School of Medicine
Showing 1-37 of 37 Results
-
Titilola Falasinnu
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Immunology and Rheumatology) and, by courtesy, of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)
BioI am primarily a lupus researcher and identify as a pain scientist and methodologist in this field. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disproportionately affects women and racial minorities and is the fifth most common cause of death among 15- to 24-year-old Black and Hispanic women in the U.S., highlighting its significant public health impact. More than half of patients with SLE experience chronic pain, often secondary to SLE itself or overlapping conditions (e.g., migraines, low back pain, fibromyalgia), contributing significantly to disability and impaired quality of life. Chronic pain is not merely a symptom but a disease in its own right—one that deserves the same rigorous study and clinical attention as comorbidities like kidney disease and cardiovascular disease in rheumatology. The enormous global burden of chronic pain underscores the urgent need for a clear, standardized definition of pain as a disease, particularly in autoimmune rheumatic diseases where pain can arise from inflammatory, nociplastic, and biopsychosocial mechanisms. Without recognizing pain as a distinct disease entity, its mechanisms remain poorly understood, and effective treatment strategies remain underdeveloped.
I am a co-Principal Investigator of the Pain Intelligence Lab, where our mission is to advance the study of pain as a disease in rheumatology through two primary objectives. First, we develop and validate computational methods that enable clinicians and researchers to leverage electronic health records, administrative claims, and disease registries to study chronic pain as a distinct disease entity in rheumatology. By applying machine learning, natural language processing, and real-world data analysis, we seek to enhance pain phenotyping, classify distinct pain subtypes, and develop predictive models for treatment response. Second, we use a biopsychosocial framework to examine the predictive power of biomarkers and psychosocial measures in rheumatologic pain. By integrating biological, psychological, and social determinants of pain, we aim to conduct rigorous, patient-oriented research that translates targeted assessments into mechanistically informed, personalized treatment approaches for optimized clinical care. Ultimately, my long term career goal is to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, ensuring that pain management in autoimmune rheumatic diseases is precise, equitable, and optimized for improved patient outcomes. -
Ryann Fame, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEarly neural progenitors respond to extrinsic cues that maintain and support their potency. These stem/ progenitor cells are in direct contact with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which acts as part of their niche. Our research program encompasses the early neural stem cell niche, neural tube closure, CSF, metabolism, and cortical neuronal development. We are dedicated to broad collaboration focused on translating an understanding of neurodevelopment and CSF biology into regenerative strategies.
-
Rongxin Fang
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and, by courtesy, of Genetics
BioRongxin Fang received his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from the University of California, San Diego, under the mentorship of Bing Ren (2015–2019). During his doctoral training, he developed high-throughput genomic technologies and computational tools to map the structure and activity of the mammalian genome at large scale and single-cell resolution. He then applied these approaches to investigate how cis-regulatory elements - such as enhancers - control gene expression and drive the diverse transcriptional programs underlying cellular diversity in the mammalian brain. As an HHMI–Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University (2019–2024), he worked with Xiaowei Zhuang. Rongxin developed and applied genome-scale, volumetric 3D transcriptome imaging methods to map the molecular and cellular architecture of the mammalian brain across evolution and aging. He also contributed to the collaboration with Adam Cohen and Catherine Dulac to integrate transcriptome imaging with functional neuronal imaging, identifying neuronal populations in the animal brain that underlie specific brain functions.
-
Mohsen Fathzadeh
Genomic Scientist, Institute For International Studies, Loyalka, Prashant's Program
BioMohsen Fathzadeh is a medical geneticist with 20+ years of experience bridging science, care, and innovation.
His academic journey began at Yale University, where he completed his Ph.D. thesis under Prof. Arya Mani, focusing on a genetic form of familial Metabolic Syndrome. From 2015 to 2021, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, specializing in Cardiovascular Medicine, Psychiatry, and Public Health Sciences. During this tenure, he conducted comprehensive functional genomic analyses under the mentorship of esteemed professors.
Mohsen's collaborative efforts with Merck & Co., Inc. led to the identification of a gene regulator associated with body fat distribution. His research scope also includes the characterization of genes linked to insulin resistance and obesity. Recently, he explored the (epi)genetic link between newborn body fat distribution and high maternal gestational glucose levels, focusing on mother-child cohorts from diverse and underserved communities.
His primary goal is to utilize his findings to enhance our understanding of the genes and evolutionary pathways influencing healthspan and age-related diseases, thereby improving patient lives.
After completing his postdoctoral research in 2021, Mohsen spent two years in the biotech industry, specializing in genetic testing and variant assessment. He has an ongoing research project with Stanford's Population Health Center, studying epigenetic disease mechanisms in mother-child cohorts.
Mohsen recently joined Stanford's Graduate School of Education and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies to work with Prof. Prashant Loyalka on a pioneering study that explores how educational interventions in genetic counseling can empower families—particularly in the context of autism spectrum disorders. This new chapter reflects his deepening commitment to integrating genomic science with public health education, leveraging AI and evidence-based learning to promote equity, early intervention, and informed decision-making across diverse populations. As the field of genetic counseling evolves, Mohsen envisions a future where accessible education and responsible innovation in educational AI can help every individual—and every story—be seen, heard, and supported.
Outside his professional life, Mohsen leads an active lifestyle and enjoys learning about diverse cultures. -
Jeffrey A. Feinstein, MD, MPH
Dunlevie Family Professor of Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Professor, by courtesy, of Bioengineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interests include (1) computer simulation and modeling of cardiovascular physiology with specific attention paid to congenital heart disease and its treatment, (2) the evaluation and treatment of pulmonary hypertension/pulmonary vascular diseases, and (3) development and testing of medical devices/therapies for the treatment of congenital heart disease and pulmonary vascular diseases.
-
Heidi M. Feldman
Ballinger-Swindells Endowed Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current research program focuses on infants born preterm, before 32 weeks gestation from two language environments: English and Spanish. The study considers how neurobiological factors, specifically properties of the white matter circuits in the brain, interact with social, psychological, and economic factors to predict language processing efficiency at 18 months of age.
-
Dean W. Felsher
Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and of Pathology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory studies the molecular basis of cancer with a focus on understanding when cancer can be reversed through targeted oncogene inactivation.
-
Stephen Felt, DVM, MPH
Professor of Comparative Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHis research interests include infectious diseases, particularly zoonoses, and exploring techniques which promote the health and welfare of laboratory animals.
-
Scott Fendorf
Terry Huffington Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor of Photon Science
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSoil and environmental biogeochemistry
-
Emily Ferguson, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry
BioEmily Ferguson, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral academic researcher and clinician within Stanford University’s Autism and Developmental Disorders Research Program (https://med.stanford.edu/autism.html) within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of California Santa Barbara and completed her clinical internship at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Ferguson's research focuses on advancing understanding of mechanisms of challenging behaviors in autistic youth and adults to inform treatment development. Her work takes a comprehensive perspective, integrating methods from implementation science to improve the accessibility and quality of clinical care for underserved autistic populations, especially those with higher support needs (or "profound autism"). She is also interested in developing methods to improve self-regulation in individuals with profound autism to effectively manage self-injurious behaviors and aggression. Dr. Ferguson is currently supporting research in the Preschool Autism Lab (https://med.stanford.edu/autismcenter/pre-school-autism-lab-program.html), and exploring profiles of challenging behaviors with the Program for Psychometrics and Measurement-Based Care (https://med.stanford.edu/sppmc.html) in a diverse range of autistic and non-autistic youth to inform treatment approaches.
-
Anne Fernald
Josephine Knotts Knowles Professor of Human Biology, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWorking with English- and Spanish-learning children from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, our research examines the importance of early language experience in supporting language development. We are deeply involved in community-based research in San Jose, designing an innovative parent-engagement program for low-resource Latino families with young children. We are also conducting field studies of beliefs about child development and caregiver-child interaction in rural villages in Senegal. A central goal of this translational research is to help parents understand their vital role in facilitating children’s language and cognitive growth.
-
Katherine Ferrara
Professor of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy focus is image-guided drug and gene delivery and I am engaged in the design of imaging devices, molecularly-targeted imaging probes and engineered delivery vehicles, drawing upon my education in biology and imaging physics and more than 20 years of experience with the synthesis and labeling of therapeutic particles. My laboratory has unique resources for and substantial experience in synthetic chemistry and ultrasound, CT, MR and PET imaging.
-
Lorenzo Ferrari
Postdoctoral Scholar, Cardiothoracic Surgery
BioLorenzo Ferrari, PhD, is a biomedical engineer interested in cardiovascular flows, specifically in realizing top benches for in vitro evaluation of cardiac devices. His current postdoctoral research in cardiothoracic surgery focuses on simulating and testing transcatheter valves implanted in the right ventricular outflow tract, working with Doff McElhinney, Daniel Ennis, and Alison Marsden. He obtained his PhD summa cum laude in Biomedical Engineering from University of Bern where he investigated the influence of heart valve design and size under different hemodynamic conditions using particle velocimetry techniques. During his PhD, he performed a secondment at University of Twente, in the Physics of Fluids - Max Planck Center for Complex Fluid, collaborating with Michel Versluis and Guillaume Lajoinie, assessing the stability of flow fields past valve prostheses.
-
Dorien Feyaerts
Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBiomedical scientist and immunologist with a strong background in fetal-maternal immunology that aims to conduct impactful translational research in women’s health to improve the health of mothers and their children.
-
Andrew Fire
George D. Smith Professor of Molecular and Genetic Medicine and Professor of Pathology and of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWhile chromosomal inheritance provides cells with one means for keeping and transmitting genetic information, numerous other mechanisms have (and remain to be) discovered. We study novel cellular mechanisms that enforce genetic constancy and permit genetic change. Underlying our studies are questions of the diversity of inheritance mechanisms, how cells distinguish such mechanisms as "wanted" versus "unwanted", and of the consequences and applications of such mechanisms in health and disease.
-
Michael Fischbach
Liu (Liao) Family Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe microbiome carries out extraordinary feats of biology: it produces hundreds of molecules, many of which impact host physiology; modulates immune function potently and specifically; self-organizes biogeographically; and exhibits profound stability in the face of perturbations. Our lab studies the mechanisms of microbiome-host interactions. Our approach is based on two technologies we recently developed: a complex (119-member) defined gut community that serves as an analytically manageable but biologically relevant system for experimentation, and new genetic systems for common species from the microbiome. Using these systems, we investigate mechanisms at the community level and the strain level.
1) Community-level mechanisms. A typical gut microbiome consists of 200-250 bacterial species that span >6 orders of magnitude in relative abundance. As a system, these bacteria carry out extraordinary feats of metabolite consumption and production, elicit a variety of specific immune cell populations, self-organize geographically and metabolically, and exhibit profound resilience against a wide range of perturbations. Yet remarkably little is known about how the community functions as a system. We are exploring this by asking two broad questions: How do groups of organisms work together to influence immune function? What are the mechanisms that govern metabolism and ecology at the 100+ strain scale? Our goal is to learn rules that will enable us to design communities that solve specific therapeutic problems.
2) Strain-level mechanisms. Even though gut and skin colonists live in communities, individual strains can have an extraordinary impact on host biology. We focus on two broad (and partially overlapping) categories:
Immune modulation: Can we redirect colonist-specific T cells against an antigen of interest by expressing it on the surface of a bacterium? How do skin colonists induce high levels of Staphylococcus-specific antibodies in mice and humans?
Abundant microbiome-derived molecules: By constructing single-strain/single-gene knockouts in a complex defined community, we will ask: What are the effects of bacterially produced molecules on host metabolism and immunology? Can the molecular output of low-abundance organisms impact host physiology?
3) Cell and gene therapy. We have begun two new efforts in mammalian cell and gene therapies. First, we are developing methods that enable cell-type specific delivery of genome editing payloads in vivo. We are especially interested in delivery vehicles that are customizable and easy to manufacture. Second, we have begun a comprehensive genome mining effort with an emphasis on understudied or entirely novel enzyme systems with utility in mammalian genome editing. -
Adina S. Fischer, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology)
BioDr. Fischer’s research focuses on characterizing risk and resilience factors in depression. She has been awarded an NIH Career Development Award (K23) and Klingenstein Foundation Fellowship in Adolescent Depression to build her program of clinical and translational research at Stanford. Dr. Fischer's program of clinical care focused on the delivery and teaching of evidence-based clinical interventions that enhance resilience, with a focus on addressing the unique stressors encountered in academia and academic medicine that may contribute to risk and resilience in mood and anxiety disorders.
Dr. Fischer’s translational program of research focuses on:
(1) Improving our understanding of protective biomarkers of resilience to depression
(2) Characterizing the effects of cannabis on neurobiological function and depressive symptoms
(3) Developing neurobiologically-guided interventions for depressive disorders, particularly those that co-occur with cannabis and other substance use
Dr. Fischer earned her BSc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, where she conducted research in the Early Childhood Cognition Laboratory. She then completed the MD/PhD Program at Dartmouth, where she obtained her PhD in in Neuroscience. Dr. Fischer’s doctoral research focused on characterizing the acute effects of cannabis in patients with schizophrenia and co-occurring cannabis use disorder. She then completed the Stanford Psychiatry Residency Training Program as a member of the Research Track, and an NIH funded T-32 postdoctoral research fellowship within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. -
Paul Graham Fisher, MD
Beirne Family Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Professor of Pediatrics and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery and of Epidemiology and Population Health
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsClinical neuro-oncology: My research explores the epidemiology, natural history, and disease patterns of brain tumors and other cancers in childhood, as well as prospective clinical trials for treating these neoplasms. Research interests also include neurologic effects of cancer and its therapies.
-
Robert Fisher, MD, PhD
The Maslah Saul, MD, Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Fisher is interested in clincal, laboratory and translational aspects of epilepsy research. Prior work has included: electrical deep brain stimulation for epilepsy, studied in laboratory models and clinical trials; drug delivery to a seizure focus; mechanisms of absence epilepsy studied with in vitro slices of brain thalamus; hyperthermic seizures; diagnosis and treatment of non-epileptic seizures, the post-ictal state; driving and epilepsy; new antiepileptic drugs; surgery for epilepsy.
-
Matthew Fitzgerald, PhD
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research encompasses several translational projects. One focus is to modify the routine audiologic test battery such that it places equal weight on hearing acuity and hearing function. This work includes measures of speech in noise, or electrophysiologic responses such as the FFR. I also explore tools to better assess and maximize performance in users of hearing aids and cochlear implants. Finally, I am also investigating the benefits of telemedicine, and new treatments for tinnitus.
-
Pamela Flood
Adjunct Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr. Flood is a Professor at Stanford University who is fellowship trained in Pain Medicine and Obstetric Anesthesiology. She specializes in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain and multiple aspects of women's health including the prevention of chronic pain after childbirth. Research interests include the role of multimodal treatment in chronic pain conditions and prevention of persistent opioid use. Her research has spanned from detailed pharmacodynamic analysis, clinical trials to population health.
-
Eric Foote
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology
BioEric Foote is a pediatric hospitalist with experience conducting clinical and public health research around the world. His research focuses on identifying and intervening on health disparities in low income countries and in low resource settings. Currently, he is developing and evaluating a community health worker-led household phototherapy intervention to extend access to neonatal jaundice care for newborns in rural Bangladesh. He is also working to improve SARS-CoV-2 testing and genomic surveillance across California and worldwide.
-
Daiana Fornes
Postdoctoral Scholar, Pulmonary
BioDaiana Fornes is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, supported by a Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research centers on reproductive biology and pregnancy disorders, with a particular focus on uterine contractility, preterm labor, and uterine atony. She investigates calcium signaling pathways, including the role of TRPV4 ion channels, to identify novel therapeutic strategies aimed at improving maternal health outcomes.
Daiana earned her PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, where she studied metabolic alterations during pregnancy and their effects on fetal development. Her training has provided her with a strong foundation in translational research, with extensive experience in experimental design, molecular biology, and the analysis of signaling pathways. -
Jenna Forsyth
Academic Program Professional, Medicine - Med/Infectious Diseases
BioJenna is a research scientist with the School of Medicine and affiliated with the King Center for Global Development, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Doerr School of Sustainability. She completed her PhD with the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources and obtained her Master's in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Washington. Her research brings together principles of environmental science, epidemiology, and behavior change. She develops and evaluates interventions to minimize exposures to contaminants and disease vectors in low-income countries. Her most recent research has focused on lead exposure in South Asia.
-
Michael Frank
Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology and Professor, by courtesy, of Linguistics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHow do we learn to communicate using language? I study children's language learning and how it interacts with their developing understanding of the social world. I use behavioral experiments, computational tools, and novel measurement methods like large-scale web-based studies, eye-tracking, and head-mounted cameras.
-
Jennifer Frankovich
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Rheumatology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy primary interest and role at Stanford is to evaluate and treat children with both systemic and organ specific autoimmune disease. In October of 2012, we started a multidisciplinary clinic dedicated to treating patients with PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndromes). I am currently the clinical and research director for the PANS program.
-
Hunter Fraser
Professor of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the evolution of complex traits by developing new experimental and computational methods.
Our work brings together quantitative genetics, genomics, epigenetics, and evolutionary biology to achieve a deeper understanding of how genetic variation shapes the phenotypic diversity of life. Our main focus is on the evolution of gene expression, which is the primary fuel for natural selection. Our long-term goal is to be able to introduce complex traits into new species via genome editing. -
Michael Fredericson, MD
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and, by courtesy, of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of overuse sports injuries in athletes and lifestyle medicine practices for improved health and longevity.
-
Richard Frock
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation and Cancer Biology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are a functional genomics laboratory interested in elucidating mechanisms of DNA repair pathway choice and genome instability. We use genome-wide repair fate maps of targeted DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) to develop pathway-specific models and combinatorial therapies. Our expertise overlaps many different fields including: genome editing, ionizing radiation, cancer therapeutics, V(D)J and IgH class switch recombination, repair during transcription and replication, and meiosis.
-
Adam Frymoyer
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests focus on understanding the clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of medicines used in complex pediatric populations. This includes identifying sources of variation in drug response through the application of population PK-PD modeling and simulation approaches. The goal is to ultimately apply this quantitative understanding to guide therapeutic decision-making in infants and children.
-
Janene Fuerch
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology
BioJanene H. Fuerch, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neonatology at Stanford University Medical Center, as well as an innovator, educator, researcher and physician entrepreneur. She has an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brown University and a medical degree from the Jacobs School of Medicine at SUNY Buffalo. At Stanford University she completed a pediatrics residency, neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship and the Byers Center for Biodesign Innovation Fellowship.
She is also Assistant Director of the Biodesign Innovation Fellowship Program at Stanford University, and Co-Director of Impact1 where she mentors and advises new entrepreneurs through all aspects of medical device development, from identifying clinical needs to commercialization. Her specific areas of investigational interest include the development and commercialization process of neonatal, pediatric and maternal health medical devices as well as the utilization of a simulated environment to develop and test medical devices. She is a national leader in neonatal resuscitation, ECMO, device development and has been an AHRQ and FDA funded investigator. But her work extends outside of the academic realm to industry having co-founded EMME (acquired by Simple Health 2022) an award-winning reproductive health company, medical director for Novonate (acquired by Laborie 2023) a neonatal umbilical catheter securement company and notable consultant for Vitara (EXTEND - artificial environment to decrease complications of prematurity), and Avanos™. Janene is passionate about improving the health of children and newborns through medical device innovation and research. -
Gerald Fuller
Fletcher Jones Professor in the School of Engineering
BioThe processing of complex liquids (polymers, suspensions, emulsions, biological fluids) alters their microstructure through orientation and deformation of their constitutive elements. In the case of polymeric liquids, it is of interest to obtain in situ measurements of segmental orientation and optical methods have proven to be an excellent means of acquiring this information. Research in our laboratory has resulted in a number of techniques in optical rheometry such as high-speed polarimetry (birefringence and dichroism) and various microscopy methods (fluorescence, phase contrast, and atomic force microscopy).
The microstructure of polymeric and other complex materials also cause them to have interesting physical properties and respond to different flow conditions in unusual manners. In our laboratory, we are equipped with instruments that are able to characterize these materials such as shear rheometer, capillary break up extensional rheometer, and 2D extensional rheometer. Then, the response of these materials to different flow conditions can be visualized and analyzed in detail using high speed imaging devices at up to 2,000 frames per second.
There are numerous processes encountered in nature and industry where the deformation of fluid-fluid interfaces is of central importance. Examples from nature include deformation of the red blood cell in small capillaries, cell division and structure and composition of the tear film. Industrial applications include the processing of emulsions and foams, and the atomization of droplets in ink-jet printing. In our laboratory, fundamental research is in progress to understand the orientation and deformation of monolayers at the molecular level. These experiments employ state of the art optical methods such as polarization modulated dichroism, fluorescence microscopy, and Brewster angle microscopy to obtain in situ measurements of polymer films and small molecule amphiphile monolayers subject to flow. Langmuir troughs are used as the experimental platform so that the thermodynamic state of the monolayers can be systematically controlled. For the first time, well characterized, homogeneous surface flows have been developed, and real time measurements of molecular and microdomain orientation have been obtained. These microstructural experiments are complemented by measurements of the macroscopic, mechanical properties of the films. -
Margaret T. Fuller
Reed-Hodgson Professor of Human Biology, Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor and Professor of Genetics and of Obstetrics/Gynecology (Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsRegulation of self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation in adult stem cell lineages. Developmental tumor suppressor mechanisms and regulation of the switch from proliferation to differentiation. Cell type specific transcription machinery and regulation of cell differentiation. Developmental regulation of cell cycle progression during male meiosis.
-
Lawrence Fung MD PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Major Laboratories & Clinical Translational Neurosciences Incubator)
On Partial Leave from 10/16/2025 To 12/15/2025Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Lawrence Fung is a physician-scientist specializing in autism and neurodiversity. Dr. Fung is an associate professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. He is the director of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project (SNP), director of the Neurodiversity Clinic, and PI at the Fung Lab. Dr. Fung’s research traverses from multi-modal neuroimaging studies to a new conceptualization of neurodiversity and its application to clinical, educational, and employment settings. His lab has two main arms of research: (1) neurobiology of autism and (2) neurodiversity.
The neurobiology arm of his lab focuses on advancing the understanding of the thalamocortical circuits and their socio-communicative and cognitive functions in people on the spectrum by using novel neuroimaging and bioanalytical technologies. The findings of his neurobiology research efforts were published in top journals in our field, such as Molecular Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, and Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Using a community-based participatory research approach, Dr. Fung’s team devises and implements novel interventions to improve the lives of neurodiverse individuals by maximizing their potential and productivity. He has developed and assessed several psychoeducational interventions, including the Developing Inclusive and Vocational Educational Resources for Success and Employment (DIVERSE) curriculum.
Dr. Fung is also the founding director of the SNP, a special initiative of the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford. Since 2017, the SNP has organized various events, including the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit, which brings thousands of people together yearly to share visions, innovations, and inspirations about maximizing the potential of neurodiversity. Each summer, about 100 high-school students join us at the SNP’s Research, Education, and Advocacy Camp for High Schoolers (SNP-REACH), to learn how to develop neurodiversity advocacy projects. Dr. Fung also teaches a neurodiversity design thinking course at Stanford. Clinically, Dr. Fung has applied the SBMN to his clinical work and is teaching a CME course focusing on delivering neurodiversity-affirmative care to neurodivergent patients.
