Independent Labs, Institutes, and Centers (Dean of Research)


Showing 1-10 of 101 Results

  • Yonatan Winetraub

    Yonatan Winetraub

    Instructor, Structural Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy interests span non-invasive imaging for early cancer diagnosis and space exploration.
    I'm focusing on utilizing Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and machine learning to create virtual histology tools to image cancer non invasively at a single cell resolution, allowing physicians to skip biopsy (read more about the research). Prior to my PhD at Stanford, I co-founded SpaceIL, a non-profit organization that launched the first private interplanetary robotic mission to the Moon launched 2019.

  • Jeff R. Wade

    Jeff R. Wade

    Network and Systems Security Manager, KIPAC

    Current Role at StanfordNetwork and Security Manager for Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology or KIPAC. Responsible for network, security, servers, switches and clusters for select faculty, with KIPAC, LIGO, Fermi, Gemini Planet Imager, and HEPL.

  • Anthony Wagner

    Anthony Wagner

    Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCognitive neuroscience of memory and cognitive/executive control in young and older adults. Research interests include encoding and retrieval mechanisms; interactions between declarative, nondeclarative, and working memory; forms of cognitive control; neurocognitive aging; functional organization of prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe; assessed by functional MRI, scalp and intracranial EEG, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.

  • Soichi Wakatsuki

    Soichi Wakatsuki

    Professor of Photon Science and of Structural Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUbiquitin signaling: structure, function, and therapeutics
    Ubiquitin is a small protein modifier that is ubiquitously produced in the cells and takes part in the regulation of a wide range of cellular activities such as gene transcription and protein turnover. The key to the diversity of the ubiquitin roles in cells is that it is capable of interacting with other cellular proteins either as a single molecule or as different types of chains. Ubiquitin chains are produced through polymerization of ubiquitin molecules via any of their seven internal lysine residues or the N-terminal methionine residue. Covalent interaction of ubiquitin with other proteins is known as ubiquitination which is carried out through an enzymatic cascade composed of the ubiquitin-activating (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating (E2), and ubiquitin ligase (E3) enzymes. The ubiquitin signals are decoded by the ubiquitin-binding domains (UBDs). These domains often specifically recognize and non-covalently bind to the different ubiquitin species, resulting in distinct signaling outcomes.
    We apply a combination of the structural (including protein crystallography, small angle x-ray scattering, cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) etc.), biocomputational and biochemical techniques to study the ubiquitylation and deubiquitination processes, and recognition of the ubiquitin chains by the proteins harboring ubiquitin-binding domains. Current research interests including SARS-COV2 proteases and their interactions with polyubiquitin chains and ubiquitin pathways in host cell responses, with an ultimate goal of providing strategies for effective therapeutics with reduced levels of side effects.

    Protein self-assembly processes and applications.
    The Surface layers (S-layers) are crystalline protein coats surrounding microbial cells. S-layer proteins (SLPs) regulate their extracellular, self-assembly by crystallizing when exposed to an environmental trigger. We have demonstrated that the Caulobacter crescentus SLP readily crystallizes into sheets both in vivo and in vitro via a calcium-triggered multistep assembly pathway. Observing crystallization using a time course of Cryo-EM imaging has revealed a crystalline intermediate wherein N-terminal nucleation domains exhibit motional dynamics with respect to rigid lattice-forming crystallization domains. Rate enhancement of protein crystallization by a discrete nucleation domain may enable engineering of kinetically controllable self-assembling 2D macromolecular nanomaterials. In particular, this is inspiring designing robust novel platform for nano-scale protein scaffolds for structure-based drug design and nano-bioreactor design for the carbon-cycling enzyme pathway enzymes. Current research focuses on development of nano-scaffolds for high throughput in vitro assays and structure determination of small and flexible proteins and their interaction partners using Cryo-EM, and applying them to cancer and anti-viral therapeutics.

    Multiscale imaging and technology developments.
    Multimodal, multiscale imaging modalities will be developed and integrated to understand how molecular level events of key enzymes and protein network are connected to cellular and multi-cellular functions through intra-cellular organization and interactions of the key machineries in the cell. Larger scale organization of these proteins will be studied by solution X-ray scattering and Cryo-EM. Their spatio-temporal arrangements in the cell organelles, membranes, and cytosol will be further studied by X-ray fluorescence imaging and correlated with cryoEM and super-resolution optical microscopy. We apply these multiscale integrative imaging approaches to biomedical, and environmental and bioenergy research questions with Stanford, DOE national labs, and other domestic and international collaborators.

  • Virginia Walbot

    Virginia Walbot

    Professor of Biology, Emerita

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur current focus is on maize anther development to understand how cell fate is specified. We discovered that hypoxia triggers specification of the archesporial (pre-meiotic) cells, and that these cells secrete a small protein MAC1 that patterns the adjacent soma to differentiate as endothecial and secondary parietal cell types. We also discovered a novel class of small RNA: 21-nt and 24-nt phasiRNAs that are exceptionally abundant in anthers and exhibit strict spatiotemporal dynamics.

  • Russell Wald

    Russell Wald

    Deputy Director, HAI, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

    BioRussell Wald serves as the deputy director for the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). In this role he oversees HAI's research, education, communications, administrative activities, industry programs, and policy and society hub. Wald works with HAI's co-directors and faculty leaders to help shape the strategic vision and human-centered mission of HAI. From 2020 - 2022 he served as HAI's first Director of Policy and later Managing Director for Policy and Society.

    He is the co-author of various publications on AI including, Building a National AI Research Resource (2021), Enhancing International Cooperation in AI Research: The Case for a Multilateral AI Research Institute (2022), The Centrality of Data and Compute for AI Innovation: A Blueprint for a National Research Cloud (2022, Notre Dame Journal of Emerging Technologies). Currently he is part of a HAI seed grant research project titled, Addicted by Design: An Investigation of How AI-fueled Digital Media Platforms Contribute to Addictive Consumption. Additionally, he serves as a member of the AI Index Steering Committee, hosted by HAI.

    Wald has held various policy program and government relations positions at Stanford University for over a decade. He also served as special assistant to Amy Zegart and Ashton Carter at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). In 2014, he co-designed and led the inaugural Stanford congressional boot camp, and has since created numerous tech policy boot camps, establishing a strong and effective tradition of educating policymakers at Stanford and enhancing the collaboration between governments and academic institutions.

    Prior to his work at Stanford, he held numerous roles with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a Visiting Fellow with the National Security Institute at George Mason University, and a former Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Truman National Security Project. Wald is a graduate of UCLA.

  • Ken Waldron

    Ken Waldron

    Professor (Research) of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus

    BioKenneth J. Waldron is Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at UTS. He is also Professor Emeritus from the Design Group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Stanford University. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Sydney, and PhD from Stanford. He works in machine design, and design methodology with a particular focus on robotic and mechatronic systems.

  • Rebecca D. Walker

    Rebecca D. Walker

    Clinical Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsInterests include international development in emergency care, healthcare disparities, wilderness medicine, human rights, administration

  • Dennis Wall

    Dennis Wall

    Professor of Pediatrics (Clinical Informatics), of Biomedical Data Science and, by courtesy, of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSystems biology for design of clinical solutions that detect and treat disease