material within lung samples, including silica, various silicates (including talc), beryllium and other metals, calcium salts, silicone, and microcrystalline cellulose.
Faculty
Elizabeth N. Pavlisko, MD: Associate Professor, Thoracic/Pulmonary Pathology and Cardiovascular Pathology. Since joining the faculty in 2011, she has developed expertise in neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases of the lung and mediastinum with a special interest in lung transplantation and diseases of the pleura, for which she is widely recognized as an authority. She currently serves as Chief of the Thoracic/Pulmonary Pathology Section. In addition to her clinical and research activities, Dr. Pavlisko is active in Duke Health’s Clinical Laboratories and currently serves as a medical director for the Division of Anatomic Pathology and Digital Analytics (DAPDA), inclusive of histology, immunopathology, biomarker performance and image analysis.
John M. Carney, MD, rejoined Duke Pathology as assistant professor of Pulmonary/Thoracic, Cardiovascular, and Autopsy Pathology in January 2024. His clinical interests include non-neoplastic pulmonary pathology, with a focus on pneumoconiosis and interstitial pneumonia. He’s also interested in pleural malignancies. In addition to his clinical interests, he also enjoys teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and pathologists’ assistants.
Carolyn Glass, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, joined the Duke Faculty in 2018. Dr. Glass completed residency and fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School with specialization in Cardiothoracic pathology. Dr. Glass is an NIH-funded investigator and has published over 60 manuscripts/book chapters, including chapters in the most recent version of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Classification of Tumours: Thoracic Tumours (5th edition, Volume 5) 2021. She has a special interest in identifying new epigenetic molecular biomarkers that may predict response or resistance to conventional, targeted and immune therapy and predicting biomarkers of response using computational techniques. She works closely with the Duke Thoracic Oncology Group and DCI Center for Cancer Immunotherapy. Dr. Glass currently also serves as the Director of the Duke University Hospital Autopsy Service and Co-Director of the Duke Division of Artificial Intelligence and Computational Pathology.
Huihua Li, MD, PhD, joined Duke Pathology’s Cardiovascular, and Pulmonary/Thoracic Divisions as an assistant professor in July 2023. His current academic interests include immunotherapy and tumor microenvironment in mesothelioma, lung neoplasms and non-neoplastic lung diseases. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, hiking with family, and photography.
Sergio Pina-Oviedo, MD, is certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology and hematopathology. Before his appointment at Duke in March 2022, he was Assistant Professor and Director of the Hematology laboratory in the Department of Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His research and academic interests include the study of hematolymphoid tumors, thoracic/lung pathology, mediastinal lymphomas, the correlation between morphology and molecular alterations of tumors, infectious diseases, and the history of pathology, all which are reflected in his peer-reviewed publications (>70), book chapters (>20), and abstracts.
Victor L. Roggli, MD, joined the faculty in July, 1980 and trained in pulmonary pathology under Dr. Philip C. Pratt. He was appointed Professor of Pathology in 1994, and was the Director of the Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the Durham VA Medical Center from 1992 to 2006. His research interests include pneumoconiosis, asbestos-related diseases, and analytical electron microscopy. Roggli has published more than 240 articles and 41 chapters in textbooks. He has also written five books, including Microprobe Analysis in Medicine, Biomedical Applications of miicroprobe Analysis, and Pathology of Asbestos-Associated Diseases, 1st 2nd and 3rd Editions, and edited two monographs, both related to the diagnosis of mesothelioma. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society, the International Academy of Pathology, the Pulmonary Pathology Society, the Society for Ultrastructural Pathology, the International Mesothelioma Panel and the U.S.-Canadian Mesothelioma Panel.
