Biosketch
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D.
Biographical Sketch (Revised: August 2008)
Dr. Mark J. Lema is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Oncology, and Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY (1987-present). He is also Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, University at Buffalo (UB), State University of New York, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (1999-present). Dr. Lema serves as Medical Director of RPCI Surgical Services. He is currently serving as Immediate Past President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (2007-8) and Roswell Park Medical Staff President (2008-9).
Dr. Lema is the past editor of The New York State Society of Anesthesiologists, SPHERE and the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ASA NEWSLETTER. He is also the past General Chair of the Post Graduate Assembly (PGA) for the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists. He has served on the New York State Public Health Council’s Subcommittee on Pain Management Practice and the Health Commissioner’s Pre-Operative Protocol Panel. He was also a member of the American Medical Association’s National Palliative Care Faculty. Dr. Lema had also served on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Pain and End-of-Life Care Panels, the American Pain Society’s Clinical Practice Panel, and the NYS Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care task force.
Dr. Lema received his medical training at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center (1982) followed by an internship at Staten Island Hospital, and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. In addition, Dr. Lema holds a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University at Buffalo (1978). He is also an Associate Research Professor of Experimental Pathology in the UB School of Graduate Studies. Dr. Lema had served as Medical Chief of Cancer Pain and Palliative Care Service for Roswell Park from 1988-1999. He is a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Anesthesiology including added qualifications in Pain Management. Dr. Lema’s honors and awards include Clinical Cancer Education Grant, Werthamer Fellowship, Parker B. Francis Research Fellowship, and UB Anesthesia Residents’ Award for Excellence in the Art of Academic and Clinical Anesthesia, the Canisius College Distinguished Alumni Award, the Meritorious Service Award of the NYS Department of Health Office for Professional Medical Conduct, and recipient of the Eliasberg Medal for Anesthesiology Accomplishments by Mt. Sinai Medical School. Canisius College named him the 11th Schreiner Distinguished Speaker in 2007. He is a member of a number of professional organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), International Anesthesia Research Society, American Pain Society, American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), the Medical Society of the State of New York, the Medical Society of the County of Erie (MSCE), and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA). Dr. Lema has served as President of ASRA (2004), and as President of NYSSA (2001). He was recently elected to the Executive Committee of the World Federation Societies of Anaesthesiologists. Dr. Lema is also MSCE Secretary-Treasurer and on their Board of Directors.
Dr. Lema has lectured at more than 225 academic institutions and hospitals throughout North and South America, Africa, Australia and Europe. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 papers in major international scientific journals. He has served on ten editorial boards in the past.
His monographs include Seminars in Anesthesia: Anesthetic Considerations for Cancer Surgery (1993), Anesthetic Considerations for Malignancies in Problems in Anesthesia (1993) , Journal of Pain and Symptom Management: Perspectives in Pain Management; the Role of Coxibs (2003) and Current Opinions in Anaesthesiology (2005,2006). He is a Section Editor of the 7th Edition of Wiley and Churchill-Davidson’s A Practice of Anesthesia (2003). Dr. Lema is also co-editor of The American Society of Anesthesiologists: A Century of Challenges and Progress (2005) [David O. Little Book Award winner].