Steven C. Pugliese, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care)
Associate Director Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Program, PENN/HUP
Director of Pulmonary Embolism Response Team, PENN/HUP
Department: Medicine
Contact information
923 E Gates Building, 3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Lab: Appointments: 215 662 8766
Education:
BS (Biology)
Ursinus College, 2003.
MD (Medicine)
Drexel University, 2008.
Permanent linkBS (Biology)
Ursinus College, 2003.
MD (Medicine)
Drexel University, 2008.
Description of Clinical Expertise
I joined the faculty at Penn in 2017 after being on faculty at the University of Colorado since 2015. At the University of Colorado I completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine and a sub-fellowship in pulmonary vascular disease. During my fellowship and while on faculty at University of Colorado I studied the role of macrophages in the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension with a clinical focus on pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary embolism. Since joining Penn, I’ve transitioned to a clinical role. I spend my time in the hospital as an intensive care unit physician and I also attend on our inpatient pulmonary hypertension service as well as the pulmonary embolism response team (PERT). My outpatient focus has been in care of patients with all aspects of pulmonary vascular disease including pulmonary hypertension, hepatopulmonary syndrome, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), and acute and chronic pulmonary embolism. I am the director of PERT at the Hospital University of Pennsylvania and co-direct the comprehensive pulmonary embolism program at Penn with Christian Bermudez from cardiothoracic surgery. A large part of my outpatient practice is the follow up care of patients who suffered acute pulmonary embolism as well as patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). I work closely with a multidisciplinary team including interventional cardiology, hematology, interventional radiology, diagnostic radiology, and cardiothoracic surgery. I am particularly interested in the transition of care in post pulmonary embolism patients, patients who experience ongoing shortness of breath following an acute pulmonary embolism, as well as patients seeking a second opinion for unexplained shortness of breath. In addition to my clinical and administrator roles, I enjoy teaching about pulmonary vascular disease and cardio-pulmonary physiology.Selected Publications
Jain N, Berna R, Hejazi EZ, Pugliese SC, Djulbegovic M.: A Fruitful Workup. N Engl J Med 393: 907-914, Sep 2025.Economic Analysis of Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis for Intermediate-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: Economic Analysis of Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis for Intermediate-Risk Pulmonary Embolism. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2025.
McCarthy BE, Feng R, Torigian DA, Tong Y, Fritz JS, Minhas JK, Mazurek JA, Smith KA, Palevsky HI, Pugliese SC, Homer NZ, MacLean MR, Udupa JK, Al-Naamani N.: Epicardial Adipose Tissue as an Independent Risk Factor for Mortality in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Chest 2025.
Nadine Al-Naamani 1, Melanie Prakash 1, Steven Pugliese 1, Jason S Fritz 1, K Akaya Smith 1, Harold I Palevsky 1, Charlene Compher 1: Nutrition and Diet Quality in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Ann Am Thorac Soc 2025.
Scott JV, Moutchia J, McClelland RL, Al-Naamani N, Weinberg E, Palevsky HI, Minhas J, Appleby DK, Smith A, Pugliese SC, Ventetuolo CE, Kawut SM.: Novel Liver Injury Phenotypes and Outcomes in Clinical Trial Participants with Pulmonary Hypertension. Am J Resp Crit Care med 210: 1045-1056, Oct 2024.
Minhas J, Moutchia J, Al-Naamani N, Mazurek JA, Holmes JH, Appleby D, Smith KA, Fritz JS, Pugliese SC, Palevsky HI, Kawut SM: Electrocardiographic Abnormalities and Their Association with Outcomes in Randomized Clinical Trials of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Ann Am Thorac Society 2024.
Kobayashi T, Pugliese S, Sethi SS, Parikh SA, Goldberg J, Alkhafan F, Vitarello C, Rosenfield K, Lookstein R, Keeling B, Klein A, Gibson CM, Glassmoyer L, Khandhar S, Secemsky E, Giri J.: Contemporary Management and Outcomes of Patients With High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism. J Am Coll Cardiology 2024.
Scott JV, Moutchia J, McClelland RL, Al-Naamani N, Weinberg E, Palevsky HI, Minhas J, Appleby DK, Smith A, Pugliese SC, Ventetuolo CE, Kawut SM.: Novel Liver Injury Phenotypes and Outcomes in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. medRxiv Sep 2023.
De la Fuente JRO, Buckley LK, Kawut SM, Pugliese SC.: Unexplained Dyspnea: Hepatopulmonary Syndrome without Cirrhosis? Ann Am Thorac Soc. August 2023.
Fini MA, Monks JA, Li M, Gerasimovskaya E, Paucek P, Wang K, Frid MG, Pugliese SC, Bratton D, Yu YR, Irwin D, Karin M, Wright RM, Stenmark KR.: Macrophage Xanthine Oxidoreductase Links LPS Induced Lung Inflammatory Injury to NLRP3 Inflammasome Expression and Mitochondrial Respiration. bioRxiv Jul 2023.