School of Medicine
Showing 1-66 of 66 Results
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Amin Sadeghi
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsApplications of artificial intelligence in medicine
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Vafi Salmasi
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult Pain)
BioVafi Salmasi, M.D., M.S. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine atStanford University School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2004 and completed hisanesthesiology training at Cleveland Clinic, where he also completed a research fellowship in the Department of Outcomes Research. He subsequently joined Stanford University for fellowship training in Pain Medicine and earned a Master of Science in Clinical Research and Epidemiology from Stanford in 2019.
Dr. Salmasi's research focuses on integrating pragmatic comparative effectiveness research with clinical care in perioperative and pain medicine, supported by his NIH funding. He is an active member of the neuromodulation team at Stanford Pain Management Center, where he has established and organizes the multidisciplinary team conference for neuromodulation candidates. His clinical expertise encompasses interventional pain management with particular emphasis on neuromodulation techniques including spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation; and minimally invasive spine techniques including basivertebral nerve ablation and percutaneous minimally invasive lumbar decompression. -
Stanley Samuels
Professor (Clinical) of Anesthesia, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNeuroanesthesia; anesthesia in developing countries.
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Adam Craig Schlifke
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr. Schlifke is a board-certified anesthesiologist and former medical director with fundamental business training highly motivated to improve healthcare delivery in the US through technology. He enjoys working in entrepreneurial environments that are focused on designing innovative solutions that are well integrated into the healthcare workflow. Dr. Schlifke loves to "disrupt" healthcare delivery with technology-enabled services.
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Peter Schmidt
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioPete Schmidt, MD, MSc is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he conceptualized and launched the Stanford Cancer Pain program. He provides comprehensive and individualized care for patients with cancer-related pain, including patients who are suffering from the effects of cancer treatment. His clinical expertise also includes ultrasound-guided nerve blocks, perioperative pain management, and safe medication tapering after definitive cancer treatment. He is board-certified in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, and Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Schmidt's research interests are in clinical trials, drug development, and novel regulatory endpoints. He has designed and led over a dozen clinical trials in the fields of pain management, neurology, infectious diseases, and rare diseases. Dr. Schmidt has published his research findings in several high-impact journals, including Science: Translational Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine. He is also the author of several book chapters on pain management and perioperative management. -
Kristin Schreiber
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine (Regional Anesthesia)
BioDr. Kristin Schreiber is a Professor and Regional Anesthesiologist whose clinical work involves caring for surgical patients in the perioperative period, and whose research work is centered around predicting and preventing Chronic Postsurgical Pain (CPSP). Her PhD in Neuroscience investigated mechanisms of spinal plasticity in the development of chronic pain states, and her translational clinical research program aims to understand which patient are at risk to develop CPSP, why, and how to best prevent it in different individuals. She employs the careful preoperative pain phenotyping, investigating factors that underlie variability in postsurgical trajectories, and testing both pharmacologic and behavioral interventions to reduce postsurgical pain. Her quantitative sensory testing lab-based studies investigate difference in pain processing, in the absence and presence of modulators of pain including regional anesthesia, placebo, distraction, and music. She has enjoyed continuous external funding from the NIH since 2015, and has held administrative roles including associate VC of Research, and VC of Faculty Development, and PI of a translational pain research training grant at Harvard Medical School. She is a handling editor at Anesthesiology, and Pain Medicine, and currently serves as the Chief of Regional Anesthesia in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine.
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Audrey Shafer
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Emeritum
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsliterature and medicine, humanistic aspects of medicine and anesthesia care, language and medicine, communication, medical humanities, creative writing, arts and healthcare
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Steven L. Shafer, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult MSD) at the Stanford University Medical Center, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intravenous anesthetics, including drug interactions and continuous measures of drug effect; model-based drug development; target controlled drug delivery; advanced models of drug behavior.
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Sajan Shah, MD, MBA
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr. Sajan Shah is a board-certified, fellowship-trained pain management specialist with the Stanford Health Care Pain Management Center. He is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Shah specializes in managing acute and chronic pain. He commonly cares for people living with complex spinal conditions that have not responded to conventional treatment. He offers a range of injections to manage pain, including joint corticosteroid injections, peripheral nerve blocks, trigger point injections, and Botox injections for migraines and dystonia. He has experience with neuromodulation techniques, including spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation, and minimally invasive spinal procedures. He strives to provide effective pain therapies that improve the everyday function and quality of life of his patients.
Dr. Shah’s research has explored topics in anesthesiology and pain medicine. He has studied chronic pain syndromes, including how to diagnose and manage rare pain conditions. Dr. Shah has published his findings in several peer-reviewed journals and co-authored a book chapter on complex regional pain syndrome. He has presented his research at national and international meetings, including those held by the American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and North American Neuromodulation Society. -
Pilleriin Sikka
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWhat makes certain experiences transformative, and how can we harness them to support resilience and mental health? I explore this question by studying emotions across various states of consciousness—waking, dreaming, anesthesia, psychedelics, and meditation. With a background in psychology, neuroscience, and anesthesiology, I bring together methods that are rarely combined: daily diaries and surveys, language and narrative analysis, neurophysiological recordings, lab experiments, and clinical trials. My work has three main aims: (1) to understand how affective experiences unfold across states; (2) to test whether these experiences can be deliberately shaped to support mental health; and (3) to identify the mechanisms that make them transformative. This interdisciplinary approach has led to the first controlled studies of anesthesia-induced dreams for trauma, new insights into peace of mind and emotion regulation, and cross-state comparisons showing how affective experiences in altered states can foster resilience. My long-term goal is to develop a new frontier in affective science: the study of how transformative experiences across different states of mind can improve well-being.
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Laura Simons
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Pediatric)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist who evaluates and treats youth presenting with chronic pain in the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic (PPMC) at Stanford Children’s Health. My program of research aims to utilize a pain neuroscience psychology approach to gain a mechanistic understanding of cognitive and affective processes in pediatric pain, perform rigorous patient-oriented research that translates targeted assessment into mechanistically informed treatment approaches for optimal clinical care and leverage the ubiquity of digital health to enhance patient access and reach. Central to these goals are projects targeting adolescence and youth adults with chronic pain that encompass defining brain signatures of threat interpretation, evaluating the efficacy of graded exposure (NCT03699007), deriving a biosignature of improvement vs. persistence of pain and disability (NCT04285112), and evaluating the impact of virtual reality on pain rehabilitation (NCT04636177). These studies along with additional work examining the journey of pain care for youth with pain and their parents form a comprehensive research portfolio in the realm of understanding and treating chronic pain in young people. My long-term career goal is to lead a robust research program focusing on alleviating the suffering of youth and emerging adults with chronic pain.
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Vanila M. Singh, MD MACM
Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr Singh is the immediate past Chief Medical Officer in the US Department of Health and Human Services and was Chairperson of the highly regarded HHS Task Force in conjunction with the Department of Defense and the Veterans Affairs. She led this group to the comprehensive and approachable final report submitted to Congress. She is a clinical associate professor of Anesthesiology, Pain and Peri-operative Medicine at Stanford and is a teaching mentor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Pain Management Best Practices HHS Task Force Report: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pain-mgmt-best-practices-draft-final-report-05062019.pdf
The Best Practices Pain Inter-agency report that was convened by US Department of HHS in conjunction with Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration is supported by over 160 organizations including the Human Rights Watch, dozens of patient advocacy groups, respected medical organizations including AMA, AAOS, AAPS, ASA, CMA, ASIPP, AAPM, ACOG, CSNS, and dozens of others and key stakeholders such as nursing, social workers, integrative health primary physicians pharmacists and others. There were over 10,000 public comments highlighting the challenges that forced tapering of opioids and the abandonment of chronic pain patients across the nation. The significant patient harms have been a topic of concern with the resulting number of suicides and adverse clinical outcomes pushing patients to the medically unsupervised black market.
Dr Singh has a background in molecular and cell biology, economics, pain medicine, and regional anesthesia with a forte in advanced ultrasound guided procedures for pain and anesthesia medicine. She is double board-certified in pain and anesthesiology. She has served in medical ethics, and to served on scientific editorial boards, committees for the American Society of Regional Anesthesia, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, California Medical Association, and the Santa Clara County Medical Association . She has an interest & remains involved in health policy with a background in economics. Dr Singh has been invited and has spoken extensively around the country about the opioid crisis and pain management as well as the growing illicit drug crisis afflicting the nation. Dr Singh's practice uniquely focuses on regional anesthesia and peri-operative, subacute, and the development of chronic pain, with an appreciation on complimentary and traditional medicine approaches that emphasizes an individualized patient-centered approach. She has interests that include public health, persistent pain following surgical procedures, and long term chronic and complex pain issues. Dr. Singh has a background and interest in education for medical students, residents, and fellows. She has identified the growing clinical administrative burden of physicians as a challenge to good patient care, and has spoken about EHR and health IT in general. She strongly believes in a compassionate, individualized patient-centered approach to medicine. She completed a masters in academic medicine as part of her professional development to further enhance leadership, educational curriculum development, interdisciplinary work and various presentations and projects with faculty from around the country. -
Kristen M. Slater, PsyD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Bio“Understanding and appreciating the totality of a person’s experience in the context of a difficult pain condition is vital in helping them heal in a way that respects their body and reduces suffering” states Dr. Kristen Slater, pain psychologist. “With a compassionate interdisciplinary care team in place, I wholeheartedly believe it is possible for anyone and everyone living with pain to pursue a meaningful and valuable life.”
Dr. Kristen Slater earned her Doctorate of Psychology with an emphasis in Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology from Loma Linda University. She completed her APA-accredited internship at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson, Arizona. It was there that she developed a passion for Pain Medicine after appreciating how much of an impact pain can have in all areas of life and how powerful interdisciplinary treatment of pain can be in improving one’s quality of life. She went on to receive specialized postdoctoral training and completed an APA-accredited Fellowship in Pain Psychology at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain, in 2014.
Following her training, she was hired as the lead psychologist and Director of Behavioral Medicine and Psychological Services at Comprehensive Spine and Sports Center in Campbell, California for 5 years where she helped create and found their Functional Restoration Program and Pain Psychology Program. She also worked part-time as a Clinical Instructor at Stanford University School of Medicine and in private practice. She transitioned to Stanford full time in 2019 and is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Pain Medicine. The majority of her time is allocated towards implementing evidence-based clinical practices but she also enjoys being involved in advancing the field through research. She is involved in multiple NIH and PCORI funded clinical trials working to enhance treatment efficacy and accessibility. She is also a faculty member of the "Empowered Relief" team, and is a Master Trainer involved in teaching international workshops to train clinicians to deliver the single-session evidence-based pain relief skills class, (https://empoweredrelief.com).
Outside of work, Dr. Slater enjoys spending time with her family. She enjoys hiking, traveling and visiting her home state of Colorado. -
Katie Speirs M.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr. Speirs is a practicing Anesthesiologist at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. She is a member of the multi-specialty division with a focus on Head and Neck and Thoracic Anesthesia subdivisions. Passionate about education, Dr. Speirs values highly the art of teaching and excellence in clinical care within the medical community. She participates in the education of all levels of student ranging from undergraduate to fellow. She is an advocate for green initiatives and sustainability in healthcare. Dr. Speirs strives to enhance collaboration and communication within the medical field and was involved in the introduction of personalized scrub caps to the operating rooms at Stanford. With a unique blend of medical expertise, dedication to education, and environmental consciousness, Dr. Speirs is at the forefront of shaping a holistic approach to high quality healthcare at Stanford.
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David Stahl
Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDavid Stahl, MD FASA is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Stanford University and the Division Chief of Critical Care. Clinically he has a particular interest in Obstetric Critical Care and served on the Maternal Mortality Review Committee for the state of Ohio for almost 10 years. His combined interest in education and obstetric critical care has led to appointment as the Vice Chair for the ASA Education Track Subcommittee on Obstetric Anesthesia, and as chair of the SOAP Education Steering Committee and member of the SOAP Board of Directors. He is also an APPLIED examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. His other professional interests include the use of technology in medical education, as well as exploring resilience and flourishing in medical trainees and faculty.
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Donald Stanski
Professor of Anesthesia, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPharmacokinetics and dynamics of anesthetic drugs.
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Creed Stary
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (MSD) and, by courtesy, of Ophthalmology
On Partial Leave from 06/01/2025 To 03/31/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMechanisms promoting neuronal survival following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury; utilizing microRNA's to target multiple pathways to promote mitochondrial homeostasis and cell survival; anesthetic neurotoxicity; astrocyte-neuronal interaction
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David K. Stevenson, M.D.
Harold K. Faber Professor of Pediatrics and Professor, by courtesy, of Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research is focused on the study of the ontogeny and control of heme catabolism and bilirubin production in the developing neonate. A better understanding of the role of increased bilirubin production in neonatal jaundice and the prevention of hemolytic jaundice has remained an overall objective of our program. We are also study the causes of preterm birth and ways to prevent it.
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Sarah Stone
Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioDr. Sarah A. Stone is a board certified anesthesiologist.
Dr. Stone is from Chicago, IL and graduated from the Chicago Medical School. She went on to complete internship, anesthesia residency and fellowship (neuroanesthesia) at Stanford. Dr. Stone is part of the Division of Neuroanesthesia and enjoys complex intracranial neurosurgery. -
Ayesha Sujan
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioAyesha Sujan, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research bridges epidemiology and clinical psychology and aims to improve the health and well-being of mothers and children, with a growing focus on the treatment of pediatric chronic pain. Motivated by the need to generate rigorous evidence to guide clinical decision-making, she focuses on areas where treatments are commonly used despite limited scientific support. She has published extensively on central nervous system medication and substance use in pregnancy. More recently, she has expanded her research program to address critical gaps in pediatric pain management treatment, including improving our understanding of central neuromodulator medication treatment for youth with abdominal pain-associated disorders of gut-brain interaction.
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Pervez Sultan
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Obstetrics) and, by courtesy, of Obstetrics and Gynecology
BioDr. Pervez Sultan is a Professor of Obstetric Anesthesiology at Stanford University School of Medicine and an Honorary Professor at University College London in the department of Targeted Intervention. His research interests include defining, characterizing, measuring and improving postpartum recovery.
He has authored over 175 peer reviewed publications and presented the Ostheimer Lecture at the 2023 Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology annual meeting.
Dr. Sultan is an NIH funded researcher. He is the principal investigator for 2 R01 grants: one developing and validating a measure for postpartum sleep and another exploring interventions for PTSD after childbirth. He is also a co-investigator for a Maternal Centers of Excellence U54 award exploring Inequities in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity.
Dr. Sultan is an elected member of the Association of University Anesthesiologists. He serves on the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) Board as the Director from Academic Practice, and serves on the Annual Meeting and Live Events and Research Committees.
Dr. Sultan is a former Arline and Pete Harman Endowed Faculty Scholar of the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute at Stanford University and a previous recipient of the UK National Institute of Academic Anesthesia Research Award.
NIH Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/pervez.sultan.1/bibliography/public/
Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pervez_Sultan2
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Z2ftv_IAAAAJ&hl=en
Twitter: @PervezSultanMD -
Eric Sun
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (MSD)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research examines questions of health economics and health policy, with a focus on economics and policy in the perioperative setting. Current research topics include the economics of treatments for chronic pain, as well as how physician practice organization affects outcomes and costs.
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Louise Y Sun
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Cardiac)
BioDr. Louise Sun is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Research. She is an Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto. Prior to this, she was an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Epidemiology, Director of Big Data and Health Bioinformatics Research at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and a Clinical Research Chair in Big Data and Cardiovascular Outcomes at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Sun received her medical degree from McMaster University. She completed her anesthesiology residency at the University of Ottawa and her Masters of Science in Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, followed by a clinical and research fellowship in cardiac anesthesia at the University of Toronto. She then joined the Division of Cardiac Anesthesiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and was cross appointed as an ICES faculty member.
Dr. Sun’s areas of clinical focus are hemodynamic monitoring and heart failure. Her methodologic areas of focus are the conduct of population-based cohort studies using large healthcare databases; predictive analytics; sex and gender epidemiology; patient engagement; innovative methods for data processing and warehousing; and software and applications development. Her research leverages big data and digital technology to bridge key gaps in the delivery of care and outcomes for patients with heart failure and/or undergoing cardiovascular interventions, zooming in on sex/gender and personalized care. She holds several patents and collaborates with health authorities and policy makers to evaluate and report on models of cardiac healthcare delivery.
Dr. Sun is active in the scientific community. She sits on a number of US, Canadian and international editorial boards and scientific and grant review committees, and collaborates nationally and internationally on a variety of population health and data science initiatives. Her patient-centered research program aims to improve access to care and outcomes, focusing on personalized risk stratification and long-term, patient-defined outcomes. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers and published in leading clinical journals including JAMA, JAMA Cardiology, JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, JACC, Diabetes Care, and Anesthesiology. Her research program has been well funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Health.
