Lisa Chamberlain named Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at University of Arizona College of Medicine
It is with tremendous pride and mixed emotions that I announce that Dr. Lisa Chamberlain, Professor of Pediatrics and, by courtesy, of Education, has been named Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Director of the Steele Research Institute at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, effective March 1, 2026. Over nearly 30 years at Stanford, Dr. Chamberlain has served as a dedicated clinician, beloved mentor, tireless advocate, and guiding light to many here at Stanford Medicine. One cannot overstate her impact on every aspect of our mission; it is because of her vision and leadership that advocacy, policy, and community engagement are recognized as core to our mission. We are delighted that she has this new opportunity to expand her remarkable talents to the benefit of the children of Arizona, her childhood home.
Lisa’s many accomplishments are enumerated below. Perhaps most remarkably, she has achieved this record of accomplishment with a grace, focused energy, and generosity of spirit that has touched all those around her. Lisa is an accomplished academic leader. But she is also an inspiration, the rare person who helps us feel deeply but also moves us to act. Always clearly, though at times quietly, Lisa has made us all better by sharing her uniquely humane vision of caring and justice, a vision that in her new position, we are sure, will continue to define her unrelenting commitment to patients, colleagues, and communities in the months and years to come.
After completing her medical education at University of Arizona, Lisa came to Stanford for pediatric residency in 1996. She joined the faculty in 2007 after completing the combined UCSF/Stanford Academic Pediatric fellowship and an MPH at UC Berkeley. Initially she focused on medical student and pediatric resident education at the intersection of child poverty and health. She developed and led the first Community and Advocacy rotations and, along with Dr. Janine Bruce, founded the Stanford Pediatric Advocacy Track “StAT”, a nationally replicated program training pediatricians to address child poverty through community and policy engagement. With Drs. Blankenburg, Sectish and Prober, Stanford Pediatrics launched the current Scholarly Concentrations based on the StAT model. She co-founded the “California Collaborative” with colleagues from UCSF and Children’s Oakland in 2007, uniting California’s 14 pediatric training programs building community pediatric and advocacy educational capacity. The Collaborative continues today, advocating annually together in Sacramento and training over 800 California pediatricians a year, an approach now modeled in 8 other states. Being a medical educator is central to her work: she has served as a mentor to countless medical students, residents and fellows.
A cherished highlight of Lisa’s time at Stanford was her 14-year service as a primary care pediatrician at the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto. She grew to know and deeply care for the families in that tight knit, resilient community. Over time she noted many 5-year-olds were not ready to start school due to the fragmented US early childhood system. This led to a sabbatical at the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) in 2017 to understand the role the health sector can play in addressing educational disparities. She now designs and evaluates the evidence base for “Kinder Ready Clinics”, supported by the National Science Foundation, the Stanford’s Harman Faculty Scholar endowment, and a wide range of local and national funders. She is a Professor by Courtesy in the GSE and an Associate Faculty Director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, bridging the School of Medicine and GSE. A focus there is the San Mateo County’s Baby Bonus Program, a community driven project between San Mateo County First 5, San Mateo Health, SMC Human Services Agency, the Health Plan of San Mateo and the Jackie Speier Foundation. An RCT is underway based in Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital’s nursery examining the impact of community health workers and guaranteed basic income for families with children ages 0-3. This work extends her practice of answering locally relevant questions that have national significance.
Lisa’ scholarship includes a distinguished record of health services research. In partnership with Drs. Paul Wise and Lee Sanders, she examined state-level disparities for children with medical complexity. This work was the foundation for a two-year fellowship working in Sacramento where, as a child health policy fellow, she was able to bridge the evidence to policy through addressing Title V (CCS) reform. Over the subsequent years, she mentored dozens of trainees who have published peer-reviewed original research addressing health inequities in maternal and child health, ranging from disparities in telehealth adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic, end of life care for children with cancer, NICU transition to home, access to telehealth for youth with eating disorders, and care for asylum-seeking children, rheumatology inpatients, incarcerated youth, postpartum women, and children with kidney disease.
Her administrative contributions to the Department of Pediatrics include serving as the inaugural Associate Chair for Policy and Community Engagement. In that role she co-founded the Office of Child Health Equity (OCHE) with Dr. Janine Bruce. The Office engages specialty divisions across the Department to address the drivers of inequitable outcomes. In its third year the OCHE engaged 68 faculty from 11 divisions with work focused in four hubs: food insecurity, transplant equity, school re-entry and pre-hospital care. For years, the OCHE has led two community coalitions that build capacity in health care access, early literacy programs and provide basic needs. The longitudinal community partnerships are foundational to all the OCHE work. The Office brings together faculty and staff through policy participation, policy-relevant research, and community engagement.
In 2020, Lisa led the Stanford Pediatrics Advancing Anti-Racism Coalition, or SPAARC, with Dr. Lahia Yemane. This two-year effort engaged hundreds of faculty and staff across seven workgroups and fortified our foundation and commitment to inclusivity. For the University, she serves/d on the advisory boards for the Stanford Social Impact Labs, the GSE’s Gardner Center, and the Haas Center for Public Service.
Nationally, Lisa serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Child Health Financing committee and on the Board of Advisors of Zero to Three. She was selected for membership in the American Pediatric Society (APS). Shortly thereafter, she was appointed Co-Chair of the APS Advocacy Committee and represent APS on the national Pediatric Policy Committee. She co-established and led the Academic Pediatric Association’s (APA) “First 1000 Days” Special Interest Group. She recently led a national coalition uniting a wide range of organizations to advocate for full funding of the NIH and NICHD. She is the recipient of many national and local awards for her work, including the inaugural Child Advocacy Award at Stanford’s Department of Pediatrics and the APA’s Advocacy award. She gave the 2025 APA George Armstrong Lecture award at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting; those who deliver this lecture are honored as outstanding teachers and contributors to our knowledge of the care of children.
One of Lisa’s greatest skills is her ability to develop leaders in the field and she leaves a deep bench of child health advocates within the Department. Dr. Janine Bruce will continue to serve as Co-Director of OCHE and will be joined by Dr. Ryan Padrez as Co-Director of the office. Janine has 25 years of experience working in longitudinal partnerships with a wide range of community and county-based organizations. She co-founded and directs StAT, leads the Scholarly concentration in Community Health, and teaches well-subscribed courses in the School of Medicine where she is an award-winning educator. Ryan has a BA from Stanford and attended UCSF for medical school and pediatric residency, where he participated in UCSF's Pediatric Leadership for the Underserved (PLUS) program. He has deep policy and community experience: he spent 8 years in Washington DC working on Medicaid and Medicare policy, and serves as the Medical Director for The Primary School, an integrated health and education model that serves low-income children and families in East Palo Alto, CA. He serves as OCHE’s Co-Director for Community Engagement and an investigator on the Baby Bonus trial. He also serves as Associate Faculty Director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood in the GSE, thereby ensuring that our strong ties to GSE and the Center continue. He serves nationally as the Chair-elect of the AAP’s School Health Committee. Janine and Ryan will bring OCHE’s equity-oriented work to new heights.
We want to extend our deepest gratitude to Lisa for her outsized contributions that have advanced Stanford Medicine’s mission and for the countless ways she has served as a model of our values. Please join us in congratulating her on this wonderful opportunity that will enhance her ability to bring health and healing to our country’s children. Announcements regarding a gathering in celebration of Lisa’s contributions will be forthcoming shortly.
Sincerely,
Mary B. Leonard