Lisa J. Chamberlain, MD, MPH

Dr. Chamberlain joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson in March 2026 as a professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics. She also serves as the endowed director of the Steele Children’s Research Center. The department is the college’s second-largest division, encompassing 13 subspecialty divisions and 85 faculty members. The department trains 48 residents annually and fellows in five divisions in addition to medical student education.

Prior to joining the University of Arizona, Dr. Chamberlain served as the associate chair of policy and community engagement in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine; founder and director of the Office of Child Health Equity in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine; and as the associate faculty director at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood.

Clinical Focus
A general pediatrician, Dr. Chamberlain specializes in community-based care and has a longstanding commitment to serving underserved pediatric populations.

Care Philosophy
Dr. Chamberlain’s care philosophy centers on listening to patients and families as partners and experts in their child’s care. She is deeply committed to advancing health equity and ensuring every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Research Interests
Dr. Chamberlain’s scholarly work focuses on the drivers of pediatric health inequities, focusing on nonclinical factors that contribute to health disparities. 

Health services research and regionalized care
Dr. Chamberlain has been conducting health services work since 2010, exploring pediatric health disparities across a wide range of complex conditions. Her work is designed to bridge research to policy. She received the W.T. Grant Foundation's Mid Career Distinguished Fellowship, which allowed her to translate her findings regarding access to care for vulnerable children in California to help inform California’s Title V program. In addition, the COVID pandemic disrupted care utilization for children with medical complexity, opening up telehealth as a novel access mode. She received an HRSA “Center of Excellence COVID” grant (T1NHP39160) to explore the impact of the telehealth transformation on child health inequities for children with medical complexity.

Dr. Chamberlain engages in participatory research. This collaborative, community-engaged work is based upon nearly 20 years of longitudinal partnerships across nonprofit organizations, schools and public health systems. Building upon this deep understanding of her local community, she worked to build capacity with partners and effectively engage their perspectives and wisdom. This approach leverages trust and the family voice, often elicited through qualitative analysis. 

Dr. Chamberlain has been focused on addressing early childhood educational inequities since 2016. She is contributing to build the evidence for “kinder-ready clinics” by developing interventions for use in pediatric primary care settings. Building upon a deep understanding of her local community and after a yearlong sabbatical in the Stanford Graduate School of Education, she engaged in developing interventions to support early childhood development leveraging technology. Her work, funded by the National Science Foundation and many other foundations, represents the emerging interest in the intersection of school readiness and pediatric practice, where they can reach and change the trajectory of the most at-risk children.

Advocacy & Program Development
Dr. Chamberlain founded and co-directed the Stanford Pediatric Advocacy Track, a nationally replicated program that trains pediatricians to address child poverty through community engagement and policy. She also co-founded the California Collaborative, which trains more than 800 pediatricians annually and has expanded to eight states.

National Leadership & Service
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Child Health Financing
American Pediatric Society, Elected to National Board, President-elect 2026-2027 term
American Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Pediatric Workforce Initiative