[August 15, 2007]

DOUGLAS R. LAZZARO APPOINTED CHAIR OF OPHTHALMOLOGY

Douglas R. Lazzaro, MD, was recently named the chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. With the appointment, Dr. Lazzaro, an associate professor of clinical ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate, becomes the ninth chairman in the department’s 134-year history. Dr. Lazzaro, 45, one of the youngest chairmen at Downstate, had been the interim chair since 2005.

His main focus for the department is to build on the solid research base where scientists are working on retina projects, the goal of which is to find new treatments for diabetic retinal diseases and macular degeneration. “In the last two years we’ve enhanced all of the diagnostic imaging techniques for the department,” Dr. Lazzaro said. Soon the department will embark on a clinical research study with Pfizer looking at a drug treatment and its potential effect on diabetic retinal diseases, Dr. Lazzaro added.

A resident of Bay Ridge, Dr. Lazzaro received his medical training at Downstate and followed with a residency there in ophthalmology. Dr. Lazzaro then completed a cornea and refractive surgery fellowship at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital under Dr. Sandra Belmont.

Dr. Lazzaro serves as director of continuing medical education for the Department of Ophthalmology and is director of ophthalmology at Kings County Hospital Center, where nine of Downstate’s 21 ophthalmology residents are rotating. Dr. Lazzaro performs corneal transplantation, refractive surgery, and small incision cataract surgery. At the Downstate Laser Vision Correction Center, where he serves as medical director, he performs corrective laser eye surgery.

In April, Dr. Lazzaro was named Man of the Year by Visions, an organization that helps the blind and the severely visually handicapped. Last month, Dr. Lazzaro was elected to the board of Eye Bank for Sight Restoration for a three-year term.

Dr. Lazzaro is married and has three children. He enjoys photography, travel and sports.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center is the only academic medical center serving Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island, comprising Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Related Professions; a School of Graduate Studies; a Public Health degree program; a Biotechnology Incubator and Park; and the 376-bed University Hospital of Brooklyn.