Sandi Lam MD, MBA

Sandi Lam MD MBA Division Chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago IL Dr. Lam’s clinical focus encompasses pediatric epilepsy surgery and cerebrovascular surgery with a focus in surgical innovation, neuroendoscopy, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and development of multidisciplinary patient-centered clinical programs. Her academic program is based on health services research with aspects of quality improvement and outcomes research, and using big data analytics to understand and improve health care utilization and delivery. This focus intersects with health policy and advocacy for elevation of pediatric health, improving access to care, and advancing pediatric neurosurgery. She is dedicated to education and mentorship, with interest in the gaps in traditional surgical training curricula such as socioeconomic issues, quality and process improvement, health services and policy research, business of medicine, and leadership development. Dr. Lam contributes to building sustainable global pediatric neurosurgery services and clinical training collaborations in Kenya and Uganda along with other international neurosurgery efforts in Asia. In organized neurosurgery, she is on the executive committee of the Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurosurgeons, the executive committee of the American Academic of Pediatrics Section on Neurosurgery, as well as the executive board of the International Federation of Neuroendoscopy. She serves on the editorial board of Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. She is a native of Canada and Hong Kong. Dr. Lam received her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, her neurosurgery residency training at University of California Los Angeles, her pediatric neurosurgery training at University of Pittsburgh/Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Prior to assuming the division chief role for pediatric neurosurgery at Lurie Children’s Hospital, she had contributed to building a thriving clinical and academic program at Texas Children’s Hospital. Before her career in medicine, she was the founding director of business development at a consumer tech startup. She continues to be active in the early stage startup space, especially in helping teams in life sciences develop and articulate their vision and value proposition, and in helping with early stage funding. She is a role model for those in business, medicine, and academics.