The Department of Medicine is pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Grace N. LaTorre, Section of Palliative Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, to Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Renaissance School of Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Grace N. La Torre DO, MS, FACP, FAAHPM is a Hospice and Palliative Medicine board-certified physician and educator. Dr. La Torre is the Director of Palliative Medicine at Stony Brook Medicine and the Director of the Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship. In her role she is responsible for overseeing a large interdisciplinary team and developing palliative care curricula throughout Stony Brook Medicine. Over the last eight years, Dr. La Torre has advocated for the expansion of the palliative care service, successfully recruiting multiple physicians and other integral disciplines into her team to improve access to palliative care for Stony Brook patients facing serious illness. She most recently established a palliative care clinic embedded in the Stony Brook Cancer Center and plans to continue to grow the ambulatory palliative care footprint.
Dr. La Torre has been recognized by her peers and trainees for her invaluable efforts and commitment to palliative care education. She is a passionate educator who is committed to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, many who have ultimately pursued a career in Palliative Medicine. Dr. La Torre received the Stony Brook Department of Medicine 2022 Teaching Award among other recognitions for her commitment to education. Grace’s educational effort and leadership have also led Stony Book University Hospital to win The John A. Hartford Foundation Tipping Point Challenge sponsored by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) in 2020 and 2024.
Her interest expands beyond education, and include quality improvement initiatives and research related to the impact of palliative care interventions in the oncology patient population as well as provision of optimal end of life care for all patients facing serious illness. She actively participates in multiple Stony Brook Hospital and School of Medicine committees as well as many hospital related initiatives. Most recently, Dr. La Torre was awarded the Renaissance School of Medicine Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which recognizes physicians who are exemplars of humanism in the care of patients.
Dr. La Torre graduated from NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, Long Island, where she also received her Master in Neuroscience and Education. She completed her Internal Medicine training and a Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ Health System. Dr. La Torre was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine this past February 2025, one of the highest honors presented by the Academy.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. LaTorre on this well-deserved promotion, and we thank her for her significant contributions as a clinician, educator and mentor in the Department of Medicine and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.
