James Lau

Dr. Lau is a Professor of Surgery and Medical Education at the Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine. He is the Division Director for Minimally Invasive and Community Surgery and the Vice Chair for Education. He is fellowship trained in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery and performs foregut and and abdominal surgery (laparoscopically, robotically, endoscopically, and open) and diagnostic endoscopy. He received his medical degree from and performed his surgery internship at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. His surgery residency was completed at Indiana University. He earned a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery under the direction of Drs. John Morton and Myriam Curet at Stanford. He was faculty at the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM) for over 6 years, where he created the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, the adult and adolescent bariatric surgery programs, as well as the Surgical Skills and Simulation Laboratory for the surgical residency program. Dr. Lau returned to Stanford as faculty in October, 2009. He served as the Assistant MIS/Bariatric Fellowship director and the director for the Goodman Surgical Simulation Center during his tenure there until September 2020. He also served as the Surgery Clerkship Director, Associate Program Director and the Assistant Dean for Clerkship Education while at Stanford. He then returned to Loyola in 2020 to serve in leadership roles clinically as a Minimally Invasive and Bariatric surgeon and educationally as the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Surgery. He performs a wide variety of advanced minimally invasive surgical procedures consisting of hernia repairs, surgery for reflux disease and the foregut, gastroparesis, and cholecystectomies, to name a few. In addition, he has performs the laparoscopic gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy for morbid obesity. He also addresses achalasia treatment endoscopically and reflux laparoscopically. Dr. Lau was a United States Air Force Officer, Flight Surgeon, General Surgeon, and now a veteran.