Natalie Chan, MD, MPH

Dr. Natalie Chan is a neonatologist, a specialist in caring for premature infants and other newborns needing critical care. She has a special interest in neonatal brain health, including the treatment of babies with or at risk for brain injury as well as support for babies and their families that will maximize both brain development and overall health. As medical director of the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) Follow-Up Program, she sees patients in San Francisco and in outreach clinics across Northern California, assessing the developmental progress of pediatric patients who have a higher risk of challenges due to underlying conditions or having been sick as a newborn.

In research, Chan is interested in how to protect the vulnerable developing brain in pediatric patients and improve their neurodevelopmental outcomes, especially for the most fragile babies. She aims to enhance support for infants and their families so that children who require intensive care as newborns can not just survive but thrive. Chan is also passionate about global neonatal health and to scaling up innovative solutions that improve neonatal care and ultimately help children everywhere live to their full potential.

Chan earned her medical degree at McMaster University in Canada. She completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in neonatology at the University of Toronto. She then completed a fellowship in neonatal neurology at UCSF and a fellowship in neonatology at the University of California, Davis. She has a master of public health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Chan enjoys teaching medical students and fellows in the intensive care nurseries at UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. A lifelong musician, she is known to break into song during rounds in the ICN or have sing-alongs with her patients in the clinic.