Leadership

Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE

Arline and Pete Harman Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics (Nephrology)

Adalyn Jay Physician-in-Chief, Stanford Medicine Children's Health

Director, Maternal and Child Health Research Institute

Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE, is the Arline and Pete Harman Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Adalyn Jay Physician in Chief at Stanford Medicine Children's Health. She assumed these positions on July 1, 2016.

Dr. Leonard received her MD degree from Stanford University in 1989 and subsequently completed her pediatrics internship, residency, and nephrology fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). After completing a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, she joined the faculty in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biostatistics and Epidemiology.  For the subsequent 17 years, she devoted the majority of her effort to clinical and translational research and mentoring junior physician scientists. Her NIH-funded multidisciplinary research program primarily focuses on the impact of childhood chronic diseases on growth, skeletal development, nutrition, and physical function. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Society for Pediatric Research. In recent years, she received the Society of Pediatric Research Maureen Andrew Mentor Award, the National Kidney Foundation Donald W. Seldin Award, and the Stanford University Faculty Women’s Forum Outstanding Leader Award.

Dr. Leonard was appointed Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University in 2016. As Department Chair, she and the faculty leaders in the department have initiated multiple innovative, award-winning programs in advocacy, education, research, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As Director of the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, she has created novel partnerships with Centers and Institutes across Stanford University to mobilize Stanford discoveries and expertise to launch healthier lives through seed grants and career development programs.

She also advocates for child health as a leader of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC) Pediatric Workforce Initiative.