Leighton Chan

Leighton Chan

Leighton Chan, M.D., MPH is currently Chief of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Chan received his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, with a major in political science. He graduated from the UCLA School of Medicine in 1990. He then completed postgraduate training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Washington. During his training he also obtained a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Science. Subsequently, he completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Fellowship, earned a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Washington School of Public Health, and was a Congressional Fellow for the Honorable Jim McDermott (Washington).

From 1994 to 2006, Chan was on the faculty of the University of Washington’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. At the UW, he was Medical Director of UWMC's outpatient program, including clinics in Back Pain, EMG and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. He also spent several years as a consultant to a UWMC Sub-Acute Rehabilitation facility. Dr. Chan was also deeply involved in training as a member of the UW Residency Training and Admissions Committees, and as the Chair of the Annual UW PM&R Review Course.

He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and in electrodiagnostic medicine. His research interests include health services research, quality of care given to Medicare beneficiaries, and Medicare payment policy issues. His research has received financial support in excess of $45 million. He has published more than 75 peer reviewed articles, including 10 in the NEJM, JAMA, and Lancet.