School of Medicine


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  • Sarah Ann Paglini

    Sarah Ann Paglini

    Graduate Student Researcher, Medicine - Med/Stanford Prevention Research Center

    BioSarah is a 3rd-year Doctoral Student at PAU, completing an emphasis in Neuropsychology. Her current clinical practicum rotation is at the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA, where she conducts neuropsychological evaluation of diagnostic and treatment planning for patients presenting with complex neurobehavioral and psychiatric disorders. Additionally, she is a neuropsychological assessor at the University of California, San Francisco. She is currently a graduate student researcher in the Department of Medicine with the Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University.

  • Michele Lanpher Patel

    Michele Lanpher Patel

    Instructor, Medicine - Stanford Prevention Research Center

    BioMichele L. Patel, PhD is an Instructor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Trained as a clinical health psychologist, Dr. Patel conducts research to optimize scalable digital health interventions for adults with obesity. She leads clinical trials that test innovative strategies to address the critical challenge of suboptimal engagement in digital interventions.

    Dr. Patel's research is supported by an NIH career development award (K23; 2022-2027). Her recent Spark trial investigated the most potent combination of self-monitoring strategies in a behavioral weight loss intervention among 176 adults with overweight or obesity. Results are expected to be published in 2026.

    She is also testing other strategies to promote engagement, weight loss, and health. This includes the impact of easier vs. harder goals, and the effect of high-frequency, low-friction behavioral strategies. Her work leverages the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to systematically identify intervention strategies that maximize effectiveness while minimizing patient burden.

    Dr. Patel received her PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University. She completed her clinical internship at the VA Palo Alto with a specialization in behavioral medicine, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship (T32) at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. She currently serves as the Chair of the Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions special interest group in the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

    Primary Research Interests:
    -- Optimizing digital interventions for obesity treatment and prevention
    -- Leveraging behavioral science to create lower-burden self-monitoring strategies to improve engagement and outcomes
    -- Identifying psychosocial factors (including health literacy and self-efficacy) that influence treatment success

    Methodological Expertise:
    -- Randomized clinical trials, including factorial designs and embedded trials
    -- Systematic reviews
    -- Signal detection analysis

  • Dalia Perelman

    Dalia Perelman

    Dietitian 2, Medicine - Med/Stanford Prevention Research Center

    Current Role at StanfordResearch Dietitian:
    •Implements the nutritional component of research protocols, counsels participants, collects and enters food records, develops nutrition education materials, and develops specialized diets for metabolic studies.
    •Develops protocols and informed consent forms for IRB submission.
    •Collects, compiles, documents, and analyzes clinical research data.
    •Recruits and consents subjects.
    Health Educator:
    •Develops and presents curriculum to educate subjects on study diets.
    •Implements new techniques to increase adherence to study diets.
    •Acts as a liaison between investigators, collaborators, and study participants.

  • Judith Prochaska

    Judith Prochaska

    Senior Associate Vice Provost, Clinical Research Governance and Professor of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Prochaska's clinical trials research focuses on developing and testing evidence-based interventions for tobacco, other substance use, physical activity, and diet. She has led randomized controlled trials of treatments that combine motivational, behavioral, and pharmacologic strategies, including use of telemedicine, therapeutic relational agents, social-media–supported interventions, and tailored programs for socio-demographically diverse and at-risk groups to advance population health.