ROCHESTER – Heather Lander, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). 

She is a Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist and the Associate Director of Academic Practice at their Center Perioperative Medicine.

She is integrally involved in Geriatric Perioperative Excellence and is committed to efforts around Age-Friendly Health Systems and the Geriatric Surgical Verification Program.   

She has spearheaded numerous quality projects focused on creating and implementing a geriatric perioperative surgical home that will utilize provider and patient reported geriatric assessments to deliver targeted education, optimization, and risk discussions in older surgical patients.  

She is also a current member of the American College of Surgeons, Geriatric Surgical Verification Program Committee.  She is deeply committed to elevating the care of aging surgical patients to ensure every older surgical patient receives high-quality, evidence-based care.

Dr. Lander’s commitment to advancing perioperative care is further evidenced by her participation in several leadership and fellowship programs.  

She is a graduate of the Wellness, Equity, and Leadership Scholars Program through the American Medical Women’s Association, a current Perioperative Medicine Fellow through the Society of Perioperative Assessment and Quality Improvement (SPAQI) and a participant in the UCSF Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging Program.   

Additionally, she holds institutional funding for her project, “The PROMIS of an Equitable, Innovative, Geriatric Perioperative Surgical Home.”

Dr. Lander was born and raised in Narrowsburg, New York, attended college at Villanova University and medical school at Stony Brook University.  She is the daughter of Rick and Lisa Lander and a Sullivan West alumna.

She completed her Anesthesiology Residency and Cardiothoracic Fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.   She is also the mother to three incredible children who are 7, 5, and 3.