Dr. Leah M. Backhus, MD, MPH, FACS

About Dr. Leah M. Backhus

Dr. Leah M. Backhus is the Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University, where she also serves as Director of Faculty Development and Associate Program Director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency Program. She trained in general surgery at the University of Southern California and in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. She practises at Stanford Hospital and is Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the VA Palo Alto. Her surgical practice consists of general thoracic surgery with special emphasis on thoracic oncology and minimally invasive surgical techniques. She heads the Thoracic Surgical Health Services Research group within the Division of Thoracic Surgery and holds grant funding through the Veterans Affairs Administration with a VA Merit Award and through the NIH, examining lung cancer screening practices, post-treatment surveillance, and clinical trials in mesothelioma. She served as a Charter Member Reviewer for the Imaging Guided Interventions and Surgery (IGIS) study section at the NIH. She is a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable of the American Cancer Society, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the American Surgical Association, and is a previous member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. As an educator she is prior Chair of the ACGME Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery and has received national teaching awards from the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association as well as the STS Extraordinary Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery Award.