Biography
Lisa M. Wong, M.D. is a musician, pediatrician, and past president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii where she attended Punahou School, an independent school centered on education, the arts and community service. She began the piano at age 4, violin at age 8, guitar at age 10 and viola at age 40. Dr. Wong is married to violinist Lynn Chang. They have two grown children, Jennifer and Christopher Chang.
Dr. Wong graduated from Harvard University in East Asian Studies in 1979, and her M.D. from NYU School of Medicine in 1983. After completing her pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1986, she joined Milton Pediatrics Associates and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Along with her colleagues Dr. David Jones and Dr. Susan Pories, she co-chairs the newly created Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School. This initiative is made up of HMS physician faculty, residents and students interested in incorporating the arts into the classroom, laboratory and at the bedside through art making, art observation, narrative writing, music and more.
Dr. Wong is inspired by the work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a humanitarian, theologian, musician and physician. During her twenty year tenure as president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, was honored to work with remarkable leaders in healthcare and humanitarianism including Dr. Lachlan Forrow, Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Dr. Jim O’Connell and Dr. Paul Farmer. Although she retired as President of the LSO in 2012, Dr. Wong continues her involvement with the orchestra as a violinist in the section.
A passionate arts education advocate, Dr. Wong has worked closely with the New England Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory School and traveled with NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra to Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama, and Venezuela as a pediatric chaperone. Dr. Wong continues to be actively involved in El Sistema USA and has had the privilege of observing El Sistema in Venezuela several times over the past ten years.
Dr. Wong served as Board member of Young Audiences of Massachusetts for over 15 years and helped start Bring Back the Music (now renamed Making Music Matters), a program that revitalized in-class instrumental music instruction in the four Boston public elementary schools. In 2009, Dr. Wong was appointed to the Board of the Massachusetts Cultural Council by Governor Deval Patrick and served until 2015. She currently serves on the Boards of the Conservatory Lab Charter School, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the chamber ensemble, a far cry.
Dr. Wong received the 2010 Pinnacle Award from the Mattapan Community Health Center and 2013 Champion for the Arts Award from the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston. In May 2016 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Education from Wheelock College and gave the Graduate Commencement Address.
Her first book Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine, co-written with Robert Viagas, was published in April 2012 by Pegasus Books. It was released as a paperback in May 2013, and recently translated into Chinese. The AudioBook version will be released in early 2014.
Dr. Wong graduated from Harvard University in East Asian Studies in 1979, and her M.D. from NYU School of Medicine in 1983. After completing her pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1986, she joined Milton Pediatrics Associates and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Along with her colleagues Dr. David Jones and Dr. Susan Pories, she co-chairs the newly created Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School. This initiative is made up of HMS physician faculty, residents and students interested in incorporating the arts into the classroom, laboratory and at the bedside through art making, art observation, narrative writing, music and more.
Dr. Wong is inspired by the work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a humanitarian, theologian, musician and physician. During her twenty year tenure as president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, was honored to work with remarkable leaders in healthcare and humanitarianism including Dr. Lachlan Forrow, Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Dr. Jim O’Connell and Dr. Paul Farmer. Although she retired as President of the LSO in 2012, Dr. Wong continues her involvement with the orchestra as a violinist in the section.
A passionate arts education advocate, Dr. Wong has worked closely with the New England Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory School and traveled with NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra to Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama, and Venezuela as a pediatric chaperone. Dr. Wong continues to be actively involved in El Sistema USA and has had the privilege of observing El Sistema in Venezuela several times over the past ten years.
Dr. Wong served as Board member of Young Audiences of Massachusetts for over 15 years and helped start Bring Back the Music (now renamed Making Music Matters), a program that revitalized in-class instrumental music instruction in the four Boston public elementary schools. In 2009, Dr. Wong was appointed to the Board of the Massachusetts Cultural Council by Governor Deval Patrick and served until 2015. She currently serves on the Boards of the Conservatory Lab Charter School, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the chamber ensemble, a far cry.
Dr. Wong received the 2010 Pinnacle Award from the Mattapan Community Health Center and 2013 Champion for the Arts Award from the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston. In May 2016 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Education from Wheelock College and gave the Graduate Commencement Address.
Her first book Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine, co-written with Robert Viagas, was published in April 2012 by Pegasus Books. It was released as a paperback in May 2013, and recently translated into Chinese. The AudioBook version will be released in early 2014.
