Dr. Thomas Cavalieri is currently the Vice President, Senior Advisor for Healthcare and Medical Education at Rowan University, after serving as Dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine for 17 years. Before assuming his current role as Vice President, Dr. Cavalieri served as the Inaugural Senior Vice Provost of the Virtua Health College of Medicine and Life Sciences and Chief Academic Officer of Virtua Health, creating a new academic health system in Southern New Jersey. He is a Professor of Medicine and the Osteopathic Heritage Endowed Chair for Primary Care Research.

During his years as Dean, Dr. Cavalieri oversaw the successful integration of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine, which became part of Rowan University, a newly designated research university. Additionally, Dr. Cavalieri oversaw the modernization of the school’s undergraduate medical education curriculum, facilitated a class size expansion, built the school’s endowment, prepared the campus for the single accreditation of the graduate medical education programs and created an additional location of the medical school becoming the largest medical school in New Jersey.

Over the years, Dr. Cavalieri served on several federal advisory committees, including the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation for the Dept. of Education and the National Academic Affiliations Council for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs.

As a Geriatrician and an advocate for older adults, Dr. Cavalieri has raised the bar on the standard of care for the senior population. He was the Founding Director of the Center of Aging, which has grown into the Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology-New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at Rowan University. For more than 16 years, Rowan SOM has been named by US News & World Report as one of the country’s best medical schools for geriatric medical education, and in 2017, our Primary Care program was also named as one of the best in the nation.

He is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts, of which many focus on end-of-life issues, his primary area of research focus. Dr. Cavalieri is the recipient of several federal grants, including HRSA and the NIA, supporting his achievements in Geriatric education and research. Dr. Cavalieri has been named a Top Doc in geriatrics by Castle Connelly, the Consumer Union Checkbook, Philadelphia Magazine, New Jersey Monthly, South Jersey Magazine, and SJ Magazine.