Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)


Showing 21-40 of 59 Results

  • Sui Wang, PhD

    Sui Wang, PhD

    Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research focuses on unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying retinal development and diseases. We employ genetic and genomic tools to explore how various retinal cell types, including neurons, glia, and the vasculature, respond to developmental cues and disease insults at the epigenomic and transcriptional levels. In addition, we investigate their interactions and collective contributions to maintain retinal integrity.

    1. Investigating retinal development:
    We utilize genetic tools and methods such as in vivo plasmid electroporation and CRISPR to dissect the roles of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors in controlling retinal development.

    2. Understanding diabetes-induced cell-type-specific responses in the retina:
    Diabetes triggers a range of multicellular responses in the retina, such as vascular lesions, glial dysfunction, and neurodegeneration, all of which contribute to retinopathy. We delve into the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying these diabetes-induced cell-type-specific responses and the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.

    3. Developing molecular tools for labeling and manipulation of specific cell types in vivo:
    Cis-regulatory elements, particularly enhancers, play pivotal roles in directing tissue- and cell-type-specific expression. Our interest lies in identifying enhancers that can drive cell type-specific expression in the retina and brain. We incorporate these enhancers into plasmid or AAV-based delivery systems, enabling precise labeling and manipulation of specific cell types in vivo.

  • Taia T. Wang, MD, PhD, MSCI

    Taia T. Wang, MD, PhD, MSCI

    Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and of Microbiology and Immunology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsLaboratory of Mechanisms in Human Immunity and Disease Pathogenesis

  • Tao Wang (王韬)

    Tao Wang (王韬)

    Director of Precision Diabetes Care, Genetics

    Current Role at StanfordPrincipal Investigator, AI for Precision Diabetes Management
    Project Manager & Scientific Co-lead, PsychENCODE Project
    Project Initiator & Clinical Co-lead, Long COVID Clinical RCT with TCM
    Project Initiator & Manager, AI & Wearables Toolkit for Biomedical Sciences
    ENCODE and PsychENCODE Project Data Manager
    Research Scientist, US Veteran Affairs Hospital
    SCGPM HPC System Administrator

  • Wenjun Wang

    Wenjun Wang

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Stem Cell Transplantation

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy postdoctoral research focuses on investigating novel therapy for childhood leukemias.

  • Xinnan Wang

    Xinnan Wang

    Professor of Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMechanisms underlying mitochondrial dynamics and function, and their implications in neurological disorders.

  • Victoria Ward

    Victoria Ward

    Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGlobal child health, digital health, preterm birth, human trafficking

  • Annika M. Weber

    Annika M. Weber

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Gastroenterology

    BioAnnika is a postdoctoral scholar in the Spencer Lab studying how gut microbes metabolize prebiotic fibers to produce bioactive metabolites linked to lowering disease risk. She holds an MS in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield and a PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition from Colorado State University. Her work integrates multi-omic approaches to map diet-microbe-metabolite relationships. Annika aims to translate these mechanistic insights into microbiome-informed dietary strategies for reducing chronic diseases.

  • Katja Gabriele Weinacht, MD, PhD

    Katja Gabriele Weinacht, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Stem Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
    DiGeorge Syndrome
    Genetic Immune Diseases
    Immune Dysregulation

  • Alexis Thomas Weiner

    Alexis Thomas Weiner

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Pathology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling pathway polarizes animal cells along an axis parallel to the tissue plane, and in so doing generates long-range organization that can span entire tissues. Although its core proteins and much about their interactions are known, how PCP signaling occurs at a mechanistic level remains fundamentally mysterious. In my current project I will employ novel genetic methods to dissect the logic underlying how cellular asymmetry arises at a molecular level.

  • Dana Weintraub

    Dana Weintraub

    Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - General Pediatrics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interests include: 1) Childhood obesity, community-based interventions to increase physical activity 2) Impact of medical-legal collaboration on child and family health.

  • Irving Weissman

    Irving Weissman

    Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor of Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research, Professor of Pathology, and of Developmental Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStem cell and cancer stem cell biology; development of T and B lymphocytes; cell-surface receptors for oncornaviruses in leukemia. Hematopoietic stem cells; Lymphocyte homing, lymphoma invasiveness and metastasis; order of events from hematopoietic stem cells [HSC] to AML leukemia stem cells and blood diseases, and parallels in other tissues; discovery of tumor and pathogenic cell 'don't eat me' and 'eat me' signals, and translation into therapeutics.

  • Gerlinde Wernig

    Gerlinde Wernig

    Associate Professor of Pathology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFibrotic diseases kill more people than cancer in this country and worldwide. We believe that scar-forming cells called fibroblasts are at the core of the fibrotic response in parenchymal organ fibrosis in the lung, liver, skin, bone marrow and tumor stroma. At the cellular level we think of fibrosis as a step wise process which implicates inflammation and fibrosis. We seek to identify new effective immune therapy targets to treat fibrotic diseases.

  • Marius Wernig

    Marius Wernig

    Professor of Pathology and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEpigenetic Reprogramming, Direct conversion of fibroblasts into neurons, Pluripotent Stem Cells, Neural Differentiation: implications in development and regenerative medicine

  • Matthew T. Wheeler

    Matthew T. Wheeler

    Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTranslational research in rare and undiagnosed diseases. Basic and clinical research in cardiomyopathy genetics, mechanisms, screening, and treatment. Investigating novel agents for treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and new mechanisms in heart failure. Cardiovascular screening and genetics in competitive athletes, disease gene discovery in cardiomyopathy and rare disease. Informatics approaches to rare disease and multiomics. Molecular transducers of physical activity bioinformatics.

  • Michelle Williams, ScD

    Michelle Williams, ScD

    Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health

    BioMichelle A. Williams, ScD, is Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University, School of Medicine.

    Dr. Williams' research focuses primarily on reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Over three decades, she has integrated epidemiological, biological, and molecular approaches into rigorously designed research that has advanced understanding of placental abruption, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. Her research methodology includes: (1) identifying literature gaps; (2) developing robust epidemiological data systems across North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and South America; and (3) integrating biochemical and molecular biomarkers into these platforms. She has effectively utilized various epidemiology study designs to investigate adverse reproductive and perinatal outcomes. Her consistent goal has been using biological and molecular biomarkers as objective measures of exposures and validated pre-clinical determinants of outcomes with clinical and global health significance. In 2019, in partnership with Apple Inc. and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, she co-designed and currently co-leads the Apple Women's Health Study, a large-scale digital national study examining determinants of women's gynecological health.

    Dr. Williams has advanced knowledge of understudied gynecological, obstetric, and perinatal outcomes while identifying novel risk factors. Her research has been funded by multiple NIH R01s, R03s, an SBIR, and HRSA grants, and she has served as co-investigator on numerous other grants. She has published over 540 peer-reviewed scientific articles and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. In 2020, she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and was recognized by PR Week as one of the top 50 health influencers of the year.

    Dr. Williams has been recognized for her excellence in teaching, as the recipient of the 2015 Harvard Chan School’s Outstanding Mentor Award, the UW’s Brotman Award for excellence in teaching (2007), the American Public Health Association’s Abraham Lilienfeld Award for education in epidemiology (2007), and the White House’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (2012).

    Before joining Stanford, Dr. Williams served as Dean of the Faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to her deanship, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard's Clinical and Translational Sciences Center.

    Dr. Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. She holds an undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University, a master's in civil engineering from Tufts University, and master's and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.

  • Nolan Williams

    Nolan Williams

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

    BioNolan Williams, M.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. The long-term goals of his research program are to develop innovative technologies and therapeutics capable of modulating the neural circuitry disrupted in mood disorders, OCD, and other neuropsychiatric conditions. His team has been developing neuroimaging-based approaches to precisely target therapeutic delivery and predict treatment responses to therapeutic neuromodulation and psychedelics. Dr. Williams earned his M.D. and completed his dual residencies in neurology and psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Triple board-certified in general neurology, general psychiatry, as well as behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry, Dr. Williams brings a comprehensive background in clinical neuroscience to his role as a clinically active neuropsychiatrist. His expertise extends to the development and implementation of novel therapeutics, including devices and novel compounds, for central nervous system illnesses.
    Over the past decade, Dr. Williams’ laboratory alongside collaborators at Stanford University have pioneered multiple novel therapeutic and human neuroscience approaches. Notably, Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT) is the world's first non-invasive, rapid-acting neuromodulation approach for treatment-resistant depression. SAINT received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation Status (2021) and FDA Clearance (2022) and is the first psychiatric treatment to be covered by Medicare New Technology Add-On Payment (NTAP). As of April 2024, SAINT has been reimbursed for patients suffering from severe depression within inpatient psychiatric units. The SAINT technology is being deployed both clinically and in research protocols in laboratories and hospitals worldwide. Dr. Williams also has an expertise in psychedelic medicines for neuropsychiatric illness and is the first investigator to conduct mechanistic clinical trials exploring the neurobiological effects of ibogaine.
    His research accomplishments have garnered international recognition, earning prestigious awards from the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Consortium, One Mind Institute, Wellcome Leap Foundation, International Brain Stimulation Conference, National Institute of Mental Health (Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists), Society of Biological Psychiatry (A. E. Bennett Award), along with multiple awards from the Brain Behavior Research Foundation (most notably the Gerald L. Klerman Award and Colvin Prize). His work has been featured in Scientific American, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, CBS Sunday Morning, and the TODAY Show.

  • Darrell Wilson

    Darrell Wilson

    Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) at the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, Emeritus

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests cover a number of areas in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes. I am PI of the Stanford Center for the NIH-funded Type-1 Diabetes TrialNet group. TrialNet conducts clinical trials directed at preventing or delaying the onset of Type 1 diabetes. I am an investigator in DirecNet, another NIH-funded study group, which is devoted to evaluating glucose sensors and the role of technology on the management of diabetes.