The State University of New York (SUNY) has named the Department of Surgery's Chair, Apostolos Tassiopoulos, MD, FACS, a Distinguished Service Professor. This is SUNY's highest faculty distinction and Dr. Tassiopoulos is the first to be honored with this title in the history of Stony Brook Medicine's Department of Surgery.
"I am deeply honored to receive SUNY’s highest faculty distinction and be named a Distinguished Service Professor" -- Dr. Tassiopoulos
The Distinguished Service Professor award acknowledges faculty whose service to their institution, community, state and nation far exceeds ordinary expectations. Dr. Tassiopoulos' work as a surgeon, educator in the Renaissance School of Medicine and researcher has had a far-reaching impact on the community he serves.
"I have spent more than 25 years of my professional career in the SUNY system initially as a surgery resident and, for the past 20 years, as faculty at Stony Brook Medicine," said Dr. Tassiopoulos. "I am deeply honored to receive SUNY’s highest faculty distinction and be named a Distinguished Service Professor. This recognition reflects not only my own work, but also the support, collaboration, and inspiration I have received from colleagues, students, staff and leadership throughout my institution. I am grateful to be part of a community that values service, scholarship and shared purpose, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to its mission."
Dr. Tassiopoulos joined Stony Brook in 2006, served as Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery from 2008 to 2025 and was named Department of Surgery Chair in 2021. In addition, he is Chief, Surgical Services, Stony Brook Medicine; Director, Stony Brook Vascular Center; and Director, Endovascular Surgery, Southampton Hospital. In his role as Director of Stony Brook's Surgical Skills Center (SSC), he oversaw the development of this high-tech, leading-edge training resource for advanced surgical education.
Board Certified in Surgery (2001) and Vascular Surgery (2002), he earned his MD from Aristotle University Medical School in Thessaloniki, Greece (1989), completed residency training in General Surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY (1999) and fellowship training in Vascular Surgery at Loyola University in Chicago (2001). He is affiliated with Stony Brook's Aortic Center, Center for Vein Care, Hemodialysis Access Center, Limb Salvage Center and Vascular Center.
Dr. Tassiopoulos' clinical interests and expertise include open and endovascular surgery for the management of aortic aneurysms, treatment for lower extremity vascular disease, and venous disease; stroke prevention through carotid endarterectomy and transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) surgery, and dialysis access. Complementing his surgical expertise, he is also an active scholar with numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
"I am grateful to be part of a community that values service, scholarship and shared purpose, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to its mission" -- Dr. Tassiopoulos
The Distinguished Service Professor accolade is the latest in an impressive list of honors and awards Dr. Tassiopoulos has received. He was elected president of the New York Society for Vascular Surgery in 2018, received Long Island Business News' Achievement in Healthcare award in 2017 and 2021, the iCARE Award for Excellence for significantly improving the quality of patient care from Stony Brook University Hospital in July of 2016, and has been consistently selected to both Castle Connolly's Top Doctors and the Super Doctors lists.