Rishi M. Lumba, MD

My resolve to pursue a future in medicine was cemented during my time volunteering at a charity in one of Kenya’s largest slums. I’ll never forget the depth of emotion I felt when I assisted a volunteer pediatrician in caring for a sick baby who had recently been found abandoned. That experience, along with caring for many HIV-positive children at the charity, instilled in me a powerful desire to do more. It was in those moments that I realized my passion for helping the most vulnerable, especially newborns.

I am an attending neonatologist at NYU Langone Health, and my clinical emphasis is on providing advanced, family-centered care for my patients. Additionally, I am committed to implementing quality improvement initiatives that utilize systematic and continuous actions to achieve measurable enhancements in healthcare. I lead the Neonatal Quality Improvement and Neonatal Transport programs at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, focusing on enhancing patient care for critically ill neonates (newborns).

My research interests include newborn screening, therapeutic hypothermia, pulmonary hypertension, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) on neonates. I am currently a principal investigator in a voluntary newborn screening research study that can help identify certain rare diseases in newborns as early as possible. I also contribute as an expert peer reviewer for leading medical journals, and my research has been published in numerous papers addressing key issues in neonatal care, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My dedication to improving neonatal outcomes continues to drive both my research and clinical work.