Douglas R. Lazzaro Honored for Excellence in Ophthalmology

    BROOKLYN, NY, June 19, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Richard C. Troutman, M.D. Distinguished Professor in Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Microsurgery, and Chairman of Ophthalmology SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Chief of Ophthalmology Kings County Hospital Center (KCHC), Douglas R. Lazzaro, MD, FACS, FAAO, has been recognized for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in ophthalmology. He sees patients for University Ophthalmic Consultants of Downstate, KCHC, and Lazzaro Eye Center LLP.

Dr. Lazzaro has 25 years of professional experience, with ten years as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Throughout his career, he has become adept at performing complicated corneal transplants laser vision correction, and diagnosis and management of complicated corneal and external diseases. On a daily basis, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the department including a large research enterprise, a faculty practice distributed over six sites, and the largest residency training program in the Northeast.

Dr. Lazzaro sees patients in the Wall Street area in Manhattan, Brooklyn Heights and Bay Ridge, in addition to SUNY Downstate, KCHC, and NYU Lutheran. At Kings County Hospital Center, he is the chief of the entire ophthalmology service, seeing over 30,000 patients annually. He also serves as Director of Ophthalmology at University Hospital of Brooklyn. He serves on the medical advisory board for the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration and as Scientific Program Director for the Ophthalmic Laser and Surgical Society. Additionally, he lectures regularly throughout the United States and has presented posters and presentations at many national and international meetings while publishing many peer-reviewed articles.

Looking back, Dr. Lazzaro became involved in his profession because his father, now retired, was an ophthalmologist, and as a teen he would go to his office with him during the summers and was fascinated by the machinery. He knew at an early age what he wanted to do. He also had eight or nine other relatives in the same field. During medical school, he took some electives in the field and realized the positive impact that ophthalmology can make in patients' lives.

Dr. Lazzaro completed an ophthalmology residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, as well as a fellowship in cornea, external diseases, and refractive surgery at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and Cornell Medical Center. He received his MD from SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Dr. Lazzaro was recently inducted into Worldwide Registry and also maintains affiliations with The American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, The Corneal Society, The Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, The American College of Surgeons, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and The Bay Ridge Medical Society. In recognition of his hard work and dedication, he was named to NY Magazine's List of Best Doctors in 2012, 2014, and 2015, Castle Connelly Top Doctors since 2011, and he received a Physician Leadership Award from Kings County Hospital Center in 2012. Some of his other accolades include The Richard C. Troutman, M.D. Master Teacher Award in 2015, the 2012 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Service, an Attending of the Year Award in Ophthalmology from Kings County Hospital Center in 2008, and a Community Service Award for Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 2007. In the next five years, Dr. Lazzaro will continue to use his expertise to build a world class ophthalmology department which is currently the largest in all of NYC. He and his team will continue to look for cures for blinding diseases in the laboratories that can be brought to the patient.

For more information about Dr. Lazzaro or SUNY Downstate Medical Center, visit http://www.downstate.edu/ophthalmology.

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