David Prezant, MD

Dr. David Prezant is the Chief Medical Officer for the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) and the Special Advisor to the Fire Commissioner for Health Policy. He has overall responsibility for the Bureau of Health Services, Counseling Services Unit, the WTC Health Program and the Office of Medical Affairs. He is FDNY’s senior Pulmonary Consultant, Co-Director of FDNY’s World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Program, the Principal Investigator for the NIOSH funded FDNY WTC Data Center and the Co-Director of the NIOSH funded FDNY WTC Clinical Center of Excellence. 

Dr. David Prezant received his Bachelor of Science from Columbia College in 1977 and his Doctor of Medicine from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1981. After completing his internal medicine residency at Harlem Hospital, he returned to Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center for his Pulmonary Fellowship training. Currently, Dr. Prezant is a Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a pulmonary physician at the main teaching hospital – Montefiore Medical Center. 

On 9/11, Dr. Prezant was at the WTC taking care of FDNY firefighters and EMS rescue workers. He was present during the collapse and its aftermath and helped with triage efforts. Since then, he has been responsible for the design and implementation of the WTC medical monitoring and treatment program for FDNY firefighters and EMS WTC rescue workers funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety &Health. 

Dr. Prezant has played a key role in leveraging the WTC Health Program so that members can obtain WTC Victims Compensation benefits and DOJ Public Safety benefits. 

Dr. Prezant has assisted the Fire Commissioner and Chief of Department in coordinating FDNY’s response to Pandemics including EBOLA and COVID-19 – including medical protocols, personal protective equipment, testing, vaccinations and other related activities. 

Dr. Prezant’s expertise has led to advances in firefighting gear for the prevention of burn injuries and the improvement of physical performance; design of the IAFF Wellness Fitness Initiative and the IAFF Candidate Physical Ability Test; the FDNY electronic medical record and injury reporting system, computerized triage for the NYC 911 EMS system, and Medicare’s EMS ET3 initiative.

Dr. Prezant has served on numerous CHEST / American College of Chest Physician committees lending his expertise in disaster response/management and tobacco cessation. He is an author of the CHEST tobacco cessation toolkit. He has served on the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine Committee on Personal Protective Equipment; is a member of the IAFF Redmond Advisory Board and the NFPA Health and Safety Committee (co-authoring the Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments). 

He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed medical scientific papers, of which over 100 have been on the health impact of the WTC on NYC Firefighters and EMS workers including seminal papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, the CDC’s MMWR, Environmental Health Perspectives, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and CHEST. This work has identified illnesses such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, COPD, sarcoidosis, rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux, mental health disturbances, obstructive sleep apnea and cancers as WTC-related illnesses. 

In recognition of these activities, Dr. Prezant has received numerous awards including at Albert Einstein College of Medicine distinguished teaching awards, the American Thoracic Society’s Public Service Award (2011), the American College Chest of Chest Physicians’ Presidential Citation Honor Lecture Award (2012) and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2023).