SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College Of Medicine Names Jason M. Lazar, MD, MPH As Vice Dean for Education And Chair of Department of Medical Education
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Mar 2, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: John Gillespie | john.gillespie@downstate.edu | (718)270-2262
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (March 2, 2020) – SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine Dean F. Charles Brunicardi, MD, FACS announced the appointment of Jason M. Lazar, MD, MPH as Vice Dean for Education, and Chair of the newly created Department of Medical
Education effective March 1, 2020.
Dr. Lazar joined the Department of Medicine SUNY Downstate as the Director of Non-Invasive
Cardiology in 2003, where he serves as Professor and Clinical Assistant Dean in the
College of Medicine. Dr. Lazar also holds appointments in the Departments of Molecular
and Cell Biology and Neurology, and in the School of Public Health. He was also appointed
as Vice Chair of Medicine for Education.
In his new role, Dr. Lazar will be responsible for oversight and support of the undergraduate medical education, the expansion of the Center for Healthcare Simulation, and the development of a broader array of programs to support faculty in their role as educators.
In 2018, the SUNY Board of Trustees named Dr. Lazar as a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, the highest rank bestowed upon professors, and an honor that recognizes and elevates the mastery of teaching. His longstanding commitment to education and mentorship, outstanding service to students, and dedication to their ongoing intellectual growth, scholarship, and professional growth were catalysts for this recognition. As a student favorite, he was appointed as Clinical Assistant Dean in the College of Medicine in 2004, a role in which he continues to assist medical students with career selection and residency planning.
Dr. Lazar’s academic mentorship bridges teaching and research. He has long mentored junior researchers at all levels, including high school and college minority students, medical students, and physician trainees from more than a dozen disciplines. Many of his trainees have gone on to win prizes and awards in state and national research competitions, as well as to assume faculty positions at leading institutions.
Immediately upon his arrival at Downstate, Dr. Lazar volunteered as a preceptor for the College of Medicine’s Essentials of Clinical Medicine course for ten consecutive years and continues to conduct bedside rounds, lectures for second-year students, and precepts first and second-year medical students in outpatient clinics. He served as Director of Cardiology Fellowship Training Program for nearly a decade, revitalizing the fellowship’s clinical and academic training mission.
Dr. Lazar serves as the Chair of the Graduate Medical Education Research Subcommittee, an oversight group charged with developing and implementing the highest quality research experiences and he has helped to enhance research collaboration among the clinical, basic science, and public health departments.
He has served as a mentor and faculty member for Downstate’s Program to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Cardiovascular Health-Related Research, as part of a team of multidisciplinary experts that have partnered to provide the didactic training to junior faculty interested in conducting research in health disparities.
Before joining Downstate, Dr. Lazar was on the faculty of SUNY Stony Brook’s Medical School and was one of the youngest faculty in the country selected to lead a cardiology fellowship as program director.
Dr. Lazar is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He has previously served as Chair of the Cardiovascular Network and New York State representative of the Governor’s Council of the American College of Chest Physicians. He is a member of the editorial board of multiple journals and has been awarded four New York State Department of Health Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP) Training Grants. He is also currently as Co-Principal Investigator of a multicenter R01 grant investigating the mechanism of left ventricular dysfunction in HIV infection. Dr. Lazar is widely published with more than 190 peer-reviewed manuscripts, many of which were co-authored with medical students and trainees.
Dr. Lazar received his medical degree from the SUNY Upstate Medical Center at Syracuse, completed his postgraduate training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania, and his MPH from Columbia University School of Public Health.
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the borough’s only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care, and is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City, and Brooklyn’s 2.6 million residents. University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) is Downstate’s teaching hospital, backed by the expertise of an outstanding medical school and the research facilities of a world-class academic center. More than 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties—many of them ranked as tops in their fields—comprise Downstate's staff.
A regional center for cardiac care, neonatal and high-risk infant services, pediatric dialysis, and transplantation, Downstate also houses a major learning center for children with physical ailments or neurological disorders. In addition to UHB, Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate.