His many contributions to the institute include identifying the brain areas that should not be removed during surgery for epilepsy. Lansdell developed a series of tests that he administered to the patients while Van Buren probed the brain's cortex with electrodes prior to removing epileptic areas in the brain. When Dr. Van Buren probed the speech area of the brain, the tests revealed an area that is generally avoided for fear of causing permanent damage to the patients' ability to speak.
Many people owe their ability to speak to Herb's tests.
From 1944 to 1945, he served in the Royal Canadian Navy. He began his career in 1949 as a lecturer at Sir George Williams Evening College and as an assistant professor at McGill. A year later he became a defense research scientific officer at the Defense Research Medical Laboratories in Toronto. Before coming to NIH, Lansdell served as an assistant professor at the University of Buffalo from 1954 to 1958. He became a U.S. citizen in 1961.