Dr. Judy Tung, a leading expert in internal medicine and primary care, has been named chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective Aug. 1.
The division unifies hospital medicine and outpatient internal medicine programs, bringing together more than 400 multidisciplinary full-time and voluntary faculty. It provides education to medical students and residents in internal medicine, and its patient-centered research program focuses on chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity; cardiovascular disease prevention; health disparities and the care of vulnerable populations; and clinical epidemiology to inform population health management.
A master clinician and top-rated educator, Dr. Tung joined Weill Cornell Medicine in 2001 and currently serves as associate professor of clinical medicine. She succeeds Dr. Monika Safford, the John J. Kuiper Professor of Medicine, who led the division for a decade and has taken on a new position as its director of research. Dr. Safford, a nationally renowned investigator in health equity and a cherished mentor, will continue her role as co-director of the cross-campus Cornell Center for Health Equity, which she helped found in 2018.
“Dr. Tung’s strategic vision and commitment to excellence will be instrumental in advancing the division’s next era,” said Dr. Myles Wolf, chair of the Weill Department of Medicine and physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “We are confident that under her leadership, the division will continue to thrive and contribute to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian’s mission of providing exceptional patient care and advancing medicine through education and research.”
Dr. Tung brings to her new position a wealth of institutional knowledge and a strong track record of leadership across clinical, academic and administrative areas. In her current role as associate dean for faculty development at Weill Cornell Medicine, she provides operational and strategic support to maximize the academic success of faculty members, and she heads the Blackwell Society and the Mentoring Academy Council.
Previously, Dr. Tung has served as program director of the primary care residency and associate program director of the internal medicine residency. In these roles, she led in the creation of hospital medicine as a separate unit at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. She has also served as section chief of ambulatory medicine, interim chief of General Internal Medicine, and chair of the Department of Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital. In this last role, she led the integration of medicine subspecialties between NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, the opening of a multi-specialty outpatient program at 156 William Street, and the launch of medical student rotations at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital.
“I am honored and thrilled to lead this division, which has grown so much under Dr. Safford’s leadership, particularly in the area of research,” said Dr. Tung. “My greatest joy is to help individuals reach their highest potential, and there are so many opportunities to do that in General Internal Medicine, working with extraordinarily talented clinicians, scientists and educators.”
Much of Dr. Tung’s scholarly work focuses on mentorship and leadership development. She has received numerous accolades, including the J. James Smith Teacher of the Year Award, the Jeanne and Herbert Siegel Faculty Development Award and the American Medical Women's Association’s Exceptional Mentor Award. She also directs the Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP), a yearlong career development program with demonstrated outcomes in faculty promotion and retention. Her national impact is reflected in the implementation of programs modeled on LAMP at other institutions around the country.
Dr. Tung obtained her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1997 and completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of California, San Francisco. She joined Weill Cornell Medicine’s faculty in 2001 as an instructor of medicine, advancing to associate professor of clinical medicine in 2012. Dr. Tung is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.