Leslie Lusk, MD

Dr. Leslie Lusk is a pediatrician who specializes in caring for critically ill newborns and infants. At UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, she directs the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a machine that oxygenates blood outside of the body for babies having heart or lung problems.

Lusk's research has focused on gastroschisis, a birth defect involving a hole in the abdominal wall; congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a birth defect involving a hole in the diaphragm, which separates the chest from the abdomen; and pulmonary hypertension, a blood vessel problem that causes high blood pressure in the lungs and strains the right side of the heart.

At UCSF, Lusk earned her medical degree and completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in neonatal and perinatal medicine. In 2017, she joined UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland as director of fetal medicine.