Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, FAAP

Senior Research Scientist, Research, Evaluation & Policy

Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, Senior Research Scientist at the New Academy of Medicine, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Pediatrics at the Mailman School of Public Health and the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, and President Emerita SUNY Upstate Medical University is a clinician-researcher who has consistently attacked and linked the structural inequities related to the environmental exposures and social conditions of women and children (e.g. violence and toxins, maternal mortality) to the demand for ethical, accountable leadership across the research, education, clinical and policy landscape. Her academic career has been defined by the study of the key areas of morbidity and mortality for children (lead poisoning, adolescent pregnancy, injuries (especially violent injuries)) and the systems’ response to the key determinants of health such as poverty and racism. Her leadership positions (Division Chief/Vice Chair, Chair and President of a Health Science University) have carved a path to effect change in the organization of care, the training of health professionals, the recognition of child rights and the policies that drive inequities.

Dr. Laraque-Arena, a product of public-school education, completed her medical studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She received full academic support as the Roy Markus Scholar (1977-1981) for her medical studies. Her internship and residency were completed at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania where she was also a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow in General Academic Pediatrics (1984-86). Her fellowship research focused on lead poisoning and calcium status in Black preschoolers. Driven to address the health needs of disadvantaged communities, she accepted her first academic position at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University and Harlem Hospital Center where she rose to the rank of Associate Professor (1986-2000). She then accepted a position as Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. During that period (2000-2010) she was promoted to the position of tenured Professor of Pediatrics and received the endowed chair as the Debra & Leon Black Professor of Pediatrics and became Vice-Chair for Public Policy and Advocacy. During this period, she focused on the methods of integrating mental health services into primary care settings for children and adolescents and is a founding member of the REACH Institute (www.reachinstitute.org). Subsequently, she accepted the position of Chair and Vice President of the Maimonides Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn—the first woman and first African American to hold that position in the 100-year history of the hospital, and was Professor of Pediatrics (Investigator Track, 2010-2015) at Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY. In that role she expanded the medical home model and basic concepts of community pediatrics to the Orthodox Jewish community and one of the largest new immigrant Chinese communities in Sunset Park -among other activities.

Dr. Laraque-Arena was appointed the seventh President of SUNY Upstate Medical University on September 10, 2015, and began her tenure in January,2016, and held the positions of tenured Professor of Pediatrics with additional appointments in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Public Health & Preventive Medicine. During that time, she championed the idea of the responsibility of universities to address the leading causes of morbidity and mortality for children and adults as well as the support for the full continuum of health, addressing health and economic disparities (as Co-Chair of the Governor’s Regional Economic Development Council), and furthering the economic development of Central New York as the region’s leading employer. She completed her tenure at the university in 2019. She was and remains the first/only woman and African American to hold the position of President at SUNY, Upstate Medical University in the university’s 182-year history.

Dr. Laraque-Arena’s scholarly work has focused on maternal-child health, adolescent health behaviors, injury prevention, especially related to penetrating trauma, mental health integration in primary care settings, global child health and health equity. She was continuously funded for 30 years through foundation, state and federal grants. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts, multiple chapters and media resource and educational materials. She edited the book Principles of Global Child Health: Education and Research; the special series in Pediatric Clinics of North America (2019), Ending the War against Children: The rights of children to live free of violence (2021); the special series in Pediatric Medicine (Shanghai, China), Integrating Mental Health in the Comprehensive Care of Children and Adolescents: Prevention, Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (2021); and is senior editor and originator of the book Leadership at the intersection of gender and race in Healthcare and Science: Case Studies and Tools. (2023).

Dr. Laraque-Arena has mentored hundreds of students and faculty, trained dozens of fellows in general pediatrics, general medicine, environmental medicine, child abuse pediatrics, and public health and was instrumental in establishing the Mount Sinai (NY) Master of Public Health Program. She is the Past President of Academic Pediatric Association (2009-2010), former member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Board of Directors (2012-2016). She was elected as a Fellow of The New York Academy of Medicine (2000) and the American Pediatric Society (2005), served as member to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Committee on Integrating Primary Care and Public Health (2011) and as Co-Chair, the New York State Governor’s Task Force on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes (2018-2019). In addition to her role as board member of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation (WIMLF), she became the President of WIMLF in 2022. She serves on the board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse America and the board of Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) for which she is Chair-Elect (2022).

Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, FAAP is married to Luigi Arena, MD, PhD. They have two children Marc Arena, JD, MA and Julia Marie Arena, MD, MS and two granddaughters.

Contact Info:

• (212) 822-7255
• DLaraque-Arena@nyam.org