Mark Jay Zucker, MD, JD, Director of the Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, was honored today as Healthcare Professional of the Year by the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA). Celebrating 20 years at Newark Beth Israel, Dr. Zucker is devoted to medical excellence and leadership, compassion for his patients, teaching and research. Under his leadership, more than 530 heart transplants and 250 left ventricular device implants have been performed at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
During NJHA’s 21st annual awards program, presenters acknowledged Dr. Zucker as a leader among his peers. He has built a multidisciplinary heart transplant program that rivals that of any premier heart center in the nation. As the oldest and most experienced heart transplant center in New Jersey, it has achieved long- and short-term graft survival rates that consistently exceed national averages and was ranked among the nation’s top ten programs by volume for the last four years.
Dr. Zucker remains a strong advocate for transplant candidates and is dedicated to bringing the most advanced treatments for heart failure to the state of New Jersey. His experience has made Newark Beth Israel a principal site for clinical research trials that offer the benefits of cutting edge therapies that are not available elsewhere. It was the first hospital to introduce the use of implantable mechanical assist devices in New Jersey in 1993 and remains one of the East Coast’s principal centers for implantation of these small pumps that offer a bridge to transplant or long-term therapy. In addition, Newark Beth Israel was the first to employ extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart/lung machine primarily used to sustain patients who are waiting for a transplant.
For two decades he has worked to improve the quality of life for people with end-stage heart disease. Dr. Zucker serves on the United Network for Organ Sharing’s Thoracic Committee and its Membership and Professional Standards Committee. His the New Jersey cardiology representative to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services a member of the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Sharing Network, as well as a member of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Cardiovascular Health Advisory Panel. He previously served as President and Governor of the NJ Chapter of the American College of Cardiology from 2006 through 2009 and on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network for 15 years.
Dr. Zucker resides in Short Hills, NJ.
Date: January 22, 2010
Contact: Caren Malone
Public Relations Department
Saint Barnabas Health
Care System
973-322-4017, cmalone@sbhcs.com
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