Dr. Natalie Lui Promoted to Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery

The Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery is pleased to announce the promotion of Natalie Lui, MD, to Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery (Thoracic Surgery), effective July 1, 2026.

Dr. Lui practices at Stanford Hospital, bringing her expertise in general thoracic surgery with a focus on thoracic oncology and robotic thoracic surgery. She is deeply committed to providing innovative, comprehensive, and compassionate care for every patient she treats.

"Stanford provides an incredible environment to pursue the work I am passionate about—advancing the treatment of thoracic cancers and expanding early lung cancer detection. I am excited by this promotion and look forward to furthering our mission of improving outcomes for patients - through outstanding patient care, innovative research, and education,” said Dr. Lui.

Dr. Lui is the Surgical Director of the Stanford Lung Cancer Screening Clinic and has been raising awareness through educational programming and community outreach about lung cancer. Recently, she co-chaired the 2026 Stanford International Lung Cancer Summit, which prominently featured the department’s thoracic surgery faculty and their impact on the field.

Her research interests include intraoperative molecular imaging for lung cancer localization, increasing rates of lung cancer screening, and using artificial intelligence to predict lung cancer recurrence. She directs a Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory that pursues these interests. Additionally, she focuses on increasing lung cancer screening within her Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory. One study examined the impact of electronic reminders on lung cancer screening; they presented this at the 2025 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Dr. Lui is passionate about teaching and regularly trains residents and fellows in robotic thoracic surgery, providing hands-on instruction in both the CT Surgery Simulation Lab and the operating room. She has developed models for lobectomy and esophagectomy simulation. She also serves as a faculty instructor at the annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Boot Camp, an intensive training program for residents, and she is a member of the AATS Thoracic Surgical Robotics Scholarship Committee.

"Dr. Lui's promotion is a well-deserved recognition of her truly impactful contributions to our mission. She is a critically important member of our Division as a result of her steadfast commitment to research that will improve robotic surgery and expand lung cancer screening, as well as her extraordinary dedication to training our cardiothoracic surgery residents," said Joseph Shrager, MD, Professor and Division Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Stanford Medicine.

Dr. Lui received her undergraduate degree in physics at Harvard before attending medical school at Johns Hopkins University. She completed a general surgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco, which included two years of research in the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Laboratory and completion of a Master in Advanced Studies (MAS) degree in clinical research. She then completed a fellowship in thoracic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, during which she participated in visiting rotations at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Lui joined the Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery faculty in 2017.

She received the prestigious Dwight C. McGoon Teaching Award from the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association (TSRA) in 2020 for her commitment to resident education and mentorship. Notably, Stanford is the only institution to have received the prestigious TSRA McGoon Award three times, with all three recipients being women faculty from the department. She is also the recipient of the 2019 Donald B. Doty Educational Award from the Western Thoracic Surgical Association and the 2022 Carolyn E. Reed Traveling Fellowship from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation and Women in Thoracic Surgery. 

Congratulations to Dr. Lui on her promotion.