School of Medicine
Showing 11-20 of 525 Results
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Justin P. Annes M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe ANNES LABORATORY of Molecular Endocrinology: Leveraging Chemical Biology to Treat Endocrine Disorders
DIABETES
The prevalence of diabetes is increasing at a staggering rate. By the year 2050 an astounding 25% of Americans will be diabetic. The goal of my research is to uncover therapeutic strategies to stymie the ensuing diabetes epidemic. To achieve this goal we have developed a variety of innovate experimental approaches to uncover novel approaches to curing diabetes.
(1) Beta-Cell Regeneration: Diabetes results from either an absolute or relative deficiency in insulin production. Our therapeutic strategy is to stimulate the regeneration of insulin-producing beta-cells to enhance an individual’s insulin secretion capacity. We have developed a unique high-throughput chemical screening platform which we use to identify small molecules that promote beta-cell growth. This work has led to the identification of key molecular pathways (therapeutic targets) and candidate drugs that promote the growth and regeneration of islet beta-cells. Our goal is to utilize these discoveries to treat and prevent diabetes.
(2) The Metabolic Syndrome: A major cause of the diabetes epidemic is the rise in obesity which leads to a cluster of diabetes- and cardiovascular disease-related metabolic abnormalities that shorten life expectancy. These physiologic aberrations are collectively termed the Metabolic Syndrome (MS). My laboratory has developed an original in vivo screening platform t to identify novel hormones that influence the behaviors (excess caloric consumption, deficient exercise and disrupted sleep-wake cycles) and the metabolic abnormalities caused by obesity. We aim to manipulate these hormone levels to prevent the development and detrimental consequences of the MS.
HEREDIATY PARAGAGLIOMA SYNDROME
The Hereditary Paraganglioma Syndrome (hPGL) is a rare genetic cancer syndrome that is most commonly caused by a defect in mitochondrial metabolism. Our goal is to understand how altered cellular metabolism leads to the development of cancer. Although hPGL is uncommon, it serves as an excellent model for the abnormal metabolic behavior displayed by nearly all cancers. Our goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies that target the abnormal behavior of cancer cells. In the laboratory we have developed hPGL mouse models and use high throughput chemical screening to identify the therapeutic susceptibilities that result from the abnormal metabolic behavior of cancer cells.
As a physician scientist trained in clinical genetics I have developed expertise in hereditary endocrine disorders and devoted my efforts to treating families affected by the hPGL syndrome. By leveraging our laboratory expertise in the hPGL syndrome, our care for individuals who have inherited the hPGL syndrome is at the forefront of medicine. Our goal is to translate our laboratory discoveries to the treatment of affected families. -
Eric Appel
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and of Bioengineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe underlying theme of the Appel Lab at Stanford University integrates concepts and approaches from supramolecular chemistry, natural/synthetic materials, and biology. We aim to develop supramolecular biomaterials that exploit a diverse design toolbox and take advantage of the beautiful synergism between physical properties, aesthetics, and low energy consumption typical of natural systems. Our vision is to use these materials to solve fundamental biological questions and to engineer advanced healthcare solutions.
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Sally Arai
Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interest in utilizing post-transplant adoptive cellular immunotherapy to reduce GVHD and relapse in patients with high risk hematologic malignancies.
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Steven Artandi, MD, PhD
Laurie Kraus Lacob Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI), Jerome and Daisy Low Gilbert Professor and Professor of Biochemistry
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTelomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect chromosome ends and shorten with cell division and aging. We are interested in how telomere shortening influences cancer, stem cell function, aging and human disease. Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that synthesizes telomere repeats and is expressed in stem cells and in cancer. We have found that telomerase also regulates stem cells and we are pursuing the function of telomerase through diverse genetic and biochemical approaches.
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Ann M. Arvin
Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory investigates the pathogenesis of varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection, focusing on the functional roles of particular viral gene products in pathogenesis and virus-cell interactions in differentiated human cells in humans and in Scid-hu mouse models of VZV cell tropisms in vivo, and the immunobiology of VZV infections.
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Laura Attardi
Catharine and Howard Avery Professor of the School of Medicine and Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research is aimed at defining the pathways of p53-mediated apoptosis and tumor suppression, using a combination of biochemical, cell biological, and mouse genetic approaches. Our strategy is to start by generating hypotheses about p53 mechanisms of action using primary mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs), and then to test them using gene targeting technology in the mouse.
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Jeffrey Axelrod
Professor of Pathology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGenetic and cell biological analyses of signals controlling cell polarity and morphogenesis. Frizzled signaling and cytoskeletal organization.
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Leah Backhus
Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery
BioLeah Backhus trained in general surgery at the University of Southern California and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California Los Angeles. She practices at Stanford Hospital and is Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the VA Palo Alto. Her surgical practice consists of general thoracic surgery with special emphasis on thoracic oncology and minimally invasive surgical techniques. She also has special clinical expertise in adult chest wall surgery (including pectus excavated) and intrathoracic/intrapleural chemotherapy (HITHOC/PITAC) used to treat mesothelioma and other pleural tumors. She is Co-Director of the Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program, and has received grant funding through the Veterans Affairs Administration and NIH. Her current research interests are in imaging surveillance following treatment for lung cancer and cancer survivorship. She is a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable of the American Cancer Society and the Task Group on Health Equity. As an educator, Dr. Backhus is the Associate Program Director for the Thoracic Track Residency and is former Chair of the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery.
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Amir Bahmani
Instructor, Genetics
BioAmir Bahmani is a Genetics Instructor and Director of Stanford's Deep Data Research Center (https://deepdata.stanford.edu ) at the Stanford School of Medicine. He has worked on distributed and parallel computing applications since 2008. Amir is currently an active researcher in the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP), Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), Stanford Metabolic Health Center (MHC), Integrated Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP), and Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI).
His team has designed and developed several notable cloud-scale frameworks, including the Personal Health Dashboard (PHD), cloud-based cost-saving platforms such as Hummingbird and Swarm, and the MyPHD platform, which now has over 12,000 participants and hosts more than 37 studies. His team also created Stanford Data Ocean (SDO), an innovative platform for educating engineers and biologists. SDO is the first serverless multi-omics and wearables data platform used for education and training.
Since 2017, he has trained more than 30 graduate interns (engineers and designers) from outside the School of Medicine, engaging them in the field of medicine. His course has been offered to physicians, biologists, engineers, and designers, earning him recognition as the recipient of Stanford’s 2024 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2023, he received the Terman Mentorship Award for mentoring Terman Fellow Ryan Park (top 1%), who transitioned to a Genetics PhD program inspired by Amir’s course. Committed to accessibility in education, Amir created a first-of-its-kind scholarship for under-resourced communities at Stanford, providing his course free of charge—along with Genetics certificates—to over 4,500 students from under-resourced backgrounds across 104 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
