Lisa Patel

Dr. Lisa Patel is a physician, advocate, and scholar whose career focuses on pediatric medicine and environmental health. Patel serves as a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine and as executive director at the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, which represents major medical societies and state clinician groups advocating for climate change as a public health issue. She maintains a clinical practice as a pediatric hospitalist, caring for newborns, premature infants, and children requiring hospitalization.

Patel's commitment to environmental science has shaped her path in medicine. After college, she worked in Egypt, Brazil, and India on international development projects with community-based organizations and non-profits, focusing on conservation and development. She earned a master's degree in environmental sciences from the Yale School of the Environment and served as a Presidential Management Fellow for the Environmental Protection Agency, coordinating U.S. government efforts on clean air and safe drinking water projects in South Asia in collaboration with the World Health Organization. She received the Trudy A. Specinar Award for her work. Recognizing the links between children's health and environmental issues, Patel obtained her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and completed her residency in pediatrics at UCSF.

Throughout her career, Patel has contributed to advancing the medical community's understanding of climate change and its impact on public health. In her roles with the American Academy of Pediatrics, she co-led the introduction of board certification materials on climate change into the American Board of Pediatrics and authored policy statements and book chapters for the AAP on plant-forward diets and climate-smart schools. Patel is a faculty mentor for Stanford Climate and Health, supporting projects related to climate-resilient schools, environmental justice, sustainable healthcare, and medical education curriculum reform. She serves on boards and commissions, including Our Children's Trust, which represented youth in Held v. Montana, and Undaunted K12, an organization focused on climate-smart schools.

Patel is recognized as a national expert on the effects of climate change on children's health, particularly regarding air pollution and wildfires. Her work has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, New York Times, LA Times, and Bloomberg News, among other outlets. She is frequently interviewed for her expertise on climate, health, and equity by national media such as the Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, and CNN. Patel's advocacy has been recognized by the Stanford Children's Health Advocacy Award. She continues to contribute to the fields of pediatric medicine, environmental health, and climate change policy.