A leading expert on diversity in the scientific workforce, Dr. Marcus Lambert is known for his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), mentorship, and health equity. Dr. Lambert was selected as one of New York’s Life Sciences Power 50 and one of Cell Press’ 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America.

Dr. Lambert currently serves as Associate Vice President for Research Strategy and Operations at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. In this role, Dr. Lambert oversees efforts to expand the university's extramural research portfolio in areas of health equity and clinical research. Dr. Lambert also co-leads multiple research training programs at Downstate with a focus on recruiting and training underrepresented scientists in health disparities research. Dr. Lambert is the one of the Principal Investigators of the TRANSlational Program Of health disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT), a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Clinical Research Scholars Training Program (CREST), a $2.6 million grant from the NIH to support health disparities and equity-focused research training.

As an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dr. Lambert’s own research focuses on understanding disparities within the health workforce and their impact on health outcomes. Dr. Lambert is the Principal Investigator of an NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA R35), an R01-equivalent award that provides $1.72 million over 5 years to investigate the science of effective mentorship networks for underrepresented researchers (UR) using graph theory. The team will then test the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention that helps UR researchers build their own mentoring networks.

Prior to SUNY Downstate, Dr. Lambert was recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine to support and increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in the Graduate School. As Assistant Dean of Diversity and Student Life and Assistant Professor of Education Research in Medicine, he led a $2.4 million NIH-funded Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) Program to increase the number and enhance the success of Ph.D. students from underrepresented backgrounds. Dr. Lambert established a new office devoted to student diversity and building community across the training continuum leading to an increase in the percentage of Ph.D. students from underrepresented backgrounds. He developed mentor training programs for both faculty and students, including a near-peer mentoring program to help first-year students from diverse backgrounds transition into their Ph.D. programs. Dr. Lambert is a member of national advisory boards such as HHMI's Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership and Culture Advisory Board and a standing member of the NIH/NIGMS Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD-D) Study Section.

Dr. Lambert received his Ph.D. in biomedical science from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and his bachelor’s degree from Howard University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research from Weill Cornell Graduate School. Dr. Lambert resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and four children.