Laura F. Goodman

Biography

Laura F. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., is Trauma Medical Director at Children's Hospital Orange County and Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine. A pediatric general and thoracic surgeon, Goodman received her M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and her M.P.H. in Epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed general surgery residency at the University of California, Davis and pediatric surgery fellowship at Loma Linda Children's Hospital. During her training, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Mongolia, where she led a nationwide assessment of pediatric surgical capacity and the burden of congenital anomalies.

Dr. Goodman has served on the Board of Directors for the Global Initiative for Children's Surgery and is immediate past chair of the American Pediatric Surgical Association's Access to Surgery for Kids Committee. She is a Vice Chair of the Southern California Committee on Trauma. She founded and co-chairs the CHOC Injury Prevention Council and chairs the CHOC Trauma Committee. Her research has been recognized with the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Multicenter Trial Junior Investigator Award and the Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Young Surgeon Travel Award.

Dr. Goodman is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is board certified in both general surgery and pediatric surgery by the American Board of Surgery. Her research focuses on pediatric trauma outcomes, injury prevention, and global pediatric surgical capacity, with over 50 peer-reviewed publications. She has received multiple grants supporting her work, including funding from the Fulbright Program, Harvard University, and the National Institutes of Health.

Education

• B.A. in Anthropology, The Colorado College, 2003
• M.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2012
• M.P.H. in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2017

Distinctions

• Fulbright Fellowship, Mongolia, 2016-2017
• Fellow, American College of Surgeons (FACS), 2023
• Fellow, American Association of Pediatrics (FAAP), 2021
• Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Chapter of Colorado, 2003
• Charles G. Watson Chapter, Gold Humanism Honor Society, 2011
• The 2023 Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Multicenter Trial Junior Investigator Award, 2023
• Outstanding Scholarly Project, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2012
• Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Young Surgeon Travel Award, 2024
• First Place, Process Category, UPMC Sustainable Health Care Innovation Competition, 2011
• Sally Miller Award for Advocacy on Behalf of the Medically Underserved, 2010