Professional Interests

Joel Zonszein, M.D., C.D.E., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.P.

Dr. Joel Zonszein is the Director of the DiabetesCenter at the UniversityHospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a Division of Montefiore Medical Center. He is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Zonszein was born in México City and graduated from the "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México" (U.N.A.M.). He trained in internal medicine at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and Jacobi - Bronx Municipal Hospital Center in the Bronx, NY. His fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism was at NorthwesternUniversity, Chicago, Illinois and Georgetown University, WashingtonD.C.  Dr. Zonszein is certified by the American Boards of “Internal Medicine", "Endocrinology and Metabolism", and "Nuclear Medicine".  He has been a faculty member at Einstein since returning to New York in 1980.

He headed the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the BronxLebanonHospitalCenter, Bronx, NY, and in 1993 moved full time to Einstein to develop the ClinicalDiabetesCenter at MontefioreMedicalCenter. He is a co-investigator in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Diabetes Research Center and collaborated in landmark NIH clinically trials such as the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial (DCCT), and the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP).  He is the principal investigator of the "Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes" (BARI2D) an ongoing NIH sponsored study to elucidate the best management of ischemic coronary heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. He has ample clinical experience particularly in the area of diabetes with a special interest in understanding cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes and or the metabolic syndrome. He developed several programs for diabetes care delivery systems with focus on the underserved minority populations. He participates as a faculty member in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Hispanic Center of Excellence (HCOE) and a co-investigator and Scientific Director of the BronxCenter to Reduce and Eliminate Ethnic and Racial Health Disparities (BxCREED), supported by the NIH.

In 2006 Dr. Zonszein procured the New York State Department of Health award as Montefiore Diabetes Center of Excellence in order to promote best practices for women with Gestational Diabetes and identify family members for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia.

Selected Publications

RECENT PEER REVIEW PUBLICATIONS

1. Davis NJ, Tomuta N, Schechter C, Isasi CR, Segal-Isaacson CJ, Stein D, Zonszein J, Wylie-Rosett J. Comparative study of the effects of a 1-year dietary intervention of a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet on weight and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2009 Jul;32(7):1147-52. doi: 10.2337/dc08-2108. Epub 2009 Apr 14. PMID:19366978
2. Oh-Park M, McGinn A, Lipsitz E, Thomas M, Zonszein J. Racial disparity in amputation-free survival after infrainguinal bypass procedure: contribution of socioeconomic status.  Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2009 Dec;88(12):986-94. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e3181bc0ae4. PMID:19789426
3. Freeman K, Zonszein J, Islam N, Blank AE, Strelnick AH. Mortality trends and disparities among racial/ethnic and sex subgroups in new york city, 1990 to 2000. J Immigr Minor Health. 2011 Jun;13(3):546-54. doi:10.1007/s10903-010-9345-5. PMID:20411331
4. Beohar N, Davidson CJ, Massaro EM, Srinivas VS, Sansing VV, Zonszein J, Davis AM, Helmy T, Lopes NH, Thomas SB, Brooks MM. The impact of race/ethnicity on baseline characteristics and the burden of coronary atherosclerosis in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes trial. Am Heart J. 2011 Apr;161(4):755-63.
5. Singh PP, Abbott JD, Lombardero MS, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Woodhead G, Venkitachalam L, Tsapatsaris NP, Piemonte TC, Lago RM, Rutter MK, Nesto RW; Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes Study Group. The prevalence and predictors of an abnormal ankle-brachial index in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial. Diabetes Care. 2011 Feb;34(2):464-7. doi: 10.2337/dc10-1734.PMID:21270200
6. Boucai L, Southern WN, Zonszein J. Hypoglycemia-associated Mortality Is Not Drug-associated but Linked to Comorbidities. Am J Med. 2011Nov;124(11):1028-35. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.07.011. PMID:22017781
7. Korytkowski M, McDonnell ME, Umpierrez GE, Zonszein J. Patient guide to managing hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) in the hospital. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Jan;97(1):27A-8A. No abstract available. PMID:22223775
8. Carey M, Boucai L, Zonszein J. Impact of Hypoglycemia in Hospitalized Patients.   Curr Diab Rep. 2013 Feb;13(1):107-13. doi: 10.1007/s11892-012-0336-x. Review. PMID:23065370
9. Ismail-Beigi F, Lombardero MS, Escobedo J, Genuth S, Green J, Massaro E, Mooradian AD, Ovalle F, Whitehouse F, Zonszein J; the BARI 2D Study Group.  Determinants of successful glycemic control among participants in the BARI 2D trial: a post-hoc analysis. J Diabetes Complications. 2014 Jan-Feb;28(1):101-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2013.01.006. Epub 2013 Mar 7. PMID:23478173
10. Farrell P, Barnaby S, Galarza T, Simonson JK, Zonszein J, Meara A, Chung H, Figueira R, Felleman S. Population management of diabetes in a high-need urban community in the Bronx: the experience of Montefiore Medical Center. Diabetes Educ. 2013 Jul-Aug;39(4):515-22. doi: 10.1177/0145721713487259. Epub 2013 May 14.PMID:23674374
11. Goyal A, Nimmakayala KR, Zonszein J. Cardiol Rev. 2014 Jul-Aug;22(4):163-70. doi: 10.1097/CRD.0000000000000004. Review.PMID:24896249
12. Hulkower RD, Pollack RM, Zonszein J. Understanding hypoglycemia in hospitalized patients. Diabetes Manag (Lond). 2014 Mar;4(2):165-176. PMID:25197322
13. Brutsaert E, Carey M, Zonszein J. The clinical impact of inpatient hypoglycemia. J Diabetes Complications. 2014 Jul-Aug;28(4):565-72. doi:10.1016/j.jdiacomp. 2014.03.002. Epub 2014 Mar 10. PMID:24685363
14. Torres EA, Tiwari A, Movsas S, Carrasquillo I, Zonszein J (2015) Underutilization of Diabetes Education. Experience in an Urban Teaching Hospital in The Bronx. J Diabetes Metab Syndr Disord 2014 2:1 ISSN: HDMSD, Open Access Journal
15. Zonszein J, Lombardero M, Ismail Beigi F, Palumbo P, Foucher S, Groenewoud Y, Cushing G, Wajchenberg B, Genuth S, and “the BARI 2D Study Group" "Triglyceride High-Density Lipoprotein Ratios Predict Glycemia-Lowering in Response to Insulin Sensitizing Drugs in Type 2 Diabetes: A Post Hoc Analysis of the BARI 2D," Journal of Diabetes Research, vol. 2015, Article ID 129891, 12 pages, 2015. doi:10.1155/2015/129891.