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SUNY Upstate's Leslie J. Kohman, M.D., named SUNY Distinguished Professor

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Thoracic surgeon Leslie J. Kohman, M.D., of SUNY Upstate Medical University has been named Distinguished Service Professor, SUNY's highest academic honor.

The Distinguished Service Professorship honors SUNY faculty who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to service exceeding that for which professors are normally compensated. Professors receiving this award must dedicate their teaching and research towards areas of public concern. This recognition ranks above full professor. Individuals receiving this honor must have taught a minimum of 10 years full-time within the SUNY system while holding the rank of full professor for more than five years.

Kohman is professor of surgery and chief of the section of general thoracic surgery. The SUNY honor recognizes Kohman for her service to SUNY, which includes more than 20 years as a faculty member and clinician in SUNY Upstate's Department of Surgery; her commitment to clinical research in thoracic oncology and lung cancer; her mentorship to women in medicine and particularly surgery; and for her volunteer service at the local and national levels.

Kohman is director of Thoracic Oncology at University Hospital and cancer liaison physician for the Hospital Cancer Program at SUNY Upstate. This program is an integral part of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. She has volunteered her expertise to the American Cancer Society to develop cancer control initiatives. Kohman has been deeply involved in clinical investigations into the causes and treatments for lung cancer.

In 2001, Kohman served as SUNY Upstate's principal investigator for the New York Early Lung Cancer Action lung cancer screening program, funded in part from the tobacco settlement resulting from litigation against tobacco manufacturers.

Kohman has been published in many scholarly journals and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. She was listed in the 1999 and 2004 editions of "The Best Doctors in America, and was singled out by Good Housekeeping as a leading clinician for lung cancer in women. A pioneer among women in medicine, Kohman is one of only 140 female board-certified thoracic surgeons out of the nation's more than 7,000 thoracic surgeons. She founded a specialty society to support the careers of these women, and serves in numerous leadership positions in organizations related to her specialty. Kohman received SUNY Upstate's 2002 President's Award for Faculty Service and the 2003 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Professional Service.

Kohman lives in Syracuse.

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