Press Contact:
Laura Ferreira – 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday
All other times: Contact (201) 236-6304
Contact: November 2011
Beth Salamon
Public Relations and Marketing
973-322-4926, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Robert G. Lahita, MD, PH.D, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, is Named Master of American College of Rheumatology
Newark, NJ--Robert Lahita, MD, PhD; Chairman of Medicine and Vice President of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, was named a Master of the American College of Rheumatology at a session of the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting, in Chicago.
The designation of Master is conferred by the board of directors of the College on ACR members, who 
have made outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology through scholarly achievement and/or service to their patients, students and profession.
Robert Lahita MD, PhD, FACP, FACR, FRCP, is an adjunct Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School and Professor of Medicine at UMDNJ. He is Chairman of Medicine at the Newark Beth Israel Hospital and Vice President. He is currently a senior attending physician at Newark Beth Israel Hospital.
Dr. Lahita earned his medical Degree from the Jefferson Medical College and his doctorate in microbiology from the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He received his postgraduate training in internal medicine at New York Hospital- Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases. He later joined the laboratory of Henry G. Kunkel at the Rockefeller University as Research Associate and Post doctoral Fellow in the Department of Immunology. Dr. Lahita rose to the rank of Associate Professor at Rockefeller and subsequently became the Chief of Rheumatology at Saint Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York and Associate Professor at Columbia University. Later he left Saint Luke’s Hospital and became Professor of Medicine at the New York Medical College. His current academic position is Professor of Medicine at University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and Adjunct Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry..
In addition to his academic and medical appointments, Dr. Lahita has written, co written, edited, and co edited numerous books on the topic of lupus, including Lupus: Everything You Want to Know. His most recent work is his book entitled Women and Autoimmune Disease, your body betrayed, from Harper Collins. He serves as the Editor of the Yearbook of Rheumatology, Orthopedics and Women’s Health, Associate Editor of the Journal Lupus and is on numerous other editorial boards. He is also the editor of the standard textbook called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (5th edition 2011) and the Textbook of Autoimmune Diseases.
The recipient of numerous research grants from the Primus Foundation, the Lupus Foundation of America and the National institutes of Health, Dr. Lahita is internationally recognized for his clinical research in systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune diseases. His findings have been the subject of more than 170 published research articles and book chapters and over fourteen books. Currently Dr. Lahita’s interests include the role of sex hormones on apoptosis, the association of gonadal pathology in women with the onset of autoimmunity, and autoimmunity in men.
Dr. Lahita has appeared on CBS This Morning, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly, Geraldo, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and Health on 12 (NJ). He recently narrated the segment on advances in biotechnology for a film shown at the National Association for Women’s Health Washington, DC, gala and completed a segment on the Autoimmune Diseases for Lifetime television..
For a referral to a physician at NBIMC, please call 1-888-SBHS-123.
About NBIMC
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, (NBIMC), a 673-bed regional care teaching hospital, provides comprehensive health care to its local communities and well beyond. NBIMC has more than 800 physicians, 3,200 employees and 150 volunteers with over 300,000 outpatient visits and 25,000 admissions annually. NBIMC is fifth in the nation in the number of heart transplants with better than expected outcomes, has the only lung transplant program in New Jersey, and combined with Saint Barnabas Medical Center, both Saint Barnabas Health Care System affiliates, is third in the nation for kidney transplants, by volume. To learn more, visit us on line at www.newarkbeth.com
About CHoNJ
Children's Hospital of New Jersey, located at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and part of the Barnabas Health, is the state's premier hospital caring for children, with specialized services to treat ill and injured children from newborn to adolescent years and has the most comprehensive pediatric cardiac care program in the region as well as preventive programs that promote wellness in the community. For a referral to a pediatrician or pediatric specialist, please call 1-888-SBHS-123. Join us on face book at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and to register for our free on line E-Newsletter click http://www.saintbarnabas.com/hospitals/newark_beth_israel/contact/email-list.html