Obituaries

E. Brooke Lerner, professor and vice chair of research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died Oct. 4 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 52.

In a message to the Jacobs School community, Dean Allison Brashear noted that colleagues described Lerner as “a passionate educator, role model and mentor … someone others aspired to emulate.”

“As we at the Jacobs School join the Buffalo EMS community in mourning the passing of our friend, colleague and educator, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to Dr. Lerner’s husband, two children and her entire family. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers,” Brashear wrote.    

Lerner began her career in emergency medicine in Western New York as an EMT and paramedic in the 1990s. A three-time graduate of UB — BA, MS and PhD — she returned to her alma mater in 2019 to join the faculty after a prolific research career at the University of Rochester and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

A pioneer in the field of EMS research, she authored more than 140 peer-reviewed publications and secured numerous federally funded grants to support her work.

Lerner continued to work during her illness and was recently awarded four more years of funding as the principal investigator to lead research on improving prehospital care for children through the federally funded Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), for which she was a past chair of the steering committee. 

She led development of the current national guideline for mass casualty triage, and her research, which prospectively enrolled over 12,000 adults and 12,000 children treated by EMS, contributed to the current national field triage guidelines for trauma. 

Focused on the next generation of EMS researchers, she taught courses in prehospital care to medical students, residents and fellows. She also mentored many young researchers, helping them develop their careers and make their own contributions to the field of prehospital care.

A key driver of community engagement initiatives, Lerner promoted discussions on diversity within the Department of Emergency Medicine; she was recognized for her efforts earlier this year with the Jacobs School’s Community Service Award.  

Following her cancer diagnosis, she worked with the National Association of EMS Physicians and the GMR Foundation for Research and Education to establish the E. Brooke Lerner Research Fund  with the goal of supporting early-career EMS researchers.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to that fund.