Department of Pediatrics

Jin-Shei Lai, Ph.D., OTR/L., is a registered occupational therapist and a trained psychometrician. She has been a member of the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), Proton Collaborative Group and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC). Dr. Lai has significant research experiences in outcome measurement, quality of life, symptom management and late effect due to the illness and/or its treatment in chronic illness for both pediatric and adult populations. She is the lead developer of the pediatric Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness scales, including ...

I attended college at the University of Notre Dame, studying Biology and Spanish. In 2013, I graduated from Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine with an MD/MPH and focus in leadership development, then completed a Pediatrics residency and Chief residency from McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University/Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. I subsequently completed a Pediatric Critical Care Medicine fellowship from the same institution, then joined as faculty in the Department of Pediatrics in 2020. 

I am interested in improving medical education across different levels of training especially with outreach education.

A major pediatric research priority and the long-term goal of my laboratory is the identification of the etiology and pathogenesis of Kawasaki Disease (KD), the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed nations. KD can result in coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) formation with resultant myocardial infarction and/or sudden death. Clinical and epidemiologic data are consistent with an infectious cause of KD, but the etiologic agent remains unknown.We hypothesize that a "new" virus enters through the respiratory tract and infects bronchial epithelium, traveling in macrophages ...

My academic focus is on understanding parental and providers' variability in addressing complex care decisions during prenatal and neonatal course. I am also focused on various aspects of perinatal palliative care delivery, and optimizing care pathways for families expecting infants with complex and/or life-limiting conditions. Finally, I am interested in studying and improving symptom management in infants with complex conditions in the Neonatal ICU.

I am a clinician heavily involved in quality improvement including conducting projects personally as well as overseeing a large pediatric program's quality improvement activities. These activities have led to multiple presentations and publications in all areas of pediatrics. Activities with national implications include developing a technique for securing endotracheal tubes in neonates and development of a bundle of care practices to prevent nosocomial airway infections in hospitalized neonates. The latter bundle of practices have become the standard of care across the United States. Recently...

I completed a Pediatric Hospitalist Medicine Fellowship with an interest in medical education and faculty development. Since joining Lurie Childrens Hospital I have developed in Clinical documentation with a focus on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.My interest is in developing educational curricula for residents and faculty to improve communication amongst healthcare teams

I am a pediatric hospitalist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Prentice Women's Hospital. I primarily work in the NICU at these sites. When not involved with clinical work, I am heavily involved with global health education within our pediatric residency program.

My main area of clinical interest lies in pediatric echocardiography and general clinical pediatric cardiology, with an emphasis on Kawasaki Disease. I also have an interest in fetal cardiology and work with the Chicago Institute for Fetal Health. I have a passion for medical student, resident and fellow education, and devote a good deal of my time to these endeavors, mostly from a clinical standpoint. My main areas of research interest include pediatric echocardiography, Kawasaki disease, MIS-C and medical education.