Mark J. Lema MD, PhD

Dr. Mark J. Lema is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Oncology, and Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (RPCCC, 1987- ). He is also a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, University at Buffalo (UB), State University of New York, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (1999). Dr. Lema served as Medical Director of RPCCC Surgical Services (2005- 2011) and as Medical Chief of the RPCCC Cancer Pain and Palliative Care Service (1988-1999). He was UB Anesthesiology Program Director from 1999-to 2018.

Dr. Lema is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), the World Federation Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY), the Medical Society of the County of Erie (MSCE), and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA). He has served as President of the following organizations: MSCE (2011), RPCI Medical Staff (2008), ASA (2007), ASRA (2004), and NYSSA (2001). He was an Executive Board member and Honorary Treasurer of the WFSA (2009-2016). Dr. Lema is an MSCE Past-President (2012) and serves on their Board of Directors. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety (2007-11) and the US Health and Human Services Task Force for the Safe Surgery Checklist (2010). He was also a founding Co-Chair of the Pain Advisory Board for The Neuropathy Association (2010-2015). He is the founding chairman of the board of the International Council on Surgical Plume (ICSP, 2015-2020). Dr. Lema is an active member of the SUNY Distinguished Academy of Professors. Dr. Lema also serves on the Board of Trustees for Canisius College (2017-).

Dr. Lema is a Past President of the ASA. He also served as a past editor of the ASA NEWSLETTER and the NYSSA, SPHERE. He is also the past General Chair of the Post Graduate Assembly (PGA) for the NYSSA. 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 AMA’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, the NYS Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care task force and the NYS Partnership for Patients Surgical Site Infection Advisory Group. He served on MSSNY’s Subcommittee on Physician Shortages in New York State.

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 (1983), and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA (1983-1985). In addition, Dr. Lema holds a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University at Buffalo (1978). He is a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Anesthesiology with added qualifications in Pain Management. Dr. Lema's honors and awards include the Clinical Cancer Education Grant, Wertheimer Fellowship, Parker B. Francis Research Fellowship, 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, recipient of the Eliasberg Medal for Anesthesiology Accomplishments by Mt. Sinai Medical School and the Canisius College DiGamma Honor Society. Canisius College also named him the 11th Schreiner Distinguished Speaker in 2007.