School of Medicine
Showing 101-120 of 1,556 Results
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Vasiliki (Vicky) Bikia
Postdoctoral Scholar, Biomedical Data Sciences
BioDr. Vasiliki Bikia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University, jointly affiliated with the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and the Department of Biomedical Data Science, where she works under the mentorship of Prof. Roxana Daneshjou. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece (2017), and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland (2021). Her doctoral work focused on addressing the clinical need for non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring by combining machine learning with physics-based numerical modeling.
Dr. Bikia's research centers on the development of large multimodal models to improve patient outcome prediction. She is also passionate about building patient-facing chatbots that help individuals better understand complex medical information, ultimately aiming to enhance communication and empower patients in their care journey. Moreover, she has contributed to the Stanford Spezi framework, designing and prototyping the Spezi Data Pipeline tool for enhanced digital health data accessibility and analysis workflows. -
Rebecca Bilden
Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry
BioRebecca Bilden, PhD, MSc is a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in Pain and Substance Use at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she conducts research under the mentorship of Drs. Keith Humphreys and Brian Bateman. Dr. Bilden is a health services researcher and decision scientist whose work focuses on improving access to treatment for substance use disorders through evidence-based policy and simulation modeling. By integrating qualitative insights into models, she analyzes system dynamics and develops strategies to improve care delivery within complex healthcare systems.
Dr. Bilden earned her PhD in Health Services Research and Policy from the University of Pittsburgh, an MSc in Applied Data Science and Statistics from the University of Exeter, and a BA in Pure and Applied Mathematics from Boston University. Her current research focuses on evaluating opioid-related policies, improving treatment retention among pregnant people, and expanding access to care in carceral settings. -
Mahamaya Biswal
Postdoctoral Scholar, Molecular and Cellular Physiology
BioMahamaya is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University, where she specializes in Cellular and structural biology with a focus on membrane protein biogenesis, quality control, and the development of innovative nanobody technologies. Her research integrates advanced cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), cell biology, and nanobody engineering to unravel the mechanisms governing the assembly and maturation of membrane protein biogenesis factor hubs with a focus on Voltage gated ion channels as a model substrate.
Dr. Biswal’s scientific journey began with an integrated M.Tech in Biotechnology degree from D.Y. Patil University, India, where she conducted foundational research on bacterial persister cell formation at BARC and characterized breast cancer proteins ZBRK1 and BRCA1 at ACTREC,. After spending a brief time in biotech industry at Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd., Mumbai, optimizing purification pipelines for cancer antigens used in diagnostic kits and facilitating technology transfer from R&D to manufacturing, she moved to US to join UC Riverside’s PhD program under Department of Biochemistry and supervision of Dr. Jikui Song. She made significant advances in understanding the structural dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Notably, she solved the X-ray crystal structure of the NSP7-8 complex, a key cofactor for the viral replicase, and also elucidated the interaction between the viral nucleocapsid protein and human G3BP1. Her doctoral and postdoctoral work has also contributed to studies on viral immune evasion, including the structural basis for STAT2 antagonization by DENV2 NS5.
At Stanford, Dr. Biswal has expanded her expertise to the structural and functional study of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and currently focusing on gaining mechanistic insights on Membrane protein biogenesis factor hubs by combining cell biology and structural biology expertise. She is also developing nanobody libraries targeting synaptic vesicles and bacterial death effectors for in situ tomography and potential therapeutic applications respectively. Dr. Biswal is a committed mentor, having supervised graduate and undergraduate students, and is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion in science through active involvement in organizations such as AWIS, BioAIMS, and BSS (India). Her scientific contributions have been recognized with honors including the HEERF Dissertation Year Fellowship, the Mary K. and Randolph T. Wedding Prize, and best poster awards at UC Riverside. Dr. Biswal’s long-term vision is to lead a research program that translates structural insights into therapeutic strategies for neurological and infectious diseases, advancing both scientific knowledge and the next generation of scientists. -
Andreas Blaha
Postdoctoral Scholar, Molecular and Cellular Physiology
BioOriginally from a tiny village in Northern Germany, Andreas moved to the city for his bachelor’s from the University of Hamburg. After graduating with a master’s in biochemistry from the University of Tübingen in Southwestern Germany, Andreas moved abroad for his PhD to Vienna, Austria. At the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), he discovered a complex on the sperm surface that connects to the egg membrane. Having studied the function of intricate membrane protein complexes, Andreas made the journey overseas to join the Pleiner lab and investigate how the cell manages and coordinates their production. In his free time, Andreas enjoys hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
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MacKenzie Bolen
Postdoctoral Scholar, Neurology and Neurological Sciences
BioDr. MacKenzie “Mack” Bolen’s defining research passion is to leverage accessible and modifiable lifestyle factors to mitigate neurodegenerative risk. During her undergraduate education at Austin College in Texas, she began pursuing her interest in neurodegeneration by conducting research focused on the neuroprotective benefits of the ketogenic diet. This work evolved into an honors thesis investigating markers of inflammation in saliva from contact sport athletes and culminated in a TEDx talk on sports-related brain injuries. These experiences cemented her desire to understand the minutiae of the brain and catalyzed her decision to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Florida (UF). During Mack’s training under Dr. MG. Tansey at UF, her dissertation work generated global collaborations centered on a multiomic approach that leverages machine learning to identify peripheral biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets to slow the onset or progression of Parkinson’s disease. A hallmark of Mack’s career has been participating in collaborative team science and mentorship of the next generation of scientists, where she has consistently mentored advanced and budding scientists within the Gainesville community and collaborated on several manuscripts from labs across the nation. In addition to her scholarly work, she regularly volunteered at the UF Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU) while pursuing her Ph.D. to better understand the clinical perspective of neurodegeneration.
By blending her Ph.D. training and experiences in the Neuro ICU, Mack hopes to actively improve the treatment of individuals living with neurodegeneration and continue to push the frontier of medicine as a postdoctoral scholar in Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford. Now under the mentorship of Dr. K. Poston, Mack will continue to access essential training at the intersection of immunology and Parkinson’s disease, via the investigation of the gut-brain axis. As a former collegiate soccer player, Mack loves to pretend to relive her glory days during rec-league on the weekends and can also be found struggling through a Yin yoga class. -
Anna Booman
Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)
BioAnna Booman, PhD, MS is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine. She conducts perinatal pharmacoepidemiology research to study the safety and effectiveness of medication use during pregnancy, since most pregnant individuals cannot be included in clinical trials. She uses large observational datasets, such as the Merative MarketScan Database, and complex epidemiologic methods in her research.
Dr. Booman received her PhD in Epidemiology from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Public Health, her MS in Computational Biology and Quantitative Genetics from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her BS in Mathematical Biology (minor: Computer Science) from the College of William & Mary. Her research has spanned many areas of perinatal epidemiology, including a focus on twin children, rare genetic disorders, gestational weight gain, and insurance discontinuity in pregnancy.
