Leah M. 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 the NIH examining lung cancer screening practices, post-treatment surveillance, and clinical trials in mesothelioma.

She served as a Charter Member Reviewer for Imaging Guided Interventions and Surgery (IGIS) study section in the NIH. She is a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable of the American Cancer Society, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Surgical Association, and previous member of 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.