URMC and Wilmot Cancer Institute Welcome Patricia Rivera, Lung Cancer Specialist
M. Patricia Rivera, M.D. has joined the faculty of the University of Rochester Medical Center with several prominent positions. She comes to us from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she was a professor of Medicine with tenure, and held leadership positions including co-director of the Fellowship Program, and director of the Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and Bronchoscopy Labs. She is currently the president-elect of the American Thoracic Society.
Rivera joins the department of Medicine as division chief of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine. As a faculty member, she will hold the title of the C. Jane Davis & C. Robert Davis Distinguished Professor in Pulmonary Medicine.
“Patricia will be a transformative leader within the department and UR,” said Ruth O’Regan, M.D., chair of Medicine. “She brings incredible expertise across all our missions and we are extremely fortunate that she decided to join our team.”
Rivera also joins the team at Wilmot Cancer Institute as associate director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and as director of the Clinical Lung Screening Program. “I’m so excited to welcome Dr. Rivera to the Wilmot team,” said Jonathan Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc., director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute. “Not only is she a world authority on lung cancer screening and disparities, and a funded population scientist—she has the expertise to help Wilmot move the needle with DEI initiatives as an associate director for the cancer center.”
Her areas of clinical expertise include lung cancer screening, diagnosis, staging, and management of treatment complications in patients with lung cancer. Her research focuses on lung cancer screening, disparities across the continuum of lung cancer care, and immunotherapy-related lung diseases. She studies the delivery, quality, and outcomes of lung cancer screening, and the impact of comorbidities on lung cancer screening outcomes. She also studies how rural/suburban disparities are associated with biomarker testing.
Rivera is a passionate advocate for increasing representation of women and underrepresented minorities in the field of Medicine. She recognizes barriers to career advancement and believes in establishing open dialogue and trust to support and encourage members of underrepresented groups. “I hope to be part of the movement that changes the professional landscape by advocating for women and underrepresented minorities in health care and leading by example so that they may be the best version of themselves,” Rivera said.