Heather Leeper, MD

2023 Junior Faculty Scholars

Heather Leeper is a neuro-oncologist, neurologist, and palliative medicine physician. Her focus is on providing person-centered care, which includes symptom management and support to enhance the quality of life and relieve suffering for people with serious neurologic illnesses, as well as support for caregivers, from time of diagnosis through end of life. She has expertise in serious illness communication and patient-reported outcomes in routine care and research settings. Her research interests include clinical education of communication skills, symptom science, and addressing health care disparities among people living with serious neurologic illness, as well as race and gender disparities among neurology clinicians.

Her work has been published in Neurology, Neuro-Oncology, Neuro-Oncology Advances, Neuro-Oncology Practice, The Lancet Oncology, Cancer, and Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Leeper earned a BA in women’s studies from Simmons College and an MS in applied physiology from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She received her MD from Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She completed a residency in neurology at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics and a fellowship in neuro-oncology at Mayo Clinic, where she also completed a postdoctoral diploma in clinical and translational science. She then completed a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria.