Rahul Sharma, M.D., Chair of Emergency Medicine, surrounded by Weill Cornell Medicine leaders, faculty and staff, as well as Board Members, donors and esteemed guests, celebrated the Emergency Medicine Department’s first endowed professorship, the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professorship of Emergency Medicine. The Friedman Family Foundation and the Weil, Gotshal & Manges Foundation established the endowment.
This generous gift honors the growth and achievements that have helped make the department a national model for emergency care and a continuing leader in academic medicine.
“In just five years, our department has established itself as a national leader in virtual care, innovation, physician wellness, education and research. This generous endowment holds great promise for our department because it will allow us to remain true to our mission of leading and advancing emergency care with innovation, scholarship and compassion,” said Dr. Sharma.
A 20-year veteran of NYP-Weill Cornell himself, Dr. Sharma’s appointment as the inaugural holder of the Barbara & Stephen Friedman Professor of Emergency Medicine title began on November 1, 2023.
“In academic medicine, professorships are among the highest honor we can bestow. I can think of no one more deserving of this appointment than Rahul,” said Robert A. Harrington, M.D., Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean, Weill Cornell Medicine, Provost for Medical Affairs, Cornell University. “Part of what he learned during COVID was how to use telemedicine and how to think about virtual care, and now Rahul is acknowledged as a leader in virtual care,” he added.
“Under his exceptional leadership, we have expanded the Department of Emergency Medicine and grown our research enterprise. And it was Rahul and his team who performed heroically during the darkest days of the pandemic, taking care of so many New Yorkers who came to us for help,” added Jessica Bibliowicz, Chair of the Board of Fellows of Weill Cornell Medicine.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Sharma thanked hospital partners and leadership as well as Emergency Medicine faculty and staff, citing that their efforts combined with generous gifts like the Barbara & Stephen Friedman endowed professorship ensure the continued success and growth of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
