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English: John C. LaRosa, M.D., FACP, is president and professor of medicine at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, also known as SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn. A leader in medical education and academic medicine administration, Dr. LaRosa is an accomplished investigator who is internationally known for his research on statins and the role cholesterol, hormones, and diet play in heart disease.

As president of the only academic medical center in Brooklyn, Dr. LaRosa is responsible for the overall direction of academic programs and research at SUNY Downstate, which comprises the College of Medicine (the 15th oldest medical school in the country), School of Graduate Studies, College of Nursing, and College of Health Related Professions. He also oversees the management of University Hospital of Brooklyn, a 376-bed facility that serves one of the most diverse populations in the nation. Nearly 85 percent of its patients are disadvantaged minorities.

Dr. LaRosa has served as president of SUNY Downstate since 1999. During his tenure, he has greatly strengthened and expanded its clinical and education programs. In addition to a new Master of Public Health Program, he has overseen the creation of an innovative accelerated baccalaureate nursing program and a joint Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering with neighboring Polytechnic University. New or greatly enhanced clinical services include cardiovascular and cardiothoracic programs, a Clinical Neurosciences Center, and services for women and children, including a renovated labor and delivery suite and a new neonatal intensive care unit opened in Spring, 2005.

One of his most forward-looking projects is the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator and Biotech Park. When fully built out, it will accommodate 20 to 30 companies; anchor tenant ImClone Systems, Inc. has leased 13,000 square feet. The first new biotechnology incubator to be built in New York City in over a decade, the project is unique because it couples scientific entrepreneurship with a manufacturing component – providing an unprecedented opportunity to foster biotechnology development in Brooklyn.

Downstate’s extramural research funding has doubled under Dr. LaRosa’s leadership. An innovative recent initiative is a $1.1 million EXPORT grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a Brooklyn Center for Health Disparities, with an initial focus on finding ways to reduce disparities in cardiovascular health.

Dr. LaRosa’s own research focuses on statins. He is the co-principal investigator of the Treating to New Targets study, which involved over 10,000 patients at 257 clinical sites in 14 countries. The results of this eight-year study – which looked at the clinical efficacy of lowering LDL cholesterol levels in patients with heart disease below current guidelines – were released at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in March, 2005 and widely reported. The study’s release was timed to coincide with a featured article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he received his B.S. degree in chemistry, summa cum laude,and his M.D. degree in 1965, Dr. LaRosa completed his residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and a fellowship at the National Heart Institute.

Immediately prior to his appointment at Downstate, Dr. LaRosa served as chancellor of Tulane University Medical Center, a major academic, medical, and research center in Louisiana. He is credited with having strengthened Tulane’s academic and research enterprise and improving the management of its hospital. Under his leadership, Tulane attracted public and private funding for clinical centers and research in gene therapy, infectious diseases, and women’s health. Prior to his tenure at Tulane, Dr. LaRosa was dean of clinical affairs and later, dean of research at George Washington Medical Center. He has published some 180 scholarly articles, monographs, and abstracts. He chaired the first National Cholesterol Conference and the American Heart Association’s Task Force on Cholesterol Issues.

Dr. LaRosa and his wife, Judith LaRosa, Ph.D., R.N., who is professor of preventive medicine and community health at SUNY Downstate, live in Brooklyn Heights. They have two grown children, one a physician, the other an attorney. An accomplished pianist, Dr. LaRosa is an ardent jazz enthusiast and music scholar.