Experience
Fellowship, Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
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Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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Residency, Internal Medicine
New York - Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
2018 - 2019
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2013 - 2015​
2010 - 2013
Assistant Professor of Medicine - Appointment – Clinical Leader Faculty Track (UPitt)
New Physician Excellence in Clinical Care Award (UPMC)
Department of Medicine Research Day – Honorable Mention (UPMC)
Mount Sinai Health Hackathon Winner (Icahn School of Medicine)
Resident Award for Quality Improvement (NYP - Weill Cornell Medical Center)
Fogarty Global Health Fellowship (National Institutes of Health)
Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship (American Medical Association)
Levi Watkins, Jr. Faculty Award for Commitment to Diversity (Vanderbilt)
2023
2021
2021
2018
2012
2008
2008
2007
Article (December 9th, 2022) - Innovative Telemedicine Program Furthers Reach of Palliative Care. UPMC Extra. https://inside.upmc.com/innovative-telemedicine-program-furthers-reach-of-palliative-care/
WPXI Television Interview (May 2021) – Community Matters – What is Palliative Care? https://www.wpxi.com/healthcare/upmc-community-matters-dr-karl-bezak-talks-about-palliative-care/0ec81d89-5f8b-4ef6-8535-86a0f4ae84f6/
Article (February 20, 2021) - UPMC pilots machine learning, telehealth to inform patient transfers. Modern Healthcare. https://www.modernhealthcare.com/care-delivery/upmc-pilots-machine-learning-telehealth-inform-patient-transfers
Article (January 29, 2019) - The “EyeCanDo” App Aids ALS Patients. https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-topics/eyecando-app-aids-als-patients
Bezak KB (2023) The Power of Palliative Care. UPMC Shadyside Grand Rounds, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA.
Bezak KB (2022) Clinical Innovation: Inpatient Specialty TelePalliative Care Service. State of the Palliative and Supportive Care Institute, Annual Review. University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
Bezak KB (2021) Difficult Goals of Care Conversations. Updates in Internal Medicine. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
Bezak KB (2021) Clinical Innovation: TelePalliative Goals of Care Pause (TeleGOC). State of the Palliative and Supportive Care Institute, Annual Review. University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
Bezak KB (2020) Better Together: Palliative Care and You. Part of the “What’s New in Metastatic Cancer” Annual Conference. Sponsored by The Glock Foundation, Pittsburgh PA.
Bezak KB (2020) Effective Communication: Connecting with Hospitalized Patients and Their Families. Lecture at Meadville Medical Center, Meadville PA, as part of the University of Pittsburgh Consortium Ethics Program Speaker Series.
Bezak KB & Bowman T (2020) Effective Shared-Decision Making: Facilitating a Goals of Care/Family Meeting. Lecture presented at Department of Medicine Grand Rounds, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Virtual Session.
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Bezak KB (2019) PalliTech: Increasing Palliative Care Awareness and Understanding in the 21st Century.” Grand Rounds/Fellow Talk, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
Original Peer-Reviewed Articles
Andersen SK, Vincent G, Butler RA, Brown E, Maloney D, Khalid S, Oanesa R, Yun J, Pidro C, Davis VN, Resick J, Richardson AR, Rak K, Barnes J, Bezak KB, Thurston A, Reitschuler-Cross E, King L, Barbash I, Al-Khafaji A, Brant E, Bishop J, McComb J, Chung-Chou HC, Seaman J, Temel JS, Angus DC Arnold R, Schenker Y, White DB. ProPACC: Protocol for a Trial of Integrated Specialty Palliative Care for Critically Ill Older Adults. JPSM, Volume 63, Issue 6, 2022, Pages e601-e610.
Bezak KB. “5 Ways to Improve Hospitalist-Palliative Care Collaboration.” Palliative in Practice. Center for the Advancement of Palliative Care. 2 Jan. 2019. Online Publication. Op-Ed.
Kahaleh M, Turner BG, Bezak K, Sharaiha RZ, Sarkaria S, Lieberman M, Jamal-Kabani A, Millman JE, Sundararajan SV, Chan C, Mehta S, Widmer JL, Gaidhane M, Giovannini M. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy in the pancreatic duct provides direct visualization of ductal structures and aids in clinical management. Dig Liver Dis. 2015 Mar;47(3):202-4.
Fitzgerald DW, Bezak K, Ocheretina O, Riviere C, Wright TC, Milne GL, Zhou XK, Du B, Subbaramaiah K, Byrt E, Goodwin ML, Rafii A, Dannenberg AJ. The Effect of HIV and HPV Coinfection on COX-2 Expression and Systemic PGE2 Levels. Cancer Prev Res. 2012 Jan;5(1):34-40.
Radojcic V, Bezak KB, Skarica M, Pletneva MA, Yoshimura K, Schulick RD, Luznik
L. Cyclophosphamide Resets Dendritic Cell Homeostasis and Enhances Antitumor Immunity Through Effects That Extend Beyond Regulatory T Cell Elimination. Cancer Immunotherapy. 2009 Jul 10.
Durakovic N, Radojcic V, Skarica M, Bezak KB, Powell JD, Fuchs EJ, Luznik L.
Factors Governing the Activation of Adoptively Transferred Donor T Cells Infused After Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation in the Mouse. Blood. 2007 May 15; 109(10):4564-74.
Durakovic N, Bezak KB, Skarica M, Radojcic V, Fuchs EJ, Murphy GF, Luznik L.
Host-derived Langerhans Cells Persist After MHC-matched Allografting Independent of Donor T Cells and Critically Influence the Alloresponses Mediated by Donor Lymphocyte Infusions. Journal of Immunology. 2006 Oct 1, 177(7): 4414-4425.
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Case Reports
Bezak KB. Saying Goodbye to Your Patient: Honoring Patient-Clinician Relationships in the Hospital. Case Studies in Palliative and Supportive Care Series. University of Pittsburgh SOM, Oct 2022, Vol. 22 No. https://dom.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/COM-Bezak-22.pdf
Bezak KB. The Use of Psychostimulants in Patients with Serious Illness. Case Studies in Palliative and Supportive Care Series. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Nov 2020 Vol. 20, No. 110. https://dom.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Case-November-2020.pdf
Abstracts/Posters
Bezak KB, Wisniewski MK, Adler P, Arnold RM, Weinberg R, Yobbi D, Mensah CT, Hall DE. Aligning Goals of Care via Telehealth Increases Goal-Concordant Care for Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department: The Tele-Goals of Care (TeleGOC) Pilot (Sch408). Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Volume 65, Issue 5 2023, Pages e582-e583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.02.145.
Bezak KB, Wisniewski MK, Adler P, Arnold R, Weinberg R, Stoneburner M, Stumpf M, Milliken C, Yobbi D, Sullivan C, Sackrowitz R, Farone F, Hall DE. Aligning Goals of Care via Telehealth Increases Goal-Concordant Care for Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department, the Tele-Goals of Care (TeleGOC) Pilot. UPMC Department of Medicine Research Day, 2021.
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Bezak KB, Wisniewski, MK, Adler P, Arnold R, Weinberg R, Yobbi D, Mensah C, Hall DE.​
Aligning Goals of Care via Telehealth Increases Goal-Concordant Care for Critically ill Patients in the Emergency Department, the Tele-Goals of Care (TeleGOC) Pilot. AAHPM Annual Assembly 2023, Abstract Sch408. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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Brownell KB, Lewis A, Grasser PL, Bezak KB. “Sorry, He Can’t Come to the Phone Right Now: Addressing Communication Challenges when a Surrogate Decision Maker is in Prison.” AAHPM Annual Assembly 2020, Abstract #C922. Canceled due to COVID-19.
Brownell KB, Lewis A, Grasser PL, Bezak KB. “Wish You Were Here: Overcoming the Ethical and Legal Challenges of Surrogate Decision-Making from Prison” AAHPM Annual Assembly 2020,
Abstract #C916. Canceled due to COVID-19.
Bezak KB, Serna-Tamayo C, Rousseau C, Patel M, Apoeso O. “Using an Epic Smartphrase to Improve Transfer of Patient Treatment Preferences from the Inpatient to Outpatient Setting” GME Research Day 2019, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Ooi YS, Napoleon L, Bezak KB. “Optimizing Transitions of Care: A Case for Utilizing Checklists that Include a Palliative Plan of Care.” AAHPM Annual Assembly 2018, Abstract #C964.