Elizabeth Laposata M.D., Adjunct Professor
Biography
Dr. Laposata, a native of Washington, D.C., completed her premedical education at Bucknell University in Lewisburg Pa. where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Honors. She attended University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore Maryland where she obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1979. She completed her internship and residency in Anatomic Pathology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and her subspecialty fellowship training in Forensic Pathology at St. Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Pathology with certification in anatomic and forensic pathology.
She has held faculty appointments at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where as Associate Director of Medical Pathology, she was responsible for the autopsy service. She received the Outstanding Pathology Teaching Award from the Medical School Class of ‘93. While in Philadelphia, she established and co-directed the Forensic Pathology Fellowship program at the City of Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office.
She completed postgraduate research fellowships investigating the cellular basis of ethanol-induced organ damage, resulting in publications in Science and J. Biol. Chem.
She wrote and successfully competed for a $500,000 NIH research grant as a Principle Investigator and managed a basic science research laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
She has worked as an Assistant Medical Examiner for the City of St. Louis, the City of Philadelphia, and the State of Delaware. From 1993 to 2005 she served as the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Rhode Island.
As Chief Medical Examiner she standardized procedures and operating systems. She added a histology laboratory, an on-site 24-hour medicolegal investigative staff and revived the state’s Child Fatality Review Committee. She was the recipient of a National Violent Death Reporting System grant sponsored by the CDC. As Chief, she managed two mass fatality incidents. In a Federal investigation that lasted over two years, she managed the examination and identification of over 5,000 fragmented human remains of victims recovered from the crash of EgyptAir 990 off the coast of Massachusetts; and in 2003, she ran an around-the-clock operation to complete the autopsies and identifications of 96 victims recovered from a tragic night club fire in West Warwick, RI.
She currently holds faculty positions as Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Brown University School of Medicine and as Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Forensic Sciences at Boston University School of Medicine where she teaches forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigation. She operates Forensic Pathology & Legal Medicine, Inc., an independent consulting practice.
She is a member of the College of American Pathologists, American Society of Clinical Pathologists, International Association of Identification, American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the National Association of Medical Examiners where she served on the Board of Directors.
In 2003 the Rhode Island Commission on Women honored her as Woman of the Year and in 2004 she was selected as one of the top 25 public health figures in the country. She has authored papers in forensic pathology, and has lectured widely to the medical, legal, law enforcement, and victim-advocacy communities. She has provided expert witness testimony in numerous criminal and civil court proceeding.
Research Interests
Dr. Laposata is interested in investigating a variety of topics related to child abuse, sudden unexpected death, time of death, death investigation systems, postmortem chemistry, postmortem toxicology,thermoelectric injuries, fire fatalities; classification/certification of death, death in custody, iatrogenic causes of death, issues in medical malpractice.
