Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)
Showing 241-260 of 1,214 Results
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Claudia Del Toro Runzer
Postdoctoral Scholar, Medical Genetics
BioClaudia Del Toro Runzer is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University specializing in gene therapy and regenerative medicine. Her current research focuses on developing gene editing strategies for inherited disorders, including GNE myopathy and Gaucher disease. She works on advancing precision gene engineering approaches in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and other clinically relevant cell types, with the goal of enabling safe and durable therapeutic correction.
Dr. Del Toro Runzer earned her PhD in Tissue Engineering from the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine at Maastricht University. Her doctoral research focused on chemically modified mRNA therapeutics for bone regeneration, where she investigated molecular design, intracellular trafficking, and biomaterial-assisted delivery systems to enhance protein expression and osteogenic outcomes. Her work resulted in multiple first-author publications in leading journals, including Advanced Functional Materials, Bone Research, Materials Today, and Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids.
Prior to her PhD, she completed an M.Sc. in Regenerative Biology and Medicine at Technische Universität Dresden and a B.Sc. in Biotechnology Engineering at Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. Her international training spans Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico, and the United States, with research experience in organoid systems, tissue regeneration, biomaterials engineering, and microphysiological platforms. -
Scott L. Delp, Ph.D.
Director, Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford, James H. Clark Professor in the School of Engineering, Professor of Bioengineering and of Mechanical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsExperimental and computational approaches to study human movement. Development of biomechanical models to analyze muscle function, study movement abnormalities, design medical products, and guide surgery. Imaging and health technology development. Discovering the principles of peak performance to advance human health. Human performance research. Wearable technologies, video motion capture, and machine learning to enable large-scale analysis.
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Utkan Demirci
Professor of Radiology (Diagnostic Sciences Laboratory) and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
BioDr. Utkan Demirci, UofM’99, Stanford’01’05’05, is a Professor of Radiology (with tenure) and of Electrical Engineering (by courtesy) at the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Stanford University School of Medicine, where he leads a productive researcher group. Utkan is a tenured professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Stanford in 2014, he held the position of Associate Professor at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Harvard Medical School and also served at the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology division. Over the past decade, his research group has focused on the early detection of cancer and has made significant contributions to the development of microfluidic platforms for sorting rare cells and exosomes and point-of-care bio-sensing technologies.
Dr. Demirci leads a productive and impactful research group focused on addressing problems from the clinic with innovations including cell sorter for IVF, optical technologies for detecting viruses, portable point of care technologies for diagnostics in global health, smart robots in vivo, extracellular vesicle based early detection approaches for cancer. He is an elected fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and The Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research Distinguished Investigator.
He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, 300 abstracts and proceedings, 24 book chapters and editorials, and 7 edited books. He also serves on the editorial board of various journals. He is a serial academic entrepreneur and co-founded multiple successful companies. His patents are translated into broadly used biomedical products. Dr. Demirci's pioneering work in microfluidics and cell sorting has resulted in CE certified and FDA approved devices used in over 500,000 clinical cases serving patients globally. -
Dr. Qiwen Deng
Postdoctoral Scholar, Pathology
BioMy research aims to understand how immune–stromal interactions shape tissue injury, repair, and fibrosis across chronic diseases. I combine multiplexed spatial proteomics (CODEX), single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, and molecular pathology approaches to dissect the organization and function of complex tissue microenvironments. By mapping spatially resolved cellular neighborhoods in human biopsies, I seek to uncover conserved and disease-specific patterns that can guide biomarker discovery and therapeutic development.
Working within a laboratory focused on the mechanisms and therapeutic targeting of fibrotic diseases, I investigate chronic kidney disease alongside other models of organ fibrosis. With a background spanning molecular biology, therapeutic development, and spatial biology, I aim to advance studies that connect detailed tissue analysis with potential clinical applications. I welcome opportunities for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease and other fibrosis-related conditions. -
Manisha Desai (She/Her/Hers)
Kim and Ping Li Professor, Professor (Research) of Medicine (Quantitative Sciences Unit), of Biomedical Data Science and, by courtesy, of Epidemiology and Population Health
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Desai is the Director of the Quantitative Sciences Unit. She is interested in the application of biostatistical methods to all areas of medicine including oncology, nephrology, and endocrinology. She works on methods for the analysis of epidemiologic studies, clinical trials, and studies with missing observations.
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Tushar Desai
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBasic and translational research in lung stem cell biology, cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, and acute lung injury/ARDS. Upper airway stem cell CRISPR gene correction followed by autologous stem cell transplantation to treat Cystic fibrosis. Using lung organoids and precision cut lung slice cultures of mouse and human lungs to study molecular regulation of lung stem cells. Using transgenic mice to visualize Wnt protein transmission from niche cell to stem cell in vivo.
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Joseph M. DeSimone
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine, Professor of Chemical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Chemistry, of Materials Science and Engineering, and of Operations, Information and Technology at the Graduate School of Business
BioJoseph M. DeSimone is the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. He holds appointments in the Departments of Radiology and Chemical Engineering with courtesy appointments in the Department of Chemistry and in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
The DeSimone laboratory's research efforts are focused on developing innovative, interdisciplinary solutions to complex problems centered around advanced polymer 3D fabrication methods. In Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, the lab is pursuing new capabilities in digital 3D printing, as well as the synthesis of new polymers for use in advanced additive technologies. In Translational Medicine, research is focused on exploiting 3D digital fabrication tools to engineer new vaccine platforms, enhanced drug delivery approaches, and improved medical devices for numerous conditions, with a current major focus in pediatrics. Complementing these research areas, the DeSimone group has a third focus in Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation, and Manufacturing.
Before joining Stanford in 2020, DeSimone was a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. He is also Co-founder, Board Chair, and former CEO (2014 - 2019) of the additive manufacturing company, Carbon. DeSimone is responsible for numerous breakthroughs in his career in areas including green chemistry, medical devices, nanomedicine, and 3D printing. He has published over 350 scientific articles and is a named inventor on over 200 issued patents. Additionally, he has mentored 80 students through Ph.D. completion in his career, half of whom are women and members of underrepresented groups in STEM.
In 2016 DeSimone was recognized by President Barack Obama with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest U.S. honor for achievement and leadership in advancing technological progress. He has received numerous other major awards in his career, including the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (1997); the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention (2005); the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2008); the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2009); the AAAS Mentor Award (2010); the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment (2017); the Wilhelm Exner Medal (2019); the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019 U.S. Overall National Winner); and the Harvey Prize in Science and Technology (2020). He is one of only 25 individuals elected to all three branches of the U.S. National Academies (Sciences, Medicine, Engineering). DeSimone received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1986 from Ursinus College and his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1990 from Virginia Tech. -
Gurpreet Singh Dhillon
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Cardiology
BioResearch interest in pediatric resuscitation science, with the goal of improving outcomes for children with heart disease experiencing cardiac arrest.
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Chitra Dinakar
Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)
BioDr. Chitra Dinakar is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and the Clinical Chief of Allergy, Asthma and Immunodeficiency, Stanford Health Care. Prior to coming to Stanford she was a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City; and Director, Food Allergy Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City. She completed her fellowship in Allergy/Immunology (A/I) at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, and her residency in pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University/Metrohealth Medical Center, Ohio. She completed her medical school and pediatric residency training at JIPMER, a premier medical institution in India.
Having had the benefit of experiencing health care in diverse settings, Dr. Dinakar is empowered with the perspective, and driven by the passion, to improve health care across the globe. Her interests and expertise include food allergies, asthma, and health care disparities, delivery, and outcomes. She serves on the editorial boards of four reputed Allergy/Immunology journals and the World Allergy Organization Web Editorial Board. She has been involved in more than 50 multi-centered, clinical trials relating to asthma and food allergies, and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and research abstracts in prestigious journals.
One of her current research interests is ASIAd (Allergy/Asthma Studies in Individuals of Asian Descent), that explores the Care, Cure and Prevention of Allergic conditions in individuals of Asian lineage. As part of the exploration she is collaborating with researchers from Northwestern University to study the unique food allergens prevalent in the South Asian population (please click on link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SouthAsianFoodAllergySurvey). She hopes to address the significant knowledge gaps and unmet needs regarding diagnostic, treatment and preventive options available to this demographic group. Another current area of focus is development of tools to improve patient outcomes in food allergic disorders; she recently received a grant to support phase I of the project. Her other ongoing research interests include the health impact of e-cigarettes, clinical intervention trials and outcomes research in asthma, and use of e-health to improve patient outcomes.
She is an invited speaker at national and international allergy conferences, and serves on the Board of Directors at national A/I organizations [American Board of A/I; American Academy of A/I; Joint A/I Task Force on Practice Parameters; American Academy of Pediatrics Section of A/I]. Dr. Dinakar’s honors include the following national awards: ”Distinguished Fellow", "Woman in Allergy", “Acellus Teacher of the Year”, "Award of Excellence", and an honorary “Kentucky Colonel” awarded by the Governor of Kentucky, “Best Doctors in America”, and “Kansas City SuperDocs”. -
Jun Ding
Professor of Neurosurgery and of Neurology and Neurological Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNeural circuits of movement control in health and movement disorders
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Xiruo Ding
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioI am a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, advised by Dr. Nima Aghaeepour, focusing on EHR-related modeling and phenotyping. My research interests lie in the application of general machine learning and deep learning methods to enhance healthcare outcomes.
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Patricia Dionicio
Postdoctoral Scholar, Pediatric Anesthesia
BioPatricia Dionicio, PhD, MPH is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Her research aims to reduce health disparities in pain among underserved populations through human-centered design and digital interventions. She has expertise in integrating mixed methods with longitudinal assessment tools to understand systemic and momentary factors impacting health behavior.
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Elizabeth DiRenzo, PhD
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS) and, by courtesy, of Music
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Erickson DiRenzo's laboratory integrates research techniques from the basic and clinical sciences to improve the prevention and management of voice disorders.
