Our Star Faculty

Distinguished Professor

Dr. Joe Verghese is an internationally recognized neurologist, educator, and research leader whose pioneering work has transformed the understanding of cognitive-motor interactions in aging and dementia. In 2024, he was recruited to the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and was appointed as Endowed Professor and Chair of Neurology and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Verghese’s research, continuously funded by NIH since 2002, has produced over 300 publications and introduced the Motoric Cognitive Risk syndrome, a clinically accessible tool for dementia risk assessment. His innovative clinical trials on non-pharmacological interventions—such as cognitive remediation, dance, and exercise—have advanced strategies to preserve cognition and mobility. Dr. Verghese is a dedicated mentor who has guided numerous scientists to independent careers. He has received multiple honors, including the Paul B. Beeson Award, Joseph T. Freeman Award, and was elected to the Association of American Physicians. His contributions exemplify excellence in scholarship, leadership, and impact on aging and dementia research worldwide.

Distinguished Service Professor

Dr. Apostolos Tassiopoulos is a Professor and Chair of Surgery at the RSOM. He has made exceptional contributions to Stony Brook Medicine. He received his medical degree from Aristotle University in Greece, followed by postdoctoral research in the US. He trained in General Surgery at SUNY Syracuse and completed a Vascular Surgery fellowship at Loyola University. He joined Stony Brook in 2006 and advanced to Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Tassiopoulos is renowned for his research in vascular disease, with numerous peer-reviewed publications and research grants. He has significantly contributed to education, creating the Integrated Vascular Surgery residency and fellowship programs. His leadership in quality improvement initiatives and establishment of specialized vascular centers has enhanced departmental reputation and patient outcomes. His service extends to numerous committees and international collaborations, community engagement, including exchange programs with international universities and expanding the RSOM international mission efforts, demonstrating the global impact of his contributions. Colleagues praise his dedication to building a nationally recognized vascular surgery program and his impact on patient care and innovative approaches to surgical education. Dr. Tassiopoulos has transformed the landscape of vascular surgery and surgery in general, and the training of many surgeons, has elevated Stony Brook Medicine, and forged strong ties serving and taking care of the community locally, nationally and internationally. ‘His career represents a rare and exemplary fusion of academic leadership, public engagement, clinical innovation, and commitment to advancing health outcomes’.

Chancellor's award in Excellence in Teaching

Dr. Angela Kokkosis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Kokkosis serves as the Program Director of the Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency and is the Medical Director of the Non-invasive Vascular Lab. She has served as the Associate Program director of the Phlebology Training Program and of the General Surgery Residency. Dr. Kokkosis’ dedication to teaching and her meticulousness and attention to detail to be outstanding. Dr. Kokkosis completed the Leaders in Medical Education Program (LiME) in 2016 here at Stony Brook, leading a project focused on how to best integrate Vascular Disease and Vascular Surgery Topics in the US Medical School Curriculum. She is a beloved educator and a favorite teaching attending among students and residents alike. She has been an Instructor for the 3rd year Surgery clerkship students, as well as an instructor for Phase I students, teaching in the PCR course. She teaches vascular surgery skills to vascular and general surgery residents, and leads the vascular surgery basic science sessions for vascular residents. She provides an outstanding clinical learning environment for students and residents and delivers high yield bedside teaching. She is a role model of humanism and compassionate interpersonal and communication skills. She explains the evidence and clinical reasoning behind each of her decisions so that the trainees develop tools that will enable them to develop into autonomous clinicians. Even beyond Stony Brook and the RSOM, Dr. Kokkosis is heavily involved in educational and training sessions and workshops in her professional societies (Society for Vascular Surgery and the American College of Surgeons).

Chancellor's award in Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities

Dr. Marie Badalamente, Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics, has been an exceptional scholar, working on a debilitating hand disorder called Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition that causes bending of the fingers, due to thickening of the connective tissue (composed of abnormal collagen) in the palm of the hand. Dr. Badalamente, in collaboration with Dr. Larry Hurst, studied the disease and used collagenase injections to treat the disease. Eventually the FDA approved the treatment and the drug, Xiaflex. Drs. Badalamente and Hurst were awarded The Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Award. She was also inducted in the Stony Brook University chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. In collaboration with Dr. Ed Wang, she used the drug for the treatment of frozen shoulder (resulting in 2016 in the Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research Richard A. Brand Award for Dr. Badalamente), and for the treatment of cellulitis in collaboration with Dr. Dagum. Dr. Badalamente has published 74 peer reviewed publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine and has 162 presentations at national and international meetings/conferences. She has also been funded by federal, foundation and industry sponsors. Dr. Badalamente has been honored at Stony Brook in 2023 as a leading researcher by the University Hospital’s CEO, and the same year (2023) she was recognized by the NY State Assembly as a “Woman of Distinction”. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Badalamente has been an outstanding teacher and mentor for medical and graduate students, residents and junior faculty. She has served and continues to serve at the university in numerous committees, and has been a prominent member in many committees in her professional societies.

Distinguished Professors

Ramana Davuluri is a world leader in Molecular Data Science, with research focuses on computational analysis of non-coding genomic regions and isoform-level gene regulation. He is well-known for his pioneering efforts to use machine learning in biomedical applications. Recently, Dr. Davuluri has developed novel deep learning approaches for understanding the DNA language, and how genetic and epigenetic changes in the non-coding genome alter the DNA linguistics. Working at the interface of artificial intelligence and genomics, he is one of the first groups to develop a genomic large language model, called “DNABERT”. His group is currently developing informatics methods to calculate genome-wide mutational scores, and integrate other biomedical data, such as histology and RNA expression to improve prognosis and cancer outcome prediction. Dr. Davuluri has also distinguished himself in the Department of Biomedical Informatics educational mission, serving as the director of the Biomedical Informatics Graduate program. He is a dedicated mentor and has supervised numerous Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty.

Kenneth (Ken) Shroyer, the Chair of the Department of Pathology, has been a leader in experimental pathology with a strong focus on biomarker discovery and mechanistic studies on novel cancer-regulating genes. Dr. Shroyer invented the first PCR-based method to analyze X-chromosome inactivation in formalin-fixed surgical specimens, a method used to define clonal composition of numerous pathologic entities. He was also the first to report telomerase expression as a biomarker of cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, and many others. His team also determined that keratin 17 (K17) is a powerful negative prognostic biomarker across a broad range of cancer types, and can impact multiple hallmarks of malignancy, including reprogramming of the cancer metabolome to confer chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. Dr. Shroyer’s research has generated close to 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and five US patents. He has mentored numerous undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, medical residents, postdoctoral research and clinical fellows, and faculty members, and guided them to conduct basic and translational cancer biomarkers research over the course of over three decades.

Wei Zhao serves as the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiology. She is an expert in the area of medical imaging for over 25 years with extensive research in flat-panel detectors in breast radiography. She has co-invented, or developed novel, imaging technologies used in several areas of medical imaging to improve diagnosis. Her research focus over the years has been on maximizing the image quality and minimizing radiation exposure for patients subjected to imaging procedures that involve ionizing radiation. She is nationally and internationally recognized for the development of highly sensitive, state-of-the-art imaging detectors. Her partnership with industry led to the first prototype, and clinical translation of her research in Digital Breast Tomosynthesis for early breast cancer detection. She has been a committed mentor to medical and graduate students, postdocs, residents and fellows.

Distinguished Service Professor

Patricia K. Coyle is a Professor of Neurology. She is an internationally known scholar for her expertise in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), neuroimmunology, and neurological infectious disease. Dr. Coyle has initiated and is involved in a number of therapeutic trials testing new immunotherapies for Multiple Sclerosis, as well as studies addressing neurologic aspects of Lyme disease. Her research has had tremendous impact in the development of diagnostics for Lyme disease, and for setting the guidelines for the treatment of pregnant MS patients. In addition to her clinical and research careers, Dr. Coyle has held active leadership positions in a number of national and international organizations and academic societies. Dr. Coyle has served for many years as the interim chair of the Department of Neurology, she has served on NIH and National Multiple Sclerosis Society study sections, on FDA Advisory Panels and has been a leading active educator of patients and the community about MS. She is tireless in her mission to share her time and extensive knowledge for the education of MS healthcare professionals, and ultimately the improvement of quality of care for every MS patient. She is a steadfast advocate for her patients, ensuring they receive the highest level of support.

Anissa Abi-Dargham, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology and the Lourie Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, has been selected to receive the 2025 Award for Research in Psychiatry by the American Psychiatric Association.

Abi-Dargham, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and associate dean and associate vice president for clinical and translational science at the Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine, was recognized for her distinguished contributions to schizophrenia research that has had a major impact on the field.

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Sritha Rajupet, chair of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine at the Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine, was awarded by her peers the designation of Fellow of AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association), or FAMIA.

Rajupet will be honored along with 87 FAMIA recipients for her contributions to informatics and AMIA at the AMIA 2025 Clinical Informatics Conference in May 2025, where she will be formally inducted into the Fellowship of AMIA.

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Carly Gomes, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, is one of 10 emerging Hispanic leaders and allies named as fellows of the State University of New York (SUNY) Hispanic Leadership Institute (HLI) class of 2025.
Dr. Gomes is an expert in neonatal intensive care with experience caring for premature and critically ill newborns. Her research is focused on understanding the role of NMDA receptors in early brain development and in neonatal neuropathologies. Dedicated to increasing diversity in medicine and science fields, Dr. Gomes is actively involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives locally, regionally, and nationally.

Dr. Lindsey Schachter and Dr. JulieAnne Gemmill have been accepted to attend the AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar. This interactive seminar provides women at the assistant professor level with foundational leadership knowledge and skills that will enable them to achieve their career goals, advance, and thrive as a successful leader in academic medicine and science. Dr. Schachter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine/Geriatrics and serves as a hospitalist on the inpatient teaching service, Associate Program Director for the Geriatrics Medicine Fellowship, and Core Faculty for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Gemmill is Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and serves as Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Tara Huston has been selected by competitive application to participate in the 2024-2025 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program. ELAM is a year-long part-time fellowship for women faculty in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. The program is dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and manage in today's complex health care environment, with special attention to the unique challenges facing women in leadership positions. Dr. Huston is Professor of Surgery and Dermatology in the Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She is President of the Stony Brook Medicine Medical Staff and Chair of the Renaissance School of Medicine Committee on Admissions.

Two members of our Renaissance School of Medicine faculty to the rank of Distinguished Faculty. Adam Singer, MD, FACEP, Interim Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, has been appointed as Distinguished Professor, and Susan Lane, MD, MACP, Director of our Internal Medicine Residency Program, Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Medicine and faculty member in the Division of General, Geriatric, and Hospital Medicine, has been appointed as Distinguished Service Professor. These appointments, made effective April 16, are a prestigious honor bestowed upon professionals of the highest caliber with a continued dedication to excellence.

The Distinguished Professorship is conferred upon faculty who have attained national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within their chosen field through significant contributions to research and scholarship, or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine and performing arts.

The Distinguished Service Professorship is conferred upon instructional faculty who have achieved a distinguished reputation for service—not only to the campus and the university, but also to the community, the State of New York or the nation—through sustained efforts in the application of intellectual skills drawing from their scholarly research interests to issues of public concern.

In their new appointments, Dr. Singer and Dr. Lane will work with other active members of the SUNY Distinguished Academy to encourage a renewed commitment to scholarship, quality instruction and service across SUNY campuses.

After earning his medical degree at the Medical School for International Health (MISH) at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Dr. Singer completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital. His main areas of research include cutaneous wound healing, burns, tissue adhesives, pain management and cardiovascular disease. In addition to being credited with over 400 publications, including several in the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, Dr. Singer serves as Editor-in-Chief of Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine. He has received several million dollars in extramural research support from the NIH, BARDA, DOD and Office of Naval Research, as well as from industry, and he is the recipient of multiple national awards including the American College of Emergency Physicians Outstanding Contribution in Research Award and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s Junior Investigator Award.

Dr. Lane received her BA from Amherst College and MD from the University of Connecticut, then completed her Internal Medicine residency training at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester. Her areas of interest include graduate medical education, physician communication and health policy. Board certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Lane currently serves as Vice Chair of the AAIM (Alliance for Academic Medicine) Board of Directors, and she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA) Honor Society. She has won numerous awards for her research and excellence in education and leadership, including the RSOM Aesculapius Award for Excellence in Medical Education, the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Inspire Award and the RSOM Department of Medicine Outstanding Service Award. This past April, Dr. Lane was also inducted as a Master of the American College of Physicians (MACP), the world’s largest medical specialty society—making her only the third Stony Brook physician to become an MACP.

Congratulations to Holly Colognato, PhD, and Ken-Ichi Takemaru, PhD, from the Renaissance School of Medicine's Department of Pharmacological Sciences, for being recognized as 2023–2024 Chancellor's Award winners. Dr. Colognato is the recipient of the 2023–2024 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, an award developed by faculty for faculty, recognizing those who have demonstrated a record of sustained, superior service to a wide range of diverse constituents. Dr. Takemaru received the 2023–2024 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, an award developed by faculty in recognition of peers who have demonstrated a record of sustained scholarship in the sciences, humanities, and professional studies, or consistent creative productivity in the fine and performing arts.

Carol A. Carter, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM), has been elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Carter is the 18th Stony Brook University faculty member elected to the NAS, and is only the second elected member from the RSOM. World-renowned virologist and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology Eckard Wimmer was elected in 2012.

“Carol has been active in translational research and has exploited her discoveries for the identification of new antiviral compounds,” said David Thanassi, professor and Zhang Family Endowed Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. “Her research illustrates the power of basic science to lead to unexpected insights and generate new avenues for therapeutic development.”

Carter was one of 120 new members elected by their peers at the NAS annual meeting on April 30, bringing the total number of NAS members to 2,617 since the society’s inception in 1863. Approximately 500 NAS members have earned a Nobel Prize.

“Frankly speaking, I’m stunned, thrilled and honored to be joining the company of those I have admired throughout my career,” said Carter. “This recognition from the Academy opens the door to the possibility of shining more light on feasible ways to approach targeting non-traditional cellular systems for drug discovery, systems that have long been exploited by viral pathogens for their production.”

Carter is best known as an early pioneer in HIV research. At the onset of the AIDS pandemic, she advanced understanding of the viral-encoded protease and purified the viral capsid protein for structural and biochemical studies. She has also conducted research on Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Virus-2 (SARS CoV-2), pathogens causing organ transplant rejection and COVID-19, respectively.

In 2001, her groundbreaking research, published in PNAS, identified an interaction between HIV and a host protein (Tsg101) that is essential for the assembly and budding of HIV viral particles from infected cells. Her findings opened a new field of research on host factors in microbial pathogenesis and suggested the possibility of targeting host proteins for developing antimicrobial therapeutics, with implications beyond HIV.

Carter has also served as a member of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Advisory Council from 2007 to 2011. She received the Stony Brook University Presidential Award for Promoting Diversity and Academic Excellence in 2013, and the Suffolk County, NY, Martin Luther King Jr Commission Public Service Award in 2016.

Currently, she collaborates with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center staff and Stony Brook Faculty in the RSOM, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Health Professions, and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, in efforts to mentor high school students interested in pursuing careers in health sciences professions.

She continues her research focus on several areas, including the role of cellular proteins in assembly of HIV and other members of the Retrovirus family; Tsg101 structure/function analysis; and antiviral drug development, to name a few.

Carol A. Carter received her PhD from Yale University in 1972. She has been a faculty member at Stony Brook University since 1975.

Congratulations to our new SUNY Distinguished Professors, Dr. Bettina C. Fries, Dr. Richard T. Mathias, and Dr. Sharon Nachman!

Dr. Bettina Fries is chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine, and is nationally recognized as a physician-scientist in the field of microbiology. She is a Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the Renaissance School of Medicine. She is also an attending at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Nationally, Dr. Fries is a Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society and also a Member of the Academy of Microbiology of America. She has served as the President of the Infectious Diseases Society of New York from 2018-2019. She currently serves as the President of Medical Mycological Society of the Americas. Dr. Fries has received numerous extramural grant support, including 20 straight years of support by the National Institutes of Health. The primary focus of her research is on the pathogenesis of chronic fungal infections as well the development of monoclonal antibodies against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Dr. Richard T Mathias earned his BA and PhD degrees and his postdoctoral work in engineering from UCLA. He got his initial faculty appointment and rose through the faculty ranks at Rush Medical College in Chicago, and joined the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at SUNY Stony Brook in 1985 as a Professor. His research has focused on the Lens and the Heart. He has made important contributions both theoretically and experimentally into how the renin-angiotensin system controls contractility across the cardiac ventricular wall. He has also postulated a circulating current in the lens, which has led to increased understanding of the physiological basis of cataracts, and is now considered a dogma in the field. In 2017, he was awarded the Kinoshita Lectureship for career accomplishments in Lens Research. Dr. Mathias has achieved international recognition for his scientific research, and has enhanced both the international scientific community and Stony Brook University with his efforts.

Dr. Sharon Nachman is an international leader in the area of pediatric infectious disease and the treatment of children with AIDS, flu and measles. She has been the principal investigator of more than 30 clinical trials of promising medicine for patients treated at Stony Brook University Hospital and conducted international trials in the areas of new vaccines, Lyme disease, and AIDS. She also directs the Maternal Child HIV/AIDS Program.

SUNY Distinguished Professors

Bettina Fries, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, professor of Medicine, and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has been named a 2022 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. Fries is a nationally recognized physician-scientist who specializes in mycology and also conducts research on antibodies in relation to vaccine development. Dr Fries’ work spans a wide range of disciplines, but her research chiefly investigates the pathogenesis of chronic fungal infections and the development of monoclonal antibodies against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Dorothy Lane, MD, MPH, SUNY distinguished service professor; vice chair of the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine; and associate dean for Continuing Medical Education in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has received the 2023 Ronald Davis Special Recognition Award from the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM). She is a founding member of the faculty of Stony Brook’s medical school, which she joined in August 1971.

Dr. Lane is a decorated physician and a fixture in the field of preventive medicine. She has spearheaded numerous research initiatives dedicated to advancing preventive medicine practices, particularly in the areas of women’s health and cancer screening. As founding director of the Stony Brook Residency Program in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, she has mentored 142 medical practitioners. Dr. Lane has also published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

One of Dr. Lane’s leading initiatives while at Stony Brook was her role as principal investigator of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Women’s Health Initiative Center (WHI) since its inception in 1994. Stony Brook Medicine was one of 40 national centers — and the only one based on Long Island — that conducted the landmark WHI study of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among postmenopausal women. She was principal investigator of a series, spanning 30 years, of National Cancer Institute–funded research projects focused on improving public and physician breast and colorectal cancer screening rates. Dr. Lane also directed one of the five initially funded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention colorectal cancer screening demonstration programs, which covered the cost of colonoscopy screenings for uninsured and underinsured health center patients in Suffolk County.

Dr. Lane is a past president of the ACPM and served as chair of the American Board of Preventive Medicine and president of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the national Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

The Ronald Davis Special Recognition Award is named after the late Ronald Davis, MD, the first preventive medicine physician to serve as president of the American Medical Association. The award was first given in 2009 to former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher.

Ronald Davis Special Recognition Award Information and Past Winners

Sandeep Mallipattu, MD, professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, is among the newest members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and will be officially inducted on April 21, 2023.

An international organization with more than 3,000 physician-scientist members from all medical specialties, the ASCI is dedicated to the advancement of research that extends understanding of diseases and improves treatment. Members are also committed to mentoring future generations of physician-scientists.

Dr. Mallipattu is only the 19th Stony Brook University faculty member elected to the ASCI, and the first since 2015.

“The ASCI is among the few organizations focused on the special role of physician-scientists in research, clinical care, and medical education, as well as leadership positions in academic medicine and the life sciences industry,” said Vincent Yang, MD, PhD, the Simons Chair of Medicine. “Sandeep’s election is testimony of his research prowess and achievements.”

Dr. Mallipattu has conducted groundbreaking research on the molecular mechanisms of chronic kidney disease and how these mechanisms catalyze the disease’s development and progression. He and colleagues have uncovered new details about kidney regulation and function, and advanced the science behind kidney regeneration.

Congratulations to our new SUNY Distinguished Professor, Dr. Danny Bluestein, and new SUNY Distinguished Service Professors, Drs. Judith Ann Crowell and Lawrence Hurst!

Dr. Danny Bluestein's research interests include the elucidation of physical forces that regulate cellular function in flowing blood and the translation of this knowledge to numerical and experimental strategies aimed at optimizing the thromboresistance of mechanical circulatory support devices, multiscale modeling of thrombosis, and enhancing clinical diagnostics of cardiovascular diseases processes and progression for developing strategies to achieve better clinical outcomes of procedures and devices for patients who suffer from these diseases.

Judith Ann Crowell, MD, is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

Lawrence Colwyn Hurst, MD, is board-certified in orthopaedic surgery with more than 30 years of practice experience and additional qualifications in surgery of the hand. His dedication to his patients and to the field of hand surgery is evident through his long list of teaching and research credentials, as well as his exceptional quality of care.

SUNY Distinguished Professors

John Fleagle, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, has won the Charles Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award. Granted by the American Association of Biological Anthropology (AABA), the award will be presented at the association’s annual conference held April 19-22 in Nevada. Known as the AABA’s most prestigious honor, this yearly award recognizes a senior member of the association who has exhibited a lifetime of contributions and commitment to biological anthropology.

Professor Fleagle’s presence in the field of biological anthropology spans half a century. Much of his work has centered around investigating primate evolution, primate locomotion, and broad patterns of evolution and adaptation across many taxa. From Argentina to India, his fieldwork has taken him across the world. In Ethiopia, Professor Fleagle directed a groundbreaking study that uncovered fresh insights into the African origin of Homo sapiens.

Professor Fleagle is a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a member of three graduate programs at Stony Brook University – the Doctoral Program in Ecology and Evolution, the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, and the program in Anatomical Sciences.

We are delighted to present the inaugural class of RSOM Graduates of the SUNY Clinical Leadership Academy aiming to support the development of high-potential physicians to serve as physician leaders and support SUNY’s academic medical centers. The SUNY Clinical Leadership Academy officially launched on June 8, 2021 and concluded on January 25, 2022.

• Azin Abazari, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Residency Program Director / Mentor: Dr. Robert Honkanen
• Thomas Corrado, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Medical Director of Perioperative Services / Mentor Dr. Sergio Bergese
• Bettina Fries, Professor of Medicine and Division Chief Infectious Disease / Mentor Dr. Vincent Yang
• Sandeep Mallipattu, Professor of Medicine and Division Chief Nephrology / Mentor Dr. Vincent Yang
• Stephen Probst, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Division Chief of Neuroanesthesia/ENT Anesthesia / Mentor Dr. Kenneth Rosenfeld
• Sritha Rajupet, Director of Population Based Health Initiatives; Deputy Director Division of Graduate Medical Education / Mentor Dr. Dorothy Lane
• Massimiliano Spaliviero, Clinical Assistant Professor of Urology; Attending Surgeon / Mentor Dr. Wayne Waltzer

Many thanks also go to Dr. Laura Fochtmann, Dr. Margaret McGovern, Dr. Julie Agris and the faculty of the Program in Health Policy & Management for teaching and participating in the Academy.

Congratulations to Drs April Castillo (Family, Population and Preventive Medicine) and Amanda Levinson (Psychiatry) for their selection as the inaugural 2021 awardees for the Long Island Network for Clinical and Translational Science (LINCATS) Mentored Clinical and Translational Research Career Development Program.

Dr. Castillo's project is titled 'Assessing whether antenatal colostrum expression improves duration of breastfeeding and rates of breastfeeding exclusivity'.

Dr. Levinson's project is titled 'Developing an Ecologically Valid Toolkit for the Assessment of Postpartum Maternal Reward Responsiveness'.

Congratulations to our new Distinguished Professors, Drs. Carol Carter and Vincent Yang! Dr. Carter, from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is recognized for her seminal work on how pathogens escape from infected cells by exploiting cellular machinery, and thus led to a new approach to antiviral HIV drug development. Dr. Yang is the Chair of the Department of Medicine, and his work focuses on identifying the causes and treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He studies Krüppel-like factors (KLFs), a group of proteins with important physiologic functions, including the ability to convert somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells with remarkable therapeutic potential. 

SUNY Distinguished Professors

Congratulations to the 2022 SUNY Chancellor’s Awardees, recognized for their outstanding contributions to our school!

2022 SUNY Chancellor Award Recipients

Congratulations to Dr. Clinton Rubin, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering on 2022 Outstanding Mentor Award and to Dr. David Montrose from the Department of Pathology on SBU Faculty Trustees Award!