susann-varano

Dr. Susann Varano was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and is a proud graduate of Fontbonne’s Class of 1986. Dr. Varano attended St. Joseph’s College with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1990. She went on to graduate from The Chicago Medical School in 1994 and Yale University in Connecticut in an Internal Medicine Residency position. After completing The Yale University Primary Care Residency Program, she was selected to be Chief Resident at Yale University’s Affiliate, Norwalk Hospital. Dr. Varano completed her chief residency and continued her education as a Yale University Geriatric Medicine Fellow. Upon completion, Dr. Varano was the only Fellow selected out of her class to work for Yale New Haven Hospital as Medical Director of the Yale  Nursing Home Practice, and Yale New Haven Hospital as Co-Program Director and Geriatrician for The Hospital Elder Life Program. 

Dr. Varano was selected to work in the Yale University Hospital Affiliated Program, a position where she would give the prestigious Medical Grand Round lectures to Medical Staff as well as community physicians. She would run Ward Teaching Rounds and give numerous lectures to the medical residents and medical students. Dr. Varano served on the speakers bureau for Forest Pharmaceutical and Pfizer Pharmaceutical as an expert in her field from 1998-2011, and in 2012 became a part of the Trans Con family as a Medical Consultant, giving back to the community by providing education and memory screens to Hamden Health and Candlewood Valley Health Care communities. In 2013 she would help create the first ever Yale New Haven Hospital Inpatient Geriatric Consult Service, working as the consulting physician for the new program. After 19 years at Yale, Dr. Varano stepped down from her Yale position to focus on consulting work with nursing homes, and her principal investigator responsibilities in clinical research. Dr. Varano has presented her clinical research work at several international conferences.  

In the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Dr. Varano and her team were selected as one of 152 sites globally to participate in Pfizer’s 26-month study with an enrollment goal of up to 43,998 patients. Due to the critical nature of the pandemic, Dr. Varano is no longer with Maplewood and now spends most of her time dedicated to ending this pandemic via vaccine trials. She does however continue to serve as an adjunct faculty member for Sacred Heart University Master of Physician Assistant Studies program, and as adjunct at the University of Bridgeport Physician Assistant Institute. Dr. Varano’s involvement in the COVID-19 trials has led to media outlets and Assisted Living and Long-Term Care facilities requesting her to share her story.

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