Erin Pukenas

Chief Medical Officer

Erin Pukenas MD, MBA, FASA, FAAP is the Associate Dean for Program Development and Strategic Initiatives at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) & Vice Chair and Vice Chief of Anesthesiology at Cooper University Health Care (CUHC).

An experienced physician executive, Dr. Pukenas leads the advancement of strategic partnerships and implementation of innovative programming at CMSRU to expand access to high quality medical education, improve patient care and drive financial performance.

Dr. Pukenas previously served as the System Patient Safety Officer for Cooper University Health Care and currently oversees the Enterprise Education and Research Strategic Pillar as part of the CUHC leadership team. Dr. Pukenas received her medical doctorate from West Virginia University, completed her residency in Anesthesiology at Rutgers/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/Cooper University Hospital and completed a fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesiology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

She is a graduate of the prestigious Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) fellowship at Drexel University and has studied business, finance, executive leadership and health system board governance at The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business , the T.H.Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School.

She holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee. She is a respected national leader in her field and is the recipient of multiple awards for healthcare leadership and patient care. She is excited to serve on the Board of Directors of the Best Day of My Life So Far as the Chief Medical Officer.