David M. Lang, MD, MPH

BA, Johns Hopkins University
MD, University Of Maryland
MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Lang is the first physician to lead the Patient Safety and Clinical Quality office, a group tasked with working within the hospital and with NIH partners to support the highest quality of patient safety, care and research support.

Dr. Lang received a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Maryland in Baltimore in 1996. He completed a pediatrics residency at Emory University in Atlanta in 1999, and then returned to Baltimore for a fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics from 1999 to 2002. During his fellowship, he researched exercise levels and health beliefs among inner-city children with asthma and their parents. While at Hopkins, he also completed a Master of Public Health degree with concentration in Health Education and Promotion.

Dr. Lang joined the Clinical Center in 2002 as a Staff Clinician with the Pediatric Consult Service. Over the years, the service has grown to include Nurse Practitioners. With his team, Dr. Lang provides both acute episodic and ongoing pediatrics consults across the IRP for inpatients and outpatients. The team follows and co-manages children with a variety of complicated and chronic health conditions. Dr. Lang provides medical expertise along with health education and a pediatrician’s compassion for patients and families.

Projects to improve the quality and safety of pediatric care at the NIH have included recognition of hypertension in pediatric patients, establishment of pediatric reference ranges for lab tests, guidelines for first-dose of antibiotics in children with fever and neutropenia or at risk for sepsis, and most recently efforts to reduce the volume of blood used for clinical lab tests. Dr. Lang is a long-time member of the Pediatric Care Committee (PCC) and an inaugural member of the Clinical Center Patient Safety, Clinical Practice, and Quality Committee (PSCPQ). On an HHS Departmental level, Dr. Lang chairs the Medical Claims Review Panel and is an NIH representative to the Federal Interagency Workgroup on Improving Diagnostic Safety and Quality in Healthcare. He is a Safety Officer for several protocols and was a member of the NICHD IRB for eight years.

Dr. Lang is the Course Coordinator for the Pediatrics Consult medical student elective, the coordinator and lead instructor for Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and a regular speaker at the Nursing Residency Pediatrics Day. He also speaks on pediatric care to residents and fellows in multiple Institutes.

Away from the NIH, Dr. Lang spends time with his family and coaches athletes with special needs in Distance Running and Track and Field.

• 2018 Clinical Center CEO Award in Patient Care
• 2018 Clinical Center CEO Award in Patient Safety
• 2013 NIH Clinical Center Director’s Award: “For excellence and dedication to pediatric patient care and exceptional leadership in pediatric care.”
• 2008 NIH Clinical Center Director’s Award: “For outstanding contributions to the pediatric consult service.”

Ferre EM, Rose SR, Rosenzweig SD, Burbelo PD, Romito KR, Niemela JE, Rosen LB, Break TJ, Gu W, Hunsberger S, Browne SK, Hsu AP, Rampertaap S, Swamydas M, Collar AL, Kong HH, Lee CR, Chascsa D, Simcox T, Pham A, Bondici A, Natarajan M, Monsale J, Kleiner DE, Quezado M, Alevizos I, Moutsopoulos NM, Yockey L, Frein C, Soldatos A, Calvo KR, Adjemian J, Similuk MN, Lang DM, Stone KD, Uzel G, Kopp JB, Bishop RJ, Holland SM, Olivier KN, Fleisher TA, Heller T, Winer KK, Lionakis MS.. “Redefined clinical features and diagnostic criteria in autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy.” JCI Insight. 2016 Aug 18;1(13).

Huynh N, Blain D, Glaser T, Doss EL, Zein WM, Lang DM, Baker EH, Hill S, Brewer CC, Kopp JB, Bardakjian TM, Maumenee IH, Bateman BJ, Brooks BP. “Systemic diagnostic testing in patients with apparently isolated uveal coloboma.” Am J Ophthalmol 2013 Dec;156(6):1159-1168

Volkin D, Yerram N, Ahmed F, Lankford D, Baccala A, Gupta GN, Hoang A, Nix J, Metwalli AR, Lang DM, Bratslavsky G, Linehan WM, Pinto PA. “Partial adrenalectomy minimizes the need for long-term hormone replacement in pediatric patients with pheochromocytoma and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome.” J Pediatr Surg. 2012 Nov;47(11):2077-82

Lang DM, Butz AM, Duggan AK, Serwint, JR. “Physical Activity in Urban School-Aged Children With Asthma.” Pediatrics 2004;113:e341–e346. URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/113/4/e341