Sangita Basnet, MD

Dr. Sangita Basnet is a professor of clinical pediatrics with SIU School of Medicine, specializing in the care of critically ill children in the hospital. Until recently, she served as chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care and medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. She completed her fellowship in pediatric critical care at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and her residency in pediatrics at Cook County Children's Hospital in Chicago. She earned her medical degree from Tribhuvan University, Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Dr. Basnet is board certified in pediatric critical care medicine and pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine. Her overarching goal is to improve child health outcomes internationally. She returned to her native country, Nepal, in 2020 to establish the country’s first pediatric critical care fellowship program and to help develop clinical practice guidelines. She also played a key role in establishing Nepal’s first pediatric intensive care unit in 2009. Dr. Basnet has published and presented widely on pediatric critical care in resource-limited countries and on quality improvement interventions in the pediatric ICU.