Anthony Vinciquerra, M.D., D.F.A.P.A.

Beth Ferro Mitchell

Director, Medical Humanities and HRSA Grant Coordinator & Senior Physician

Science Center 308
Le Moyne College
1419 Salt Springs Road
Syracuse, NY 13214


PHONE:

(315) 445-4737


EMAIL

Medical Humanities Director
HRSA Grant Coordinator
Senior Physician

Education
  • BS, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, 1972
  • MD, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY, 1976
  • Chief Resident, Eisenhower Army Medical Center Psychiatry & Neurology Residency Training Program, 1979-1980
  • Completion of Psychiatry & Neurology Residency Training Program, Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 1980
  • Board Certification, and appointment to Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, Washington, DC, 1982
  • Psycho-Oncology/AIDS additional qualifications in HIV Psychiatry, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, 1989

Biography

Dr Vinciquerra (or “Dr V.” as his students call him) received both the H. Paul Nelligan Medal in Pure Science, and his Bachelor’s Degree in Science, from Le Moyne College in 1972. 

Immediately following graduation, he entered Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY.  During his second year in medical school, he was awarded the US Army Health Professions Scholarship and became an Army Reservist at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, Medical Service Corps. During that time, while student president of the Psychiatry Club at Upstate, Dr Vinciquerra met, and was strongly influenced by a visiting professor – the late Dr. George Engel from the University of Rochester.  Dr Engel, an internist and psychiatrist, is considered the “father” of the bio-psychosocial paradigm of patient care. 

Dr Engel continued to mentor Dr Vinciquerra, encouraging his interest in psychiatry and behavioral science.  He also introduced the young Dr V. to the Rochester Academy of Medicine.  This began a life-long relationship with both the Academy, and the philosophy of attending to the whole patient, not merely treating the disease. That style of provider-patient relationship continued throughout the entirety of Dr. V.'s almost 50-year medical career.  In his last two medical student years at Upstate, his summers were spent on Active Duty for military training exercises.

Upon graduation from Upstate in 1976, Dr Vinciquerra was awarded his MD degree and was concurrently promoted to Captain, Medical Corps.  He began his Active Duty Army Internship and Residency Training in Psychiatry and Neurology at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Ft Gordon (Augusta), Georgia.  

Dr Vinciquerra was Chief Resident in 1980. At the conclusion of his residency training, he was assigned to Ft Stewart, Georgia, where he was promoted to Major, Medical Corps.  During that time, he served as Combat Psychiatrist for the 24th Infantry Division Rapid Deployment Force in Savannah, Georgia.  In 1982, he became board certified and successfully attained Diplomate Status from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  He was next assigned as Chief of Psychiatry and Mental Health at Ft Stewart Army Community Hospital.  His position also included being Chief of Consultation-Liaison service, and Chief of the Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Program.  During those years, he learned how to combine his skill in psychiatry, with the needs of hospitalized medical, surgical and oncology patients.  

In summer, 1983, Dr Vinciquerra returned to Syracuse as a Civilian, but remained in the Army Reserves. For the next several years in Central New York, he held many overlapping positions, often simultaneously.  He was an Attending physician in the specialties of Adult Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and HIV Psychiatry.  He was later Director of the HIV/AIDS Psychiatric Residency Training Program at SUNY Health Science Center.  His work locations varied, but included Hutchings Psychiatric Center, St Joseph’s Hospital Healthcare Center, Auburn Memorial Emergency Department, Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Upstate Medical Center, and private practice.

Over the years, Dr Vinciquerra was also a psychiatric consultant to many organizations, including: AIDS Community Resources; Auburn Memorial Hospital; Alcohol Services of Central New York; the NYS Office of Mental Health; Benjamin Rush Psychiatric Center; Empire State Medical, Scientific and Educational Foundation; the NYS Office of Developmental Disabilities; the Vietnam Veteran’s Center; and the Institute for Applied Psychiatry.  Dr V was a national speaker for several groups, including the SUNY MICA Project of NYS, the NYS Office of Mental Health, Pfizer-Roerig/Agouran, and the Institute for Applied Psychiatry.

Dr Vinciquerra was appointed to the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Upstate Medical Center in 1983, and attained the rank of Associate Professor a few years later.  Part of his work involved an exchange of psychiatric faculty between Upstate Medical Center and the University of Rochester School of Medicine.  Each exchange faculty member acted as a mock Oral Board Examiner for the other facilities’ psychiatric residents, thus rendering impartial assessments of resident competencies.  During that period, Dr V. received numerous AMA Physician Recognition Awards, and was thrice recognized for “America’s Top Psychiatrists Award” by the Consumer Research Council of America, Washington, DC.  In addition, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Fellow by the American Psychiatric Association for his on-going academic and clinical work in the field of HIV Psychiatry.

Since the early 80s, Dr Vinciquerra honed his interest and skills in psychiatric oncology and HIV/AIDS by attending many specialty programs and conferences, including the Psycho-oncology and AIDS seminars sponsored by Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City.  His additional qualifications in HIV Psychiatry and his subsequent clinical work, were often under the tutelage of the late Dr Jimmie Holland, founder of the field of Psycho-oncology.  She greatly influenced and reinforced his humanistic approach to the practice of medicine.  Dr. V. attended innumerable AIDS seminars and conferences where he met and was taught by Dr. Anthony Fauci, an exemplar in the field of infectious disease.

In 1990, Dr Vinciquerra was re-activated to Active Duty for Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. His assignments included Command Consultation, Kirk US Army Hospital, Aberdeen, Maryland, where he also served as Acting Chief of Psychiatry, and later, at Ft Benning, Georgia, in the capacity of Chief Psychiatrist, Combat Casualty Evaluation Team. 

Dr Vinciquerra requested assignments at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC in order to work on ‘Ward 52’, the AIDS Research Unit.  In 1994, he was appointed Chair, Advisory Committee of the APA National AIDS Education Project, later followed by appointment to the APA Commission on AIDS, National Steering Committee in HIV Psychiatry. Dr V. helped co-author “The HIV/AIDS Residency Training Curriculum” used in psychiatric training programs across the US.

At the conclusion of his military career, Dr Vinciquerra received: the Army Service Ribbon; the National Defense Ribbon, Viet Nam era; the Army Commendation Medal; the Army Achievement Medal, Desert Storm; the National Defense Ribbon with Bronze Star, Gulf War; the US Army Reserve Achievement Medal; and an Honorable Discharge Certificate.

For decades, Dr Vinciquerra has actively sought to care for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs), from the very beginning of the epidemic, forward.  He was one of the first physicians in the US to treat PLWAs, and he donated much of his personal time and energies to becoming an advocate - and later, activist - for human rights.  He volunteered extensively in his “off-duty” hours to work with the socially disenfranchised, the impoverished, the mentally ill, and the marginalized citizens of the communities in which he lived. 

In 2008, while continuing his teaching at other facilities, Dr Vinciquerra joined the faculty of Le Moyne College Department of Physician Assistant Studies as a Professor of Practice, holding various positions including academic coordinator and director of the Medical Humanities course.  He was CURAR Research Fellow in 2013, and in ensuing years at Le Moyne, he was awarded the Inaugural Julia and Thomas Lanigan Distinguished Chair in Medicine and Ethics, and later, the Inaugural Chair in Interprofessional Education, Purcell School for Professional Studies.  

In 2017, Dr Vinciquerra was appointed Life Fellow of the Rochester Academy of Medicine, and Invited Guest Faculty, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Division of Interprofessional Education, Montreal, Canada.  He has continued his work in HIV psychiatry, AIDS risk-reduction education, medical humanities, and interprofessional education.  He has been a guest Peer Reviewer for the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute, and for the Johns Hopkins Division of Infectious Disease, Baltimore, Maryland.  Dr Vinciquerra has held numerous positions for various HRSA grants at Le Moyne, including a 2019, $1.5 million dollar Primary Care grant.  Through the years, he has written, authored, co-authored, presented, or was faculty advisor to dozens of articles, papers, conferences and medical Grand Rounds.

Dr Vinciquerra’s personal interests include sport boxing (a carry-over from his military days), visual arts (including mosaic and stained glass work creations), landscape and macrophotography, and reading.  His philanthropic endeavors support numerous diverse and inclusive organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, anti-racism and social justice platforms, various human rights campaigns, AIDS prevention/education programs, and LGBTQ+ affirming community networks.


Publications, Writings and Presentations

1980

  • “Tricyclic Antidepressant Selection Based upon Urinary MHPG Levels”, presented at: Eisenhower Army Medical Center, August, Georgia as a senior resident research project.

1984

  • “A Review of Psychotropic Medications”, presented to Hutchings Psychiatric Center, Syracuse, NY

1988

  • “AIDS Mental Health Issues and the Practice of Psychiatry”, presented to Psychiatry Residents at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY

1991

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS and Psychiatry”, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

1992

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS Update in Psychiatry: 1992”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

1994

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS Update in Psychiatry: 1994”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

1995

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “Patients Living with AIDS”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

1996

  • Co-authored: “The HIV/AIDS Residency Training Curriculum”, presented to the AIDS Commission at the 1996 APA Annual Convention, New York City and subsequently distributed to all Psychiatric Residency Training Programs in the United States.
  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS: Difficult Terminal Issues”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

1997

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “Pain Evaluation & Management in HIV/AIDS”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

1998

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “A Psychiatrist’s Guide to HIV Medicine”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

2000

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS 2000: Science for Psychiatrists”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

2001

  • “Coping with Mood Disorders in AIDS and other Chronic Medical Illnesses”, Distinguished Guest Faculty Member presentation, Montefiore Hospital of Albert Einstein Medical Center, Bronx, NY

2002

  • Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “AIDS at 21: Personal Reflections on the History of an Epidemic”, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY

2003-2011

  • “LGBTQ and the Practice of Medicine”, presented/updated to the Undergraduate Medical School classes annually.
  • “Fast Facts: A Pocket Companion for Psychiatrists Treating People with HIV/AIDS”, presented to the American Psychiatric Association, Committee on HIV Psychiatry, Arlington, Virginia. (A pocket guide to essential and critical information on Mood Disorders, Thought Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, CNS Neurocognitive Disorders and Substance Use Disorders in people with HIV/AIDS.)
  • “Neuropsychiatric Aspects of HIV/AIDS”, presented/updated to the Undergraduate Medical School classes annually.
  • “Neuropsychiatric Aspects of HIV/AIDS”, presented/updated to the Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Upstate Medical University.

2005

  • “Fast Facts Update”, (as above) presented to the American Psychiatric Association, Committee on HIV Psychiatry, and Office of HIV Psychiatry, Arlington, Virginia for availability and distribution at the Annual American Psychiatric Association Convention, Toronto, Canada.  (Copies available upon request from the American Psychiatric Association.)

2007

  • Authored for the Le Moyne College Cultural Competence Initiative: Case Study in Psychiatry – “Schizophrenia and Substance Abuse”, May, 2007

2009

  • “American Association of Physician Assistants & The American Psychiatric Association Handbook on HIV Healthcare”, Part I

2010

  • “American Association of Physician Assistants & The American Psychiatric Association Handbook on HIV Healthcare”, Part II

2011-2012

  • “The Psychiatrist’s Pocket Guide to HIV Healthcare”, APA, pending on-line availability through the American Psychiatric Association

2015

  • Johns Hopkins Division of Infectious Diseases, HIV Guidelines Program, Peer Reviewer for the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute:  “Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders in Patients with HIV/AIDS” guidelines

2017-2019

  • 12 Case Studies for First- & Second-Year PA Students pertaining to the Primary health Care Disparities Grant

2020-

  • In progress: Opioid Primary Care Training & Enhancement Grant to prepare a multi-disciplinary 10-hour learning module.

Selected Grants and Awards

MILITARY:

1973

  • US Army Health Professions Scholarship recipient
  • Army Service Ribbon
  • National Defense Medal, Viet Nam Era

1983

  • Army Commendation Medal
  • Honorable Discharge Certificate (Active Duty)

1991

  • Army Achievement Medal Operation Desert Storm
  • National Defense Ribbon with Bronze Star, Gulf War
  • 2nd Honorable Discharge Certificate (Active Duty, War)

1992

  • U.S. Army Reserve Achievement Medal
  • Honorable Discharge Certificate (Army Reserves)

CIVILIAN:

1972: H Paul Nelligan Medal in Pure Science, Le Moyne College

1979:  American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award

1982-1985: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1985-1988: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1987: Recognition: American Association of Physicians for Human Resources, San Francisco

1987: Recognition: New York Physicians for Human Rights, New York City 

1988-1991: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1991-92: Recognition: Syracuse Cares Program, Meals for People with AIDS

1991:  Recognition: American Society of Psycho-Oncology/AIDS 

1991-1994: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1994-1997: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1997: Recognition: Association of Physicians in AIDS Medicine, New York City

1997-2000: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

1999:  Awarded “Fellow Status”, The American Psychiatric Association

2000-2003: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

2003:  Awarded “Distinguished Fellow Status”, The American Psychiatric Association

2003-2006: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

2006-2009: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

2009-2012: American Medical Association (AMA) Physicians Recognition Award   

2009: “America’s Top Psychiatrists Award”, Consumers’ Research Council of America, Washington, D.C.

2010: “America’s Top Psychiatrists Award”, Consumers’ Research Council of America, Washington, D.C.

2011: “America’s Top Psychiatrists Award”, Consumers’ Research Council of America, Washington, D.C.

2013: Recognized: Le Moyne College CURAR Research Fellowship

2013-2016: Recognized: Julia and Thomas Lanigan Distinguished Chair in Medicine and Ethics

2017: Awarded “Life Fellow Status”, The Rochester Academy of Medicine

2017-2019: Recognized: Inaugural Chair, Interprofessional Education, Purcell School of Professional Studies

2018: Recognized: Invited Guest Faculty, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Division of Interprofessional Education, Montréal, Québec


Industry Relationships and Collaborations

This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported a financial interest with the health care related companies listed below. These relations have been reported to the College and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts.

  • None

 

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