Heather Hedstrom-Lara, MD

Neurosurgeon, Lansing Neurosurgery

About Lansing Neurosurgery

Lansing Neurosurgery, a Centis Health partner located in East Lansing, Mich., is the premier provider of neurosurgical services in the Mid-Michigan region. Our board-certified physicians treat brain and spinal disorders and trauma using the most appropriate surgical and non-surgical techniques, including minimally-invasive spine surgery, to restore our patients to their best health.

Since 1969, Lansing Neurosurgery physicians have worked to establish strong referral relationships with doctors throughout Michigan, becoming a neurosurgical resource serving the community around the clock.

Learn more about Lansing Neurosurgery.

Biography

Dr. Heather Hedstrom-Lara joined Lansing Neurosurgery in the summer of 2008 from the University of Kentucky, Department of Neurosurgery. She chose Lansing Neurosurgery because of the opportunity to practice general neurosurgery with a highly-regarded, well-established group. Dr. Hedstrom-Lara has also enjoyed traveling in Michigan and wanted to make her home here. She is originally from Indiana, where she earned her medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Her academic career is full of accolades and scholarships, beginning with receiving her undergraduate degree with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. as a double major in biology and Spanish. While studying for her medical degree, she was awarded the Dr. Frank and Gertrude Currie Academic Scholarship, was the Hammond Clinic Scholar and was inducted into the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Hedstrom-Lara is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. She believes the most rewarding aspect of neurosurgery is the opportunity to help other people while being challenged every day, since no two cases are alike.

Dr. Hedstrom-Lara is fluent in Spanish and enjoys cooking, traveling and music, in addition to spending time with her husband and children.

Experience

Monsanto Corporation, Agricultural Division, Chesterfield, MO

Laboratory Research Associate, June 1997 - June 1998

• Responsibilities included genetically isolating and identifying via PCR strains of fungal pathogens of wheat and potatoes that were resistant to the company's experimental lines of wheat and potatoes that had artificially inserted antifungal protein genes

Washington University School of Medicine, Dept. of Pediatrics, St. Louis, MO

Laboratory Assistant, 1995 - 1997

• Responsibilities included coding changes in behavioral state and collecting and recording physiologic data (ie. heart rate and cry frequency) indicating changes in vagal tone responses in neonates during newborn physical exams, circumcisions and heel sticks in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Education

University of Kentucky, Department of Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery Residency Training, July 2002 - June 2008

Indiana University

Doctor of Medicine, 2002

• Inducted in AOA Medical Honor Society in 2001

• Pittman Surgical Scholar for excellence in surgical clinical clerkships May 2002

• Hammond Clinic Scholar 2001

• Dr. Frank and Gertrude Currie Academic Scholarship 1999

• Participant in Senior Honors Program in Surgery-Research project with Dr. Richard Friedman, Ph.D. of IUPUI. Project presented in Carmel, CA at the Western Meeting of the American Federation for Medical Research titled "Effects of 2 mM and 375 mM Tryptamine on the Excitatory Junction Potential at the Crayfish Neuromuscular Junction." Abstract of same title published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, Jan. 2002, vol.50, no.1, 36A

Washington University

Bachelor of Arts with College Honors, 1997

• Double Major in Biology and Spanish

• Golden Key National Honor Society Inductee 1996

• Indiana Congressional Academic Scholarship 1993-1997

Portage High School, Portage, IN

• Valedictorian of 1993 graduating class

• National Merit Scholar