Dr. Avram Louis Abramowitz, MD

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Barry H. Kaplan, MD, PhD, is a hematologist and medical oncologist at Northwell Health, with nearly 60 years of clinical and research experience. He's also an associate professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Kaplan is the recipient of the New York-Presbyterian Queens Lifetime Achievement award, in honor of his years of mentorship and education to internal medicine residents and fellows. He jokes that he was always destined to become a doctor—his mother chose the profession for him when he was just two years old. "She told me I was going to be a doctor, so I went with that," he says. "Fortunately, it turned out to be a profession I love." After attending Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and doing a residency at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, Dr. Kaplan became a medical oncologist in 1974, at a time when there were very few of those specialists in the country. In fact, he took the first board exams ever given for medical oncology. While building that specialty, Dr. Kaplan was part of a team that first used cisplatin for chemotherapy — a treatment that's now used widely worldwide — and his peer-reviewed research has appeared in over 50 publications. He's been part of clinical trial investigations and research since the 1970s, particularly regarding lung cancer and hematology. "What patients can expect when they come to me is an enormous depth of experience," he says. "I've seen great advancement in oncology, especially in the past few years, but what will never change is the importance of caring for patients." In 2001, Dr. Kaplan started Queens Medical Associates, a practice providing cancer care for a diverse community, which joined Northwell in 2020. That combination of a small, community-focused practice with a large institution with considerable resources, including access to clinical trials gives, patients the best of both worlds, he says. Physicians and staff represent fluency in over 30 languages, an important part of making patients feel at ease. "Northwell was the right fit for us because it allowed us to maintain our identity as a practice, while offering the kind of support and specialization that comes with a well-organized health system," he says. "We're excited to keep progressing and to keep serving our community."