Stanford Children’s Health Announces New Surgeon-in-Chief
February 1, 2022
STANFORD, Calif. – Renowned pediatric otolaryngologist Karthik Balakrishnan, MD, MPH, has been appointed as the new surgeon-in-chief at Stanford Children’s Health.
Dr. Balakrishnan specializes in otolaryngology, caring for children with complex disorders of breathing, voice, and swallowing. He is an expert in complex surgical reconstruction of the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe), innovative approaches to pediatric airway reconstruction, and vascular anomalies of the head and neck.
He joined the Stanford Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford faculty as associate professor in early 2020. In addition, he took on the role of medical director for surgical performance improvement—a key indicator in the hospital’s recent American College of Surgeons (ACS) pediatric surgical verification. He also serves in several other leadership roles in Stanford Medicine, including co-chair of the Teamwork Advisory Council, co-lead for the Otolaryngology Department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program, and American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Pediatric Surgeon Champion.
Dr. Balakrishnan follows James Dunn, MD, PhD, after five incredibly successful years in the surgeon-in-chief position. Dr. Dunn will remain as the Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery, focusing on his bioengineering research as well as surgical care for children at Stanford.
“While his accomplishments were numerous, I want to recognize James for his leadership in opening our state-of-the-art Bonnie Uytengsu and Family Surgery and Interventional Center in 2018, growing our surgical services at John Muir Health, and becoming verified as a Level 1 pediatric surgical center by the ACS for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford,” says Dennis Lund, MD, chief medical officer of Stanford Children’s Health. “We greatly appreciate all of James’ fantastic work.”
Dr. Balakrishnan will start his new role February 1, 2022.
Media Contact
Katie Chen
media@stanfordchildrens.org
(650) 465-4872
