Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)


Showing 21-38 of 38 Results

  • Robert Fisher, MD, PhD

    Robert Fisher, MD, PhD

    The Maslah Saul, MD, Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Fisher is interested in clincal, laboratory and translational aspects of epilepsy research. Prior work has included: electrical deep brain stimulation for epilepsy, studied in laboratory models and clinical trials; drug delivery to a seizure focus; mechanisms of absence epilepsy studied with in vitro slices of brain thalamus; hyperthermic seizures; diagnosis and treatment of non-epileptic seizures, the post-ictal state; driving and epilepsy; new antiepileptic drugs; surgery for epilepsy.

  • Matthew Fitzgerald, PhD

    Matthew Fitzgerald, PhD

    Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research encompasses several translational projects. One focus is to modify the routine audiologic test battery such that it places equal weight on hearing acuity and hearing function. This work includes measures of speech in noise, or electrophysiologic responses such as the FFR. I also explore tools to better assess and maximize performance in users of hearing aids and cochlear implants. Finally, I am also investigating the benefits of telemedicine, and new treatments for tinnitus.

  • Pamela Flood

    Pamela Flood

    Adjunct Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    BioDr. Flood is a Professor at Stanford University who is fellowship trained in Pain Medicine and Obstetric Anesthesiology. She specializes in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain and multiple aspects of women's health including the prevention of chronic pain after childbirth. Research interests include the role of multimodal treatment in chronic pain conditions and prevention of persistent opioid use. Her research has spanned from detailed pharmacodynamic analysis, clinical trials to population health.

  • Eric Foote

    Eric Foote

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology

    BioEric Foote is a pediatric hospitalist with experience conducting clinical and public health research around the world. His research focuses on identifying and intervening on health disparities in low income countries and in low resource settings. Currently, he is developing and evaluating a community health worker-led household phototherapy intervention to extend access to neonatal jaundice care for newborns in rural Bangladesh. He is also working to improve SARS-CoV-2 testing and genomic surveillance across California and worldwide.

  • Daiana Fornes

    Daiana Fornes

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Pulmonary

    BioDaiana Fornes is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, supported by a Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research centers on reproductive biology and pregnancy disorders, with a particular focus on uterine contractility, preterm labor, and uterine atony. She investigates calcium signaling pathways, including the role of TRPV4 ion channels, to identify novel therapeutic strategies aimed at improving maternal health outcomes.

    Daiana earned her PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, where she studied metabolic alterations during pregnancy and their effects on fetal development. Her training has provided her with a strong foundation in translational research, with extensive experience in experimental design, molecular biology, and the analysis of signaling pathways.

  • Jenna Forsyth

    Jenna Forsyth

    Director, Project Unleaded, Human and Planetary Health

    BioJenna Forsyth, PhD, is an interdisciplinary environmental health scientist. She has focused on lead exposure research for 10 years and currently oversees the research portfolio for Project Unleaded - an initiative to identify and mitigate priority sources of lead poisoning globally, with an emphasis in South Asia. Based on her team’s discovery and effort to address lead poisoning from turmeric in Bangladesh, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in Global Health by Time Magazine in 2024. Prior to studying lead contamination and poisoning, she spent nearly 10 years addressing global and environmental health problems from contaminants in the air, water, soil, and food. Her work has been featured in The Economist, The Washington Post, Vox, The Scientist, Undark, Think Global Health, Environmental Health News, Stanford Medicine, Effective Altruism and other outlets. She holds a PhD in Environment and Resources from Stanford University and a Master’s of Science in Engineering and Certificate in Global Health from the University of Washington.

  • Michael Frank

    Michael Frank

    Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology and Professor, by courtesy, of Linguistics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHow do we learn to communicate using language? I study children's language learning and how it interacts with their developing understanding of the social world. I use behavioral experiments, computational tools, and novel measurement methods like large-scale web-based studies, eye-tracking, and head-mounted cameras.

  • Jennifer Frankovich

    Jennifer Frankovich

    Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Rheumatology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy primary interest and role at Stanford is to evaluate and treat children with both systemic and organ specific autoimmune disease. In October of 2012, we started a multidisciplinary clinic dedicated to treating patients with PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndromes). I am currently the clinical and research director for the PANS program.

  • 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.

  • Michael Fredericson, MD

    Michael Fredericson, MD

    Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and, by courtesy, of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of overuse sports injuries in athletes and lifestyle medicine practices for improved health and longevity.

  • Richard Frock

    Richard Frock

    Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation and Cancer Biology)
    On Partial Leave from 04/01/2026 To 12/10/2026

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are a functional genomics laboratory interested in elucidating mechanisms of DNA repair pathway choice and genome instability. We use genome-wide repair fate maps of targeted DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) to develop pathway-specific models and combinatorial therapies. Our expertise overlaps many different fields including: genome editing, ionizing radiation, cancer therapeutics, V(D)J and IgH class switch recombination, repair during transcription and replication, and meiosis.

  • Adam Frymoyer

    Adam Frymoyer

    Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests focus on understanding the clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of medicines used in complex pediatric populations. This includes identifying sources of variation in drug response through the application of population PK-PD modeling and simulation approaches. The goal is to ultimately apply this quantitative understanding to guide therapeutic decision-making in infants and children.

  • Janene Fuerch

    Janene Fuerch

    Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology

    BioJanene H. Fuerch, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neonatology at Stanford University Medical Center, as well as an innovator, educator, researcher and physician entrepreneur. She has an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brown University and a medical degree from the Jacobs School of Medicine at SUNY Buffalo. At Stanford University she completed a pediatrics residency, neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship and the Byers Center for Biodesign Innovation Fellowship.

    She is also Assistant Director of the Biodesign Innovation Fellowship Program at Stanford University, and Co-Director of Impact1 where she mentors and advises new entrepreneurs through all aspects of medical device development, from identifying clinical needs to commercialization. Her specific areas of investigational interest include the development and commercialization process of neonatal, pediatric and maternal health medical devices as well as the utilization of a simulated environment to develop and test medical devices. She is a national leader in neonatal resuscitation, ECMO, device development and has been an AHRQ and FDA funded investigator. But her work extends outside of the academic realm to industry having co-founded EMME (acquired by Simple Health 2022) an award-winning reproductive health company, medical director for Novonate (acquired by Laborie 2023) a neonatal umbilical catheter securement company and notable consultant for Vitara (EXTEND - artificial environment to decrease complications of prematurity), and Avanos™. Janene is passionate about improving the health of children and newborns through medical device innovation and research.

  • Gerald Fuller

    Gerald Fuller

    Fletcher Jones Professor in the School of Engineering

    BioThe processing of complex liquids (polymers, suspensions, emulsions, biological fluids) alters their microstructure through orientation and deformation of their constitutive elements. In the case of polymeric liquids, it is of interest to obtain in situ measurements of segmental orientation and optical methods have proven to be an excellent means of acquiring this information. Research in our laboratory has resulted in a number of techniques in optical rheometry such as high-speed polarimetry (birefringence and dichroism) and various microscopy methods (fluorescence, phase contrast, and atomic force microscopy).

    The microstructure of polymeric and other complex materials also cause them to have interesting physical properties and respond to different flow conditions in unusual manners. In our laboratory, we are equipped with instruments that are able to characterize these materials such as shear rheometer, capillary break up extensional rheometer, and 2D extensional rheometer. Then, the response of these materials to different flow conditions can be visualized and analyzed in detail using high speed imaging devices at up to 2,000 frames per second.

    There are numerous processes encountered in nature and industry where the deformation of fluid-fluid interfaces is of central importance. Examples from nature include deformation of the red blood cell in small capillaries, cell division and structure and composition of the tear film. Industrial applications include the processing of emulsions and foams, and the atomization of droplets in ink-jet printing. In our laboratory, fundamental research is in progress to understand the orientation and deformation of monolayers at the molecular level. These experiments employ state of the art optical methods such as polarization modulated dichroism, fluorescence microscopy, and Brewster angle microscopy to obtain in situ measurements of polymer films and small molecule amphiphile monolayers subject to flow. Langmuir troughs are used as the experimental platform so that the thermodynamic state of the monolayers can be systematically controlled. For the first time, well characterized, homogeneous surface flows have been developed, and real time measurements of molecular and microdomain orientation have been obtained. These microstructural experiments are complemented by measurements of the macroscopic, mechanical properties of the films.

  • Margaret T. Fuller

    Margaret T. Fuller

    Reed-Hodgson Professor of Human Biology, Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor and Professor of Genetics and of Obstetrics/Gynecology (Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsRegulation of self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation in adult stem cell lineages. Developmental tumor suppressor mechanisms and regulation of the switch from proliferation to differentiation. Cell type specific transcription machinery and regulation of cell differentiation. Developmental regulation of cell cycle progression during male meiosis.

  • Lawrence Fung MD PhD

    Lawrence Fung MD PhD

    Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Major Laboratories & Clinical Translational Neurosciences Incubator)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Lawrence Fung is a physician-scientist specializing in autism and neurodiversity. Dr. Fung is an associate professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. He is the director of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project (SNP), director of the Neurodiversity Clinic, and PI at the Fung Lab. Dr. Fung’s research traverses from multi-modal neuroimaging studies to a new conceptualization of neurodiversity and its application to clinical, educational, and employment settings. His lab has two main arms of research: (1) neurobiology of autism and (2) neurodiversity.
    The neurobiology arm of his lab focuses on advancing the understanding of the thalamocortical circuits and their socio-communicative and cognitive functions in people on the spectrum by using novel neuroimaging and bioanalytical technologies. The findings of his neurobiology research efforts were published in top journals in our field, such as Molecular Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, and Psychoneuroendocrinology.
    Using a community-based participatory research approach, Dr. Fung’s team devises and implements novel interventions to improve the lives of neurodiverse individuals by maximizing their potential and productivity. He has developed and assessed several psychoeducational interventions, including the Developing Inclusive and Vocational Educational Resources for Success and Employment (DIVERSE) curriculum.
    Dr. Fung is also the founding director of the SNP, a special initiative of the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford. Since 2017, the SNP has organized various events, including the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit, which brings thousands of people together yearly to share visions, innovations, and inspirations about maximizing the potential of neurodiversity. Each summer, about 100 high-school students join us at the SNP’s Research, Education, and Advocacy Camp for High Schoolers (SNP-REACH), to learn how to develop neurodiversity advocacy projects. Dr. Fung also teaches a neurodiversity design thinking course at Stanford. Clinically, Dr. Fung has applied the SBMN to his clinical work and is teaching a CME course focusing on delivering neurodiversity-affirmative care to neurodivergent patients.