School of Humanities and Sciences


Showing 101-150 of 376 Results

  • Russell D. Fernald

    Russell D. Fernald

    Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology, Emeritus

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsIn the course of evolution,two of the strongest selective forces in nature,light and sex, have left their mark on living organisms. I am interested in how the development and function of the nervous system reflects these events. We use the reproductive system to understand how social behavior influences the main system of reproductive action controlled by a collection of cells in the brain containing gonodotropin releasing hormone(GnRH)

  • Chris Field

    Chris Field

    Melvin and Joan Lane Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Director, Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor of Earth System Science, of Biology and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and at Woods
    On Leave from 01/01/2024 To 06/30/2024

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
    My field is climate-change science, and my research emphasizes human-ecological interactions across many disciplines. Most studies include aspects of ecology, but also aspects of law, sociology, medicine, or engineering.

  • Daniel Fisher

    Daniel Fisher

    David Starr Jordan Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvolutionary & ecological dynamics & diversity, microbial, expt'l, & cancer

  • Ian Fisher

    Ian Fisher

    Professor of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research focuses on the study of quantum materials with unconventional magnetic & electronic ground states & phase transitions. Emphasis on design and discovery of new materials. Recent focus on use of strain as a probe of, and tuning parameter for, a variety of electronic states. Interests include unconventional superconductivity, quantum phase transitions, nematicity, multipolar order, instabilities of low-dimensional materials and quantum magnetism.

  • Emily Fox

    Emily Fox

    Professor of Statistics and of Computer Science

    BioEmily Fox is a Professor in the Departments of Statistics and Computer Science at Stanford University. Prior to Stanford, she was the Amazon Professor of Machine Learning in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and Department of Statistics at the University of Washington. From 2018-2021, Emily led the Health AI team at Apple, where she was a Distinguished Engineer. Before joining UW, Emily was an Assistant Professor at the Wharton School Department of Statistics at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her doctorate from Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT where her thesis was recognized with EECS' Jin-Au Kong Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Prize and the Leonard J. Savage Award for Best Thesis in Applied Methodology.

    Emily has been awarded a CZ Biohub Investigator Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a Sloan Research Fellowship, ONR Young Investigator Award, and NSF CAREER Award. Her research interests are in modeling complex time series arising in health, particularly from health wearables and neuroimaging modalities.

  • John Fox

    John Fox

    Adjunct Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStanford University Research areas center on optimal control methods to improve energy
    efficiency and resource allocation in plug-in hybrid vehicles. Stanford graduate courses
    taught in laboratory techniques and electronic instrumentation. Undergraduate course
    "Energy Choices for the 21st Century"

  • Hunter Fraser

    Hunter Fraser

    Professor of Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the evolution of complex traits by developing new experimental and computational methods.

    Our work brings together quantitative genetics, genomics, epigenetics, and evolutionary biology to achieve a deeper understanding of how genetic variation shapes the phenotypic diversity of life. Our main focus is on the evolution of gene expression, which is the primary fuel for natural selection. Our long-term goal is to be able to introduce complex traits into new species via genome editing.

  • Judith Frydman

    Judith Frydman

    Donald Kennedy Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor of Genetics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe long term goal of our research is to understand how proteins fold in living cells. My lab uses a multidisciplinary approach to address fundamental questions about molecular chaperones, protein folding and degradation. In addition to basic mechanistic principles, we aim to define how impairment of cellular folding and quality control are linked to disease, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases and examine whether reengineering chaperone networks can provide therapeutic strategies.

  • Tadashi Fukami

    Tadashi Fukami

    Professor of Biology and of Earth System Science

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEcological and evolutionary community assembly, with emphasis on understanding historical contingency in community structure, ecosystem functioning, biological invasion and ecological restoration, using experimental, theoretical, and comparative methods involving bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals.

  • David Goldhaber-Gordon

    David Goldhaber-Gordon

    Professor of Physics and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHow do electrons organize themselves on the nanoscale?

    We know that electrons are charged particles, and hence repel each other; yet in common metals like copper billions of electrons have plenty of room to maneuver and seem to move independently, taking no notice of each other. Professor Goldhaber-Gordon studies how electrons behave when they are instead confined to tiny structures, such as wires only tens of atoms wide. When constrained this way, electrons cannot easily avoid each other, and interactions strongly affect their organization and flow. The Goldhaber-Gordon group uses advanced fabrication techniques to confine electrons to semiconductor nanostructures, to extend our understanding of quantum mechanics to interacting particles, and to provide the basic science that will shape possible designs for future transistors and energy conversion technologies. The Goldhaber-Gordon group makes measurements using cryogenics, precision electrical measurements, and novel scanning probe techniques that allow direct spatial mapping of electron organization and flow. For some of their measurements of exotic quantum states, they cool electrons to a fiftieth of a degree above absolute zero, the world record for electrons in semiconductor nanostructures.

  • Benjamin Good

    Benjamin Good

    Assistant Professor of Applied Physics

    BioBenjamin Good is a theoretical biophysicist with a background in experimental evolution and population genetics. He is interested in the short-term evolutionary dynamics that emerge in rapidly evolving microbial populations like the gut microbiome. Technological advances are revolutionizing our ability to peer into these evolving ecosystems, providing us with an increasingly detailed catalog of their component species, genes, and pathways. Yet a vast gap still remains in understanding the population-level processes that control their emergent structure and function. Our group uses tools from statistical physics, population genetics, and computational biology to understand how microscopic growth processes and genome dynamics at the single cell level give rise to the collective behaviors that can be observed at the population level. Projects range from basic theoretical investigations of non-equilibrium processes in microbial evolution and ecology, to the development of new computational tools for measuring these processes in situ in both natural and experimental microbial communities. Through these specific examples, we seek to uncover unifying theoretical principles that could help us understand, forecast, and eventually control the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that take place in these diverse scenarios.

  • Deborah M Gordon

    Deborah M Gordon

    Professor of Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProfessor Deborah M Gordon studies the evolutionary ecology of collective behavior. Ant colonies operate without central control, using local interactions to regulate colony behavior.

  • Or Gozani

    Or Gozani

    Dr. Morris Herzstein Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the molecular mechanisms by which chromatin-signaling networks effect nuclear and epigenetic programs, and how dysregulation of these pathways leads to disease. Our work centers on the biology of lysine methylation, a principal chromatin-regulatory mechanism that directs epigenetic processes. We study how lysine methylation events are generated, sensed, and transduced, and how these chemical marks integrate with other nuclear signaling systems to govern diverse cellular functions.

  • Peter Graham

    Peter Graham

    Professor of Physics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWhat physics lies beyond the Standard Model and how can we discover it?

    Professor Graham is broadly interested in theoretical physics beyond the Standard Model which often involves cosmology, astrophysics, general relativity, and even atomic physics. The Standard Model leaves many questions unanswered including the nature of dark matter and the origins of the weak scale, the cosmological constant, and the fundamental fermion masses. These clues are a guide to building new theories beyond the Standard Model. He recently proposed a new solution to the hierarchy problem which uses dynamical relaxation in the early universe instead of new physics at the weak scale.

    Professor Graham is also interested in inventing novel experiments to discover such new physics, frequently using techniques from astrophysics, condensed matter, and atomic physics. He is a proposer and co-PI of the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr) and the DM Radio experiment. CASPEr uses nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to search for axion dark matter. DM Radio uses high precision magnetometry and electromagnetic resonators to search for hidden photon and axion dark matter. He has also proposed techniques for gravitational wave detection using atom interferometry.

    Current areas of focus:

    Theory beyond the Standard Model
    Dark matter models and detection
    Novel experimental proposals for discovering new physics such as axions and gravitational waves
    Understanding results from experiments ranging from the LHC to early universe cosmology

  • Giorgio Gratta

    Giorgio Gratta

    Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor

    BioGiorgio Gratta is a Professor of Physics at Stanford university where he is currently serving as chair of the Physics Department. Gratta is an experimentalist, with research interests in the broad area of the physics of fundamental particles and their interactions. While his career started with experiments at particle colliders, since at Stanford Gratta has tackled the study of neutrinos and gravity at the shortest distances. With two landmark experiments using neutrinos produced by nuclear reactors, made observations in the area of neutrino oscillations, and with one of them was first in reporting oscillations using artificial neutrinos and establishing the finite nature of neutrino masses. The same experiment was also first to detect neutrinos from the interior of our planet, providing a new tool for the Earth sciences. At a very different energy scale, Gratta and his group substantially advanced the techniques to detect ultra-high energy neutrinos in cosmic radiation, using acoustic signals in large bodies of water.
    In more recent times, Gratta has led the development of liquid Xenon detectors in the search for the neutrinoless double beta decay, a nuclear decay that if observed would change our understanding of the quantum nature of neutrinos and help explaining the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe. Gratta is currently the scientific leader of one of the three very large experiments on the subject, world-wide.
    In a parallel development, Gratta’s group is studying new long range interactions (or an anomalous behavior of gravity) at distances below 50 micrometers. This is achieved with an array of different techniques, from optical levitation of microscopic particles in vacuum, to the use of Mössbauer spectroscopy and, most recently, neutron scattering on nanostructured materials.

  • Arthur Grossman

    Arthur Grossman

    Visiting Professor (By courtesy), Biology
    Professor (By Courtesy), Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHow photosynthetic organisms perceive and respond to their environment

  • Elizabeth Hadly

    Elizabeth Hadly

    Paul S. and Billie Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology, Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Earth and Planetary Sciences
    On Leave from 10/01/2023 To 06/30/2024

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsElizabeth Hadly and her lab probe how perturbations such as climatic change and human modification of the environment influence the evolution and ecology of animals.

  • Philip C. Hanawalt

    Philip C. Hanawalt

    Dr. Morris Herzstein Professor in Biology, Emeritus

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current interest includes two principal areas:

    1. The molecular basis for diseases in which the pathway of transcription-coupled DNA repair is defective, including Cockyne syndrome (CS) and UV-sensitive syndrome (UVSS). Patients are severely sensitive to sunlight but get no cancers. See Hanawalt & Spivak, 2008, for review.

    2. Transcription arrest by guanine-rich DNA sequences and non-canonical secondary structures. Transcription collisions with replication forks.

  • Trevor Hastie

    Trevor Hastie

    John A. Overdeck Professor, Professor of Statistics and of Biomedical Data Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFlexible statistical modeling for prediction and representation of data arising in biology, medicine, science or industry. Statistical and machine learning tools have gained importance over the years. Part of Hastie's work has been to bridge the gap between traditional statistical methodology and the achievements made in machine learning.

  • Patrick Hayden

    Patrick Hayden

    Stanford Professor of Quantum Physics and Professor, by courtesy, of Computer Science

    BioProfessor Hayden is a leader in the exciting new field of quantum information science. He has contributed greatly to our understanding of the absolute limits that quantum mechanics places on information processing, and how to exploit quantum effects for computing and other aspects of communication. He has also made some key insights on the relationship between black holes and information theory.

  • Tony Heinz

    Tony Heinz

    Professor of Applied Physics, of Photon Science, and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsElectronic properties and dynamics of nanoscale materials, ultrafast lasers and spectroscopy.

  • H. Craig Heller

    H. Craig Heller

    Lorry I. Lokey/Business Wire Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNeurobiology of sleep, circadian rhythms, regulation of body temperature, mammalian hibernation, and human exercise physiology. Currently applying background in sleep and circadian neurobiology the understanding and correcting the learning disability of Down Syndrome.

  • Lambertus Hesselink

    Lambertus Hesselink

    Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy of Applied Physics

    BioHesselink's research encompasses nano-photonics, ultra high density optical data storage, nonlinear optics, optical super-resolution, materials science, three-dimensional image processing and graphics, and Internet technologies.

  • Keith Hodgson

    Keith Hodgson

    David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Photon Science at SLAC

    BioCombining inorganic, biophysical and structural chemistry, Professor Keith Hodgson investigates how structure at molecular and macromolecular levels relates to function. Studies in the Hodgson lab have pioneered the use of synchrotron x-radiation to probe the electronic and structural environment of biomolecules. Recent efforts focus on the applications of x-ray diffraction, scattering and absorption spectroscopy to examine metalloproteins that are important in Earth’s biosphere, such as those that convert nitrogen to ammonia or methane to methanol.

    Keith O. Hodgson was born in Virginia in 1947. He studied chemistry at the University of Virginia (B.S. 1969) and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1972), with a postdoctoral year at the ETH in Zurich. He joined the Stanford Chemistry Department faculty in 1973, starting up a program of fundamental research into the use of x-rays to study chemical and biological structure that made use of the unique capabilities of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL). His lab carried out pioneering x-ray absorption and x-ray crystallographic studies of proteins, laying the foundation for a new field now in broad use worldwide. In the early eighties, he began development of one of the world's first synchrotron-based structural molecular biology research and user programs, centered at SSRL. He served as SSRL Director from 1998 to 2005, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) Deputy Director (2005-2007) and Associate Laboratory Director for Photon Science (2007-2011).

    Today the Hodgson research group investigates how molecular structure at different organizational levels relates to biological and chemical function, using a variety of x-ray absorption, diffraction and scattering techniques. Typical of these molecular structural studies are investigations of metal ions as active sites of biomolecules. His research group develops and utilizes techniques such as x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy (XAS and XES) to study the electronic and metrical details of a given metal ion in the biomolecule under a variety of natural conditions.

    A major area of focus over many years, the active site of the enzyme nitrogenase is responsible for conversion of atmospheric di-nitrogen to ammonia. Using XAS studies at the S, Fe and Mo edge, the Hodgson group has worked to understand the electronic structure as a function of redox in this cluster. They have developed new methods to study long distances in the cluster within and outside the protein. Studies are ongoing to learn how this cluster functions during catalysis and interacts with substrates and inhibitors. Other components of the protein are also under active study.

    Additional projects include the study of iron in dioxygen activation and oxidation within the binuclear iron-containing enzyme methane monooxygenase and in cytochrome oxidase. Lab members are also investigating the role of copper in electron transport and in dioxygen activation. Other studies include the electronic structure of iron-sulfur clusters in models and enzymes.

    The research group is also focusing on using the next generation of x-ray light sources, the free electron laser. Such a light source, called the LCLS, is also located at SLAC. They are also developing new approaches using x-ray free electron laser radiation to image noncrystalline biomolecules and study chemical reactivity on ultrafast time scales.

  • Leo Hollberg

    Leo Hollberg

    Professor (Research) of Physics and of Geophysics

    BioHow can we make optimal use of quantum systems (atoms, lasers, and electronics) to test fundamental physics principles, enable precision measurements of space-time and when feasible, develop useful devices, sensors, and instruments?

    Professor Hollberg’s research objectives include high precision tests of fundamental physics as well as applications of laser physics and technology. This experimental program in laser/atomic physics focuses on high-resolution spectroscopy of laser-cooled and -trapped atoms, non-linear optical coherence effects in atoms, optical frequency combs, optical/microwave atomic clocks, and high sensitivity trace gas detection. Frequently this involves the study of laser noise and methods to circumvent measurement limitations, up to, and beyond, quantum limited optical detection. Technologies and tools utilized include frequency-stabilized lasers and chip-scale atomic devices. Based in the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL), this research program has strong, synergistic, collaborative connections to the Stanford Center on Position Navigation and Time (SCPNT). Research directions are inspired by experience that deeper understanding of fundamental science is critical and vital in addressing real-world problems, for example in the environment, energy, and navigation. Amazing new technologies and devices enable experiments that test fundamental principles with high precision and sometimes lead to the development of better instruments and sensors. Ultrasensitive optical detection of atoms, monitoring of trace gases, isotopes, and chemicals can impact many fields. Results from well-designed experiments teach us about the “realities” of nature, guide and inform, occasionally produce new discoveries, frequently surprise, and almost always generate new questions and perspectives.

  • Susan Holmes

    Susan Holmes

    Professor of Statistics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab has been developing tools for the analyses of complex data structures, extending work on multivariate data to structured multitable table that include graphs, networks and trees as well as categorical and continuous measurements.
    We created and support the Bioconductor package phyloseq for the analyses of microbial ecology data from the microbiome. We have specialized in developing interactive graphical visualization tools for doing reproducible research in biology.

  • Wray Huestis

    Wray Huestis

    Professor of Chemistry, Emerita

    BioProfessor Wray Huestis’ research concerns the molecular mechanisms whereby cells control their shape, motility, deformability and the structural integrity of their membranes. Metabolic control of interprotein and protein-lipid interactions is studied by a variety of biochemical, spectroscopic and radiochemical techniques, including fluorescence and EPR spectrometry, autoradiography and electron microscopy. The role of lipid metabolism and transport in regulating the fluid dynamics of cell suspensions (red blood cells, platelets, lymphocytes) is examined using circulating cells and cells grown in culture. Cell-cell and cell-liposome interactions are studied using model membrane systems with widely differing physical properties. Complexes of liposomes and encapsulated viruses are used as selective vectors to deliver water-soluble compounds across the membranes of intact cells. The particular projects described in the listed publications have as a common goal an understanding of the molecular workings of the cell membrane.

  • Jamie Imam

    Jamie Imam

    Advanced Lecturer

    BioDr. Jamie Imam received her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences and Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and her Ph.D. in Genetics from the Stanford School of Medicine. In addition to teaching, Jamie is the Director of the Honors Program in Biology and a Lecturer Consultant with the Center for Teaching and Learning. When she is not teaching or doing science outreach, she enjoys reading, baking and spending time outdoors with her family.

  • John P.A. Ioannidis

    John P.A. Ioannidis

    Professor of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research), of Epidemiology and Population Health and by courtesy, of Statistics and of Biomedical Data Science

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMeta-research
    Evidence-based medicine
    Clinical and molecular epidemiology
    Human genome epidemiology
    Research design
    Reporting of research
    Empirical evaluation of bias in research
    Randomized trials
    Statistical methods and modeling
    Meta-analysis and large-scale evidence
    Prognosis, predictive, personalized, precision medicine and health
    Sociology of science

  • Christine Jacobs-Wagner

    Christine Jacobs-Wagner

    Dennis Cunningham Professor, Professor of Biology and of Microbiology and Immunology

    BioChristine Jacobs-Wagner is a Dennis Cunningham Professor in the Department of Biology and the ChEM-H Institute at Stanford University. She is interested in understanding the fundamental mechanisms and principles by which cells, and, in particular, bacterial cells, are able to multiple. She received her PhD in Biochemistry in 1996 from the University of Liège, Belgium where she unraveled a molecular mechanism by which some bacterial pathogens sense and respond to antibiotics attack to achieve resistance. For this work, she received multiple awards including the 1997 GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists. During her postdoctoral work at Stanford Medical School, she demonstrated that bacteria can localize regulatory proteins to specific intracellular regions to control signal transduction and the cell cycle, uncovering a new, unsuspected level of bacterial regulation.

    She started her own lab at Yale University in 2001. Over the years, her group made major contributions in the emerging field of bacterial cell biology and provided key molecular insights into the temporal and spatial mechanisms involved in cell morphogenesis, cell polarization, chromosome segregation and cell cycle control. For her distinguished work, she received the Pew Scholars award from the Pew Charitable Trust, the Woman in Cell Biology Junior award from the American Society of Cell Biology and the Eli Lilly award from the American Society of Microbiology. She held the Maxine F. Singer and William H. Fleming professor chairs at Yale. She was elected to the Connecticut academy of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology and the National Academy of Sciences. She has been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2008.

    Her lab moved to Stanford in 2019. Current research examines the general principles and spatiotemporal mechanisms by which bacterial cells replicate, using Caulobacter crescentus and Escherichia coli as models. Recently, the Jacobs-Wagner lab expanded their interests to the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi, revealing unsuspected ways by which this pathogen grows and causes disease

  • Iain Johnstone

    Iain Johnstone

    Marjorie Mhoon Fair Professor of Quantitative Science and Professor of Statistics and of Biomedical Data Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEmpirical bias/shrinkage estimation; non-parametric, smoothing; statistical inverse problems.