Rate My Professor Natalie Leong

Natalie L. Leong, MD, serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Columbia University in Biomedical Engineering and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 2011. Leong completed her internship and orthopaedic surgery residency at UCLA in 2017, followed by a sports medicine fellowship at Rush University in 2018. Board-certified in Orthopaedic Surgery by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery since 2020 and in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine since 2021, she specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopy of the knee and shoulder. Her clinical expertise includes treating cartilage, ligament, and tendon injuries using minimally invasive techniques and biologics such as platelet-rich plasma and stem cells. Currently, she is the team physician for the University of Maryland Terrapins and previously served as assistant team physician for the Chicago White Sox (MLB), Chicago Bulls (NBA), Chicago Fire (MLS), and Chicago Steel (USHL).

In addition to her clinical practice, Leong directs a translational ligament tissue engineering and regeneration laboratory at the University of Maryland, developing innovative treatments with stem cells and biodegradable scaffolds for ligament and tendon injuries. Her research has garnered competitive grant funding and numerous presentations at national meetings. She has received prestigious awards including the Robert Byrd Scholar, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society Jacqueline Perry MD Research Award (twice), Western Orthopaedic Association Resident Research Award, California Orthopaedic Association Orthopaedic Institute for Children Resident Research Award, UCLA Orthopaedic Surgery Best Basic Science Paper Award, and UCLA Orthopaedic Surgery Best Chief Resident Paper Award. Key publications encompass 'Tendon and Ligament Healing and Current Approaches to Translational Therapies' (Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2020), 'Current tissue engineering strategies in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction' (Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2014), 'Biologic Injections in the Treatment of Cartilage Defects' (Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018), and contributions to books such as 'The Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Reconstruction and Basic Science' (2016). Her manuscripts appear in leading journals including the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Arthroscopy, and the American Journal of Sports Medicine, reflecting her impact in orthopaedic research and regenerative medicine.