Dr. Lawrence J. Brandt's research interests include ischemic and vascular disorders of the gastrointestinal system, inflammatory bowel diseases, colitis, geriatric gastroenterology, AIDS, and endoscopic technique. Amongst his contributions are: the performance of the first non-operative gastric polypectomy; the demonstration that gastrointestinal bacteria produce cobamides from dietary vitamin B12 that may inhibit vitamin B12 absorption; that metronidazole can heal and maintain healing of perineal Crohn's disease; that most cases of newly diagnosed IBD in the elderly are actually ischemic colitis misdiagnosed as ulcerative or Crohn's colitis; the classification of ischemic colitis and description of its natural history; the first demonstration of laser-induced regression of Barrett's epithelium; the development (and U.S. patent) of a cytology balloon [to diagnose infectious esophagitis in AIDS patients]; and use of fecal transplantation to treat chronic and recurring C. difficile colitis. Long-standing major interests are the patient-doctor relationship and the way that a patient's psychologic makeup influences his/her illnesses and treatments.
Dr. Brandt has been on the editorial boards of numerous journals and has authored or edited more than 350 scientific publications and six books, the latest of which, Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease (8th edition), just won first prize in the British Medical Association's Medical Book Competition. He currently is Associate Editor for the Focal Points section of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He has received many other awards and honors, chief among which are the Distinguished Educator Award of the American Gastroenterological Association, the Distinguished Educator Award of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the Clinical Achievement Award of the American College of Gastroenterology and the William Dock M.D. Master Teacher Award of the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Brandt is a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology (MACG) and served on the Board of Trustees of that organization for 13 years, before being elected President of the ACG, 1992-1993. Dr. Brandt has been Visiting Professor at many institutions throughout the United States , and has given over 500 lectures nationally and internationally. He is an honorary member of the Argentine and Dominican Republic's Societies of Gastroenterology. He was invited to join the Davidoff Society of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1990, recognizing his excellence in teaching and was named the Montefiore Staff and Alumni Association's Honoree in 1999. In 2007, he was named Best Teacher in the Department of Medicine by the house-staff. He also just finished 3 terms as a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) subspecialty section in Gastroenterology. Dr. Brandt has been listed every year in Best Doctors in America since 1994 and he has been in Who's Who in America since 1998.
After receiving his M.D. degree from the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, Dr. Brandt did his postgraduate medical education at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York including fellowship in Gastroenterology. He then served in the Army as a gastroenterology specialist and was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. After his military discharge, Dr. Brandt joined the staff of Montefiore Medical Center, where he currently is the Chief Emeritus of Gastroenterology and Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.