Dr. Leah Backhus

Leah Backhus MD MPH FACS is the Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University.  She trained in general surgery at the University of Southern California and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California Los Angeles. She practices 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 up the Thoracic Surgical Health Services Research group in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, and has grant funding through the Veterans Affairs Administration with a VA Merit Award and is Co-PI on an NIH RO1 translational study examining diaphragm dysfunction among esophagectomy patients. She is a Charter Member Reviewer for Imaging Guided Interventions and Surgery (IGIS) study section in the NIH. Her current research interests are in cancer surveillance and survivorship care in evaluating needs, quality of life, and adherence to national standards of care. She is a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable of the American Cancer Society and has served as a professional member of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Advisory Panel on Improving Healthcare Systems. She is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and sits on the Board of Directors of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). As an educator, Dr. Backhus is the Associate Program Director for the Stanford Thoracic Track Residency program and prior Chair of the ACGME Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery. She is also the recipient of national awards in teaching by the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association and excellence in her field with the STS Extraordinary Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery Award.