Faculty

Dr. Geeta Lal is a tenured Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

Dr. Lal received her BS from McMaster University, and her MD at the University of Toronto. She earned an MSc at the University of Toronto and The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. She completed residency in General Surgery at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in Endocrine Surgical Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. 

Dr. Lal has served in many different leadership roles throughout her career.  She previously headed an NIH-funded basic science laboratory and was the Associate Chief Quality Officer for the Adult Inpatient Services at her institution till July 2022.  She currently co-leads the Cancer Center’s Endocrine Multidisciplinary Oncology Group and continues to maintain a busy endocrine surgery practice.

Having experienced work-related musculoskeletal symptoms herself, she is committed to increasing awareness of and developing solutions to counteract the impact of poor ergonomics on surgeons’ professional and personal lives. She founded Surgical Ergonomics, a speaking, coaching and consulting business in 2021.  In addition, she is a co-founder and immediate Past-President of the Society of Surgical Ergonomics.  She continues to serve the society as a part of the executive team and is the current Chair of it’s new Industry Collaborations Committee.  Her advocacy on this topic has led to the incorporation of a Ergonomics module in the Surgical Council On Resident Education (SCORE) curriculum.  She has also co-authored the first-ever chapter on this very important topic in the upcoming edition of the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery.