Sarah Augustynek, JD

Sarah Augustynek is associate vice president and chief of staff to Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, who is vice president for health sciences at the University at Buffalo and Jacobs School dean.

Augustynek assists Brashear in developing and shaping policy, strategies for collaborations and overall operating principles. She also serves as Brashear’s senior adviser on a wide range of internal and external issues to ensure that initiatives are carried out in support of the university’s mission. 

An attorney with more than 15 years of experience at UB, Augustynek has expertise in the areas of labor relations and health care compliance. Prior to assuming her current position, she served as compliance officer for UB’s School of Dental Medicine, where she successfully led the school’s quality assurance and risk management programs while ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations and UB and SUNY policies and procedures.

Augustynek also previously served as assistant director in UB’s Office of Employee Relations. In this role, she provided expertise and legal guidance relative to organizational needs to UB administration and department heads on matters related to collective bargaining agreements, human resources policies and practices, and federal and state employment and civil service law.

In 2006 Augustynek earned a juris doctorate with a concentration in health law from UB’s School of Law. She earned a master’s degree in public health from UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2007. Augustynek is admitted to practice law in New York state and holds certifications in health care compliance and health care privacy compliance from the Health Care Compliance Association.