School of Medicine
Showing 1-10 of 44 Results
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Maira Tafolla
Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry
BioMaira Tafolla, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral scholar working under the supervision of Dr. Somer Bishop in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Tafolla is interested in diagnosis and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2025. Dr. Tafolla has a wide range of research interests related to individuals with developmental conditions that include better understanding of caregiver mental health and well-being, assessment of bilingual individuals, and facilitators and barriers access to services for families who are underrepresented. She has published various articles on many of these topics. Dr. Tafolla is bilingual and is a certified ADOS-2 trainer in both Spanish and English.
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Niloofar Taheri
Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry
BioDr. Niloofar Taheri is a postdoctoral researcher (MD, Inv) in the Mignot Lab at Stanford University, where she conducts research in sleep medicine and neuroimmunology. Her work has been recognized with Gold Medals at international invention competitions, including the IFIA Members’ Competition for developing a novel diagnostic and therapeutic approach to neurodegenerative disorders, and the 2025 American Innovation Exhibition (AIIE) in San Diego, where she received a Gold Medal and Special Prize for designing a medication to improve the treatment of brain metastases in breast cancer. Most recently, she won a Gold Medal at the 2025 Kaohsiung International Invention & Design Expo (KIDE), for a patent on a novel diagnostic method for the early detection of major depressive disorder (MDD).
She brings experience in clinical practice, co-founding an autoimmune society, and developing wet-lab models. She is also a verified peer reviewer for psychiatry and neuroscience journals. -
Sakura Tanaka
Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry
BioDr. Tanaka is a postdoctoral scholar advised by Dr. Nirao Shah in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. She received her PhD in Marine and Estuarine Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2022. After transitioning from aquaculture science to neuroscience, she now studies how reproductive states reshape the neural circuits that govern the body's behavioral and physiological demands, integrating molecular biology, bioinformatics, neuroscience, and reproductive biology.
