School of Medicine


Showing 41-50 of 551 Results

  • Daniel A. Abrams

    Daniel A. Abrams

    Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) are among the most pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders and are characterized by significant deficits in social communication. A common observation in children with ASD is that affected individuals often “tune out” from social interactions, which likely impacts the development of social, communication, and language skills. My primary research goals are to understand why children with ASD often tune out from the social world and how this impacts social skill and brain development, and to identify remediation strategies that motivate children with ASD to engage in social interactions. The theoretical framework that guides my work is that social impairments in ASD stem from a primary deficit in identifying social stimuli, such as human voices and faces, as rewarding and salient stimuli, thereby precluding children with ASD from engaging with these stimuli.

    My program of research has provided important information regarding the brain circuits underlying social deficits in ASD. Importantly, these findings have consistently implicated key structures of the brain’s reward and salience processing systems, and support the hypothesis that impaired reward attribution to social stimuli is a critical aspect of social difficulties in ASD.

    My lab is currently conducting three research studies:

    Speaker-Listener Coupling and Brain Dynamics During Naturalistic Verbal Communication in Children with Autism
    We have a new study investigating how the brain processes and understands speech in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as typically developing children. We are interested in understanding speech comprehension in children through anticipating incoming speech and accumulating speech information over a period of time.

    Speaker-Listener Coupling and Brain Dynamics During Naturalistic Verbal Communication in Alzheimer’s Disease
    In collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, our new study is exploring how the brain enables us to understand speech, with a focus on both healthy older adults and adults with Alzheimer’s Disease. We also aim to understand how the brain measures seen while we listen and understand a story are linked to language skills in these individuals.

    Pivotal Response Treatment for Adolescents with High Functioning Autism Intervention Study
    This is a 9-week intervention focusing on key social skills for autistic adolescents, while exploring brain plasticity using fMRI imaging. Your child will receive 1:1 sessions with our clinician, with parent training in clinic. Topics include: Greetings, Departures, Question Asking, Talking the Right Amount, Empathy, Sarcasm, and Eating and Drinking. We also coordinate with the school for additional support and opportunities to practice the targeted social skills in a club of interest.

  • Geoffrey Abrams, MD

    Geoffrey Abrams, MD

    Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Abrams' research is focused on elucidating the pathobiology behind tendinoapthy and developing new treatment modalities for the disease. Specifically, his team is studying the role of micro-RNA as it relates to chronic inflammation and stem cell differentiation in the development and perpetuation of chronic tendinopathy.

  • Marwa Abu El Haija

    Marwa Abu El Haija

    Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Gastroenterology

    BioI am a pediatric gastroenterologist with clinical and research interest in childhood obesity. I believe that each patient is unique in their disease and background, that is why they deserve to be approached in an individualized way. I aspire to discover what's unknown about the pathophysiologic causes of obesity, and the mechanisms of which treatments work. My clinical and research interests in pediatric obesity found home within Stanford's distinctive position academically, medically and geographically.

  • Monther Abu-Remaileh

    Monther Abu-Remaileh

    Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and of Genetics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the role of the lysosome in metabolic adaptation using subcellular omics approaches, functional genomics and innovative biochemical tools. We apply this knowledge to understand how lysosomal dysfunction leads to human diseases including neurodegeneration, cancer and metabolic syndrome.