School of Medicine


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  • Brian Ruhle, MD, MS

    Brian Ruhle, MD, MS

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Surgery - General Surgery

    BioDr. Ruhle is a board-certified surgeon with dual fellowship training in bariatric and minimally invasive surgery from Stanford Health Care and endocrine surgery from UCLA Health. He also serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.

    Dr. Ruhle specializes in bariatric (weight loss) surgery, foregut (upper digestive tract) surgery, and abdominal wall reconstruction. He uses leading-edge laparoscopic and robotic surgical techniques to help patients achieve sustainable weight loss and improve obesity related health conditions. His expertise in advanced minimally invasive procedures offers patients significant benefits, including faster recoveries, reduced pain, and shorter hospital stays.

    Dr. Ruhle’s research interests span a wide range of topics in metabolic and bariatric surgery. His studies have explored combination therapy for obesity management, improved screening and treatment of endocrine disorders, and optimizing outcomes in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He has published his findings in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Blood, and Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

    During his surgical training, Dr. Ruhle presented at prominent national and regional meetings, including the annual meetings of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons and American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. His presentations have addressed innovative topics such as using GLP-1 agonists (medications that help regulate blood sugar and reduce appetite) before bariatric surgery. His presentations have also addressed improving screening protocols for hyperaldosteronism (high blood pressure caused by the excess production of the hormone aldosterone).

    Dr. Ruhle is a member of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Clinical Association of California Endocrinologists, and Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons.

  • Cristin Runfola

    Cristin Runfola

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Runfola's research focuses on the epidemiology of dysregulated eating and weight concerns in undeserved populations and her primary interest is in developing and testing the efficacy of clinical interventions designed to improve outcome for eating disorders.

    With support from GFED, Dr. Runfola adapted the Uniting Couples in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa (UCAN) therapy manual for couples in which one or both members have binge-eating disorder (UNITE) and recently completed pilot testing on this treatment. She is in the process of expanding this treatment for all couples affected by binge eating, and is submitting a grant to fund future work testing efficacy.

  • Stephen Ruoss

    Stephen Ruoss

    Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe have an active collaborative project examining basic and clinical aspects of non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung infection in non-immune compromised adults. Studies have examined possible cellular immune mechanisms for increased susceptibility to these infections, and are also investigating aspects of optimal diagnosis and treatment. In addition, a clinical and translational research program is investigating the causes and genetic factors underlying the evolution of bronchiectasis.

  • Christopher John Russell

    Christopher John Russell

    Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine)

    BioDr. Russell is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and a board-certified academic pediatric hospitalist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. His clinical responsibilities include caring for children hospitalized for a variety of illnesses. His research focuses on developing evidence-based care for hospitalized children with medical complexity, including acute respiratory infections (such as pneumonia and bacterial tracheitis). His research efforts have been recognized through receipt of the University of Southern California’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Award (2014-16), the Academic Pediatric Association’s Young Investigator Award (2015-16), the NIH Loan Repayment Program (2017-2021) and a large grant from the Gerber Foundation (2020-2022). In August 2021, he received a five-year R01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study bacterial respiratory infections in children with tracheostomy. Outside of his clinical and research responsibilities, Dr. Russell focuses on research mentorship of medical students, pediatric residents, and pediatric hospital medicine fellows as well as improving representation of underrepresented minorities in medicine throughout the continuum of physician training. Dr. Russell completed a term as the chair of the Academic Pediatric Association’s Membership, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (2022-2025) and is on the Executive Committee for the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings research network. Dr. Russell is active in the AAP and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Hospital Pediatrics.

  • Mirabela Rusu

    Mirabela Rusu

    Assistant Professor of Radiology (Integrative Biomedical Imaging Informatics) and, by courtesy, of Biomedical Data Science and of Urology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Mirabela Rusu focuses on developing analytic methods for biomedical data integration, with a particular interest in radiology-pathology fusion. Such integrative methods may be applied to create comprehensive multi-scale representations of biomedical processes and pathological conditions, thus enabling their in-depth characterization.

  • Florentine Rutaganira

    Florentine Rutaganira

    Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and of Developmental Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe use chemical tools to decipher the roles of key signaling networks in choanoflagellates, single-celled organisms that are the closest living relatives of animals. Choanoflagellates produce molecular signals essential for intercellular communication in animals and the presence of these molecules in choanoflagellates suggests that signaling components needed to communicate between cells is evolutionarily ancient. We aim to uncover new understanding of animal development, physiology and disease.

  • Brian Rutt

    Brian Rutt

    Professor of Radiology (Radiological Sciences Lab), Emeritus

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests center on MRI research, including high-field and high-resolution MRI technology development as well as applications of advanced MRI techniques to studying the brain, cardiovascular system and cancer.

  • maura ruzhnikov

    maura ruzhnikov

    Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)

    BioChild neurologist and medical geneticist focusing on the diagnosis and management of rare neurologic disorders. Specific interests are in genetic epilepsy syndromes, childhood neurodegenerative and neurometabolic diseases and undiagnosed suspected genetic conditions.

  • Katherine Jane Ryan

    Katherine Jane Ryan

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology
    Clinical Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Adult Neurology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Katherine “Katie” Ryan is a pediatric neuro-oncologist whose research focuses on developing and translating cellular immunotherapies for children with malignant brain tumors. She leads the first-in-human trial of GPC2-directed CAR T cells for CNS Embryonal Tumors. As a member of Stanford Children’s world-renowned pediatric brain tumor team, she diagnoses and treats children with CNS tumors while advancing innovative trial design, intracerebroventricular delivery, and correlative science.

  • Tracy Rydel

    Tracy Rydel

    Clinical Professor, Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health

    BioTracy Rydel is Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine where she holds the positions of Assistant Dean for Clerkship Education and Director, Core Clerkship in Family and Community Medicine. She has also served as the Director of Medical Student Education in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health, and was an Educator-4-CARE faculty from 2017-2020. She is a family physician with a passion for medical education. She completed the Rathmann Family Foundation Fellowship in Patient-centered Care and Medical Education in 2012, was in the first wave of peer coaches in the Peer Coaching Program under the Stanford Teaching and Mentoring Academy, and was the Director of the Practice of Medicine Year One Course at Stanford from 2013-2016. She emphasizes patient-centered care in the pursuit of clinical and educational excellence. She is frequently an invited presenter at the national conferences of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), and the Western Group on Educational Affairs (WGEA) regional group of the AAMC; her scholarly work focuses on medical education endeavors, including equity and justice in systems of medical education assessment. She has also presented and published on topics in nutrition education and the teaching kitchen, working with medical scribes, Entrustable Professional Activities, primary care career recruitment and mentoring, procedures training, time management in ambulatory teaching, communication skills, virtual health and telehealth, teaching gender-affirming primary care, and learning communities.

  • Raya Saab

    Raya Saab

    Lindhard Family Professor of Pediatric Cancer Biology

    BioI am a pediatric oncologist, and I primarily treat children who are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas including rhabdomyosarcoma, and children diagnosed with the eye tumor retinoblastoma, as well as children with other solid tumors.
    I have two very different areas of primary research interest, both of which I pursue with passion. One focuses on global oncology, including clinical and research resource capacity building towards effective treatment and improving outcomes of children with cancer worldwide. I work with collaborators across the globe towards a common goal of improving access to diagnostic and clinical care, training of multidisciplinary teams, and building clinical resources and research capacity to develop context-informed approaches to improving cancer care and achieving better outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer irrespective of where they happen to live.
    My parallel research interest, which is the focus of my laboratory, is understanding oncogenic signaling in pediatric soft tissue sarcomas, in an effort to clarify the driving biology and determinants of metastatic disease, to uncover novel targets for more effective treatment. We use preclinical in vitro and in vivo models, including murine and human cell lines, and mouse models of cancer. We have recently uncovered a paracrine role for rhabdomyosarcoma-secreted exosomes in impacting biology of stromal cells. Rhabdomyosarcoma-derived exosomes carry specific miRNA cargo that imparts an invasive and migratory phenotype on normal recipient fibroblasts, and proteomic analysis revealed specific and unique pathways relevant to the two different molecular rhabdomyosarcoma subtypes that are driven by distinct oncogenic pathways. We identified that the driver oncogene in fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma, PAX3-FOXO1, modulates exosome cargo to promote invasion, migration, and angiogenic properties, and identified specific microRNA and protein cargo acting as effectors of PAX3-FOXO1 exosome-mediated signaling, including modulation of oxidative stress response and cell survival signaling. Our ongoing work is focused on interrogating specific paracrine signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms of metastatic disease progression in rhabdomyosarcoma, for potential therapeutic targeting.

  • Chiara Sabatti

    Chiara Sabatti

    Professor of Biomedical Data Science and of Statistics
    On Leave from 10/01/2025 To 03/27/2026

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStatistical models and reasoning are key to our understanding of the genetic basis of human traits. Modern high-throughput technology presents us with new opportunities and challenges. We develop statistical approaches for high dimensional data in the attempt of improving our understanding of the molecular basis of health related traits.