Faculty

Background and Expertise:

Dr. Pascal James Imperato is Dean and Distinguished Service Professor of the School of Public Health. Prior to becoming Dean, he was Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health in the College of Medicine. He received his MD degree from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, College of Medicine. He spent several months of his fourth year at a remote bush clinic in the North Mara District of Tanganyika Territory (now Tanzania). He then completed a residency in internal medicine at Long Island College Hospital where he was assigned to the Tropical Disease Clinic. He was awarded the Glorney-Raisbeck Fellowship of the New York Academy of Medicine, and served his fellowship at the International Center for Medical Research and Training (ICMRT) located at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, and at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, from where he received his MPH&TM degree. He then served for six years as a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in West Africa, where he directed mass immunization campaigns against smallpox, measles, yellow fever, cholera, and meningococcal meningitis. He also conducted research on these diseases as well as on leishmaniasis and histoplasmosis. He studied traditional African therapeutic systems in Mali and their interactions with allopathic medicine. His field studies of the art of the Bamana, Dogon, and Peul peoples of Mali are greatly valued in the field of African art scholarship. For his work in Africa, the U.S. Department of State awarded him its Meritorious Honor Award and Medal.

During his six-year tenure at the New York City Department of Health, Dr. Imperato successively served as Director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control and Principal Epidemiologist, First Deputy Commissioner of Health and Director of the department’s Residency Training Program in Public Health, and as Commissioner of Health and Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

While at the New York City Department of Health, Dr. Imperato was Clinical Professor of Public Health at Cornell University Medical College and on the faculty of the School of Public Health at Columbia University. On leaving the New York City Department of Health, he became Professor and Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health in the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He was later appointed Distinguished Service Professor.

In 2001, Dr. Imperato assumed the additional responsibility of Director of the Master of Public Health Program. With the steady expansion of the program, in 2008 he became Dean of the Graduate Program in Public Health and the School of Public Health Initiative and in 2009 Founding Dean and Dean of the School of Public Health.

Dr. Imperato was a member of the New York State Council on Graduate Medical Education, the Board for Professional Medical Conduct, the Board of Directors of the Primary Care Development Corporation, and the Board of Regents of Long Island College Hospital. He was also Chair of the New York State Board for Medicine, and for several years was a member of the Fulbright Screening Committee for Africa. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Physicians for Social Responsibility of New York City, a member of the Advisory Council of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and a member of the New York State Department of Health Nicholas A. Rango HIV Scholars Program Advisory Group. Over the years, he has served as a consultant on health programs in Africa for the US Agency for International Development and non-governmental organizations.

Dr. Imperato served for seven years as editor of the New York State Journal of Medicine, chaired the Publications Committee of the American College of Epidemiology, now edits the Journal of Community Health, and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice and The Pharos. He is the author of over 200 scientific papers, 24 books, and numerous articles on the art and history of Africa.

Dr. Imperato served on many College of Medicine committees and task forces. He served two 4-year terms as Chair of the Committee on Educational Policy and Curriculum (Curriculum Committee), chaired the Second Year Promotions Committee for twelve years, and was Chair of the Special Working Group on the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education Relationship. He also served as course director for the required Second Year Course in Preventive Medicine and Community Health from 1978 to 1998. Since 1980, he has served as course director for the international health elective, “Health Care in Developing Countries.” In 2005-2006 he served as Chair of the Search Committee for the Dean of the College of Medicine. His research in recent years has focused on clinical outcomes and health care quality improvement.

Dr. Imperato is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. In 1999, he received the New York City Department of Health’s Public Health Achievement Award, and was made a Master of the American College of Physicians. In 2003, he was awarded the James D. Bruce Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions in Preventive Medicine by the American College of Physicians, and in 2008, the Haven Emerson Award of the Public Health Association of New York City for distinguished contributions to public health in New York City. He holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Tulane University and from St. John's University.