Professor; Division Head, Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Lurie's Children's Hospital of Chicago/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dana M. Thompson, MD, MS, MBA, FACS is the Lauren D. Holinger Professor Chair of Pediatric Otolaryngology at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She has held faculty positions as premier institutions including the Mayo Clinic and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and is currently Division Head of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. In 2011, she achieved the academic rank of Professor, making her the first African American woman professor in the specialty of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in the United States. She brings 24 years of experience as an internationally recognized airway surgeon and leader in aerodigestive medicine. The collective research contributions in laryngomalacia have influenced the surgical and medical management of the disease and she is considered one of the world’s authorities on the topic. She received the prestigious Mosher Award from the Triological Society for excellence in clinical research for her seminal work elucidating the etiology of Laryngomalacia.
As a surgeon administrator, she serves as the Vice Chair for the Department of Surgery and the Executive Physician Director for Ambulatory Practice at Lurie Children’s Hospital where she is committed to the creation and operationalizing of care delivery models to optimize access for equitable and fiscally responsible care for children. Her perspective as a 3rd generation African American physician navigating a career in academic medicine has shaped a personal mission to educate others about the unintended consequences of bias in health care delivery.