Kenneth Prager
Professor of Medicine, Director of Medical Ethics, and Chair of the Medical Ethics Committee, Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Prager is Professor of Medicine, Director of Medical Ethics, and Chair of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia University Medical Center. He spent two years in the Indian Health Service practicing general medicine on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota after his medical internship. Dr. Prager held clandestine medical clinics in the Soviet Union during a visit to persecuted Jews in 1986, and later set up the first U.S. - Soviet medical student exchange program between Columbia P&S and the First Moscow Medical Academy.
Dr. Prager has been a pulmonologist for over 45 years. He teaches pulmonology and medical ethics to medical students, house officers and nurses. His writings on medicine and medical ethics have appeared in medical journals and textbooks as well as on the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Prager was a regular guest lecturer in Israel for the Ben Gurion University MD Program in International Health and Medicine in collaboration with Columbia University Health Sciences. He has received numerous honors for his patient care, clinical expertise, teaching, and contributions to organ donation. Among these are The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award and the Columbia University Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching.