Steven E. Lipshultz, professor and former chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, passed away in Rochester on Sept. 5 following a six-month battle with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma and a multi-year battle with end-stage heart failure. He was surrounded by family. He was 72.

“Dr. Lipshultz leaves an extraordinary legacy as a physician-scientist, educator, mentor and advocate,” says Allison Brashear, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “His influence will continue to be felt through the patients he helped, the discoveries he advanced, the trainees he inspired and the field of pediatric medicine he helped shape.”

Lipshultz was an internationally recognized leader in pediatric cardiology and cardio-oncology. His groundbreaking research, prolific scholarship and global leadership influenced generations of physicians and scientists and improved the care of children and families around the world. Supported by decades of federally funded research and an extraordinary body of scholarship, his contributions helped shape the fields of pediatric cardiology and cardio-oncology.

He helped transform the understanding and treatment of pediatric cardiomyopathy, among the leading causes of death in children worldwide, survivorship and treatment-related heart disease in children. He helped establish the field of pediatric cardio-oncology and conducted seminal research documenting the cardiac effects experienced by pediatric cancer patients during treatment and survivorship.

Lipshultz led studies and clinical trials that validated treatments to protect the hearts of children with cancer from the harmful effects of cancer therapy. His studies also demonstrated the effectiveness of therapies that can prevent heart disease in children living with HIV.

“Dr. Lipshultz’s passing leaves a great void. He was a world-renowned scientist and gifted mentor who has left an indelible legacy,” says Benny Joyner, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics. “His work in the field of cardio-oncology established the discipline and his work in cardiomyopathy will help generations of children. He will be missed. My sincerest condolences go out to his family.”

Lipshultz helped found the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research and finding cures for pediatric cardiomyopathy. He chaired the cardiomyopathy working group for the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease Project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also received a congressional commendation for leading a coalition task force to improve outcomes for children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and strengthen pediatric health care in Ukraine.

From 2018 to 2023, Lipshultz served as the A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School. During that time, he also served as pediatrician-in-chief at Kaleida Health, medical director for pediatrics services business development at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and president of UBMD Pediatrics. He was the first chair of pediatrics to be based in the Jacobs School’s downtown home on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Prior to coming to UB, he led the Children’s Research Center of Michigan and was pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital of Michigan until 2017. He also was specialist-in-chief, pediatrics, at the Detroit Medical Center, and president of University Pediatricians and held positions at Wayne State University School of Medicine, the University of Rochester and the University of Miami.

Lipshultz earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. He earned his MD from Dartmouth Medical School and completed a residency in pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital, part of Harvard Medical School, where he was also a research fellow of the AHA-Bugher Foundation Center for Molecular Biology in the Cardiovascular System and remained on the faculty.

“Today, our thoughts are with Dr. Lipshultz’s family and loved ones, as well as his many friends, colleagues, trainees and patients,” says Brashear. “We hope they find comfort in knowing the profound and lasting impact he had on so many lives.”