Professor Elizabeth Pavlisko, MD, lectured on tissue and biopsy hallmarks of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) at the annual International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) meeting April 26th–30th in Boston, Massachusetts. She discussed how different sources, histologic patterns, and timing of lung injury can increase a lung transplant recipient’s risk for chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and/or allograft loss. Lung injuries may include rejection, infection, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), for example.
Founded in 1981, ISHLT is comprised of members from a variety of specialties including surgery, cardiology, pulmonary/critical care, anesthesia, pathology, and allied health. Pavlisko served on the Program Planning Committee for the ISHLT’s 2025 meeting and will continue to serve in this capacity for the 2026 meeting. She is also part of ISHLT working groups engaged in updating the guidelines for acute cellular rejection and antibody mediated rejection in the lungs.
Pavlisko is section head of Duke Thoracic/Pulmonary Pathology and medical director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology and Digital Analytics (DAPDA) within DUHS Clinical Laboratories. She served as medical director for multiple laboratories prior to the formation of DAPDA.
Pavlisko holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Clemson University and received her Doctor of Medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina. She completed her residency and trained as a pulmonary/thoracic pathology fellow at Duke University Medical Center under the mentorship of Victor Roggli, MD, and Thomas Sporn, MD. Pavlisko is board certified in both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.
She has 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 Pulmonary/Thoracic Pathology Section.
Pavlisko’s clinical activities encompass pulmonary/thoracic and cardiovascular pathology, including transplantation and biomarker testing and autopsy pathology. Her primary research focus has centered on malignant mesothelioma and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD).
She is a prolific author with much of her recent research centered on occupational diseases of the lungs and pleura. Since 2017, Pavlisko has co-chaired the lung steering committee for the Banff Foundation for Allograft Pathology. She is also an active member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. At Duke, she collaborates with the Departments of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery.