Michael Feldberg and Ruth Lazarus
For more than 30 years, Dr. Thomas Nash, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, cared for Charles Lazarus, becoming a family friend and an important advocate for the health and wellbeing of the founder of Toys “R” Us stores. After Mr. Lazarus passed in 2018, his daughter, Ruth Lazarus, son-in-law, Michael Feldberg, and widow, Joan Lazarus, wanted to honor Dr. Nash for his exceptional care.
“Tom was my father’s most amazing advocate for decades,” says Ruth Lazarus, whose father was also a philanthropist. “My father loved and trusted him, so we wanted to do something that was meaningful to Tom.”
Through a generous gift of $625,000, the three donors have honored Dr. Nash by establishing a two-year Health Equity Research Fellowship and Health Equity Faculty Awards to support underrepresented minority faculty recruitment and retention within the Weill Department of Medicine.
The fellowship will allow future health care leaders to be trained and equipped with skills to implement systemic changes in institutions to promote health equity and diversity. The faculty awards will support early career development for promising young minority investigators, which has proven crucial to recruitment, retention and professional growth.
“This generous gift from the Lazarus family will make a substantial investment in the future of the Department of Medicine,” says Dr. Nash. “Advancements in health equity are critical to improving the quality of care for all of our patients.”
Joan LazarusDr. Anthony Hollenberg, the Sanford I. Weill Chair of the Weill Department of Medicine, says that the gift will help strengthen the Department of Medicine. “We’re so grateful to receive this support, which provides us with critical resources that will allow us to grow our focus on health equity and diversity,” he says.
During the COVID-19 crisis, racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care, quality of care and outcomes have become even more apparent, and addressing these issues is paramount. Health care institutions and academic medical centers can play an important role in preventing health disparities by training and promoting underrepresented minority faculty and by elevating awareness of these issues among the staff.
“We all thought that funding this fellowship and faculty awards were incredible ways to address an important issue and have a chance to make a real impact,” says Ruth Lazarus.
“There are a lot of big needs out there, especially now,” adds Mr. Feldberg. “But addressing health disparities is a top priority. We hope that others support it as well and these initiatives continue to expand and grow.”
“During this difficult period where we’re separated and isolated, you want to help others,” says Joan Lazarus. “We are happy to be a part of something as meaningful as this.”
