School of Medicine
Showing 201-250 of 394 Results
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Rizwan Hassan Shinwari
Visiting Instructor, Neurosurgery
BioRizwan Hassan Shinwari is a Visiting Instructor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University. His research focuses on the clinical outcomes and adverse effects associated with stereotactic radiosurgery, with the goal of optimizing patient care and advancing neurosurgical precision.
Dr. Shinwari earned his medical degree from Khyber Medical College and brings a strong background in clinical medicine and surgical sciences. His academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of neurosurgery, radiological innovation, and patient-centered outcomes research. He aspires to further his training and career as a neurosurgeon in the United States. -
Aaron Tyler O'Dea Short
Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated), Psych/General Psychiatry and Psychology (Adult)
BioDr. Aaron Short is a Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program at the Menlo Park Division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
Board-certified in Adult and Geriatric Psychiatry, Dr. Short cares for adults and older adults with complex psychiatric and medical conditions. His interests include neurocognitive disorders, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, late-life mood disorders, neuropsychiatric complications of medical illness, and psychodynamic psychotherapy. He emphasizes evidence-based, compassionate, patient-centered care and interdisciplinary collaboration.
His clinical experience spans outpatient psychiatry, home-based psychiatric care and primary care programs, inpatient psychiatry, long-term care consultation, geriatric psychiatry e-consultations, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). From 2015 to 2026, he provided ECT at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston. He served as a consultant to VA Community Living Centers.
Dr. Short has served the Veterans Health Administration since 2011, integrating clinical care, education, and leadership. At VA Palo Alto, he leads interdisciplinary mental health services, strengthening operations, quality improvement, and training. Previously, he was Associate Director of the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program at the MEDVAMC. His faculty appointments include Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, with leadership roles in psychiatry residency, geriatric medicine fellowship, and postgraduate physician assistant training. He mentors and supervises Stanford psychiatry residents and physician assistant students.
He earned a BS in Neuroscience and BA in Spanish, with a minor in Latin American Studies, at Tulane University. He also completed undergraduate coursework at Tufts University, Emory University, the University of Buenos Aires, and the University of Havana. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, he served as Assistant to the Director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His early research included Chagas disease laboratory work at the University of Buenos Aires.
He earned his MD and MPH in Health Systems Management at Tulane, completed psychiatry residency at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, serving as Chief Resident, and completed a Geriatric Psychiatry fellowship at BCM. Additional training includes psychodynamic psychotherapy at the Florida Psychoanalytic Center and transcranial magnetic stimulation at the Medical University of South Carolina.
His academic contributions include a VA MIRECC-supported educational initiative in Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) training, a coauthored book chapter on early-life trauma and suicide, and invited geriatric psychiatry presentations at institutional, regional, and international levels. His honors include the 2026 Tulane Medical Alumni Association Young Alumni Leadership Award; the 2025 Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching and Evaluation and 2020 Outstanding Educator Award from BCM; the PGY-3 Clinical Service Award and Exemplary Teaching Award during residency; and the 2015 award for "Exceptional Therapeutic Skill, Psychodynamic Understanding, and Aptitude for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy" from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Florida Psychoanalytic Institute. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society in 2014.
A Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Short is committed to advancing geriatric mental healthcare, developing future clinicians, and strengthening integrated psychiatric services. -
Pilleriin Sikka
Basic Life Research Scientist, Multispecialty Anesthesiology
BioDr. Pilleriin Sikka is a Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine. She is also affiliated with the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. Prior to joining her current role, she completed postdoctoral training in the Heifets Lab in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine and in the Stanford Psychophysiology Laboratory, directed by Dr. James J. Gross.
Dr. Sikka received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Turku (Finland), MSc degree in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford (UK), and BSc as well as MSc degrees in Psychology (with specializations in Clinical Psychology and Organizational Psychology) from Tallinn University (Estonia). She has received several prestigious research and teaching awards and secured competitive grants (e.g., Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, Mind Science Foundation) as both principal and co-investigator. With more than a decade of teaching experience, Pilleriin has designed and taught courses in psychology and neuroscience and has mentored numerous undergraduate and master’s students, and is currently supervising several PhD students. In parallel with her research at Stanford, she is also affiliated with the University of Skövde (Sweden) as a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience and with the University of Turku (Finland) as a Researcher.
Dr. Sikka's research integrates psychology, neuroscience, and anesthesiology to understand how experiences—particularly those arising during altered states of consciousness (i.e., sleep and dreaming, anesthesia, psychedelic states)—produce lasting psychological change and how these mechanisms can be translated into innovative, evidence-based interventions for mental health, well-being, and perioperative care. -
Gaurav Singh
Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated), Medicine - Med/Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine
Staff, Medicine - Med/Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care MedicineBioDr. Gaurav Singh is a Staff Physician in the Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Section at VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where he serves as the pulmonary/critical lead for the virtual integrated services network (VISN). He is also an affiliated Clinical Assistant Professor of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University. He completed his undergraduate studies in molecular and cellular biology at UC Berkeley, where he also completed a Master of Public Health (MPH). He received his medical degree from UC San Francisco. He completed residency training in internal medicine, followed by pulmonary and critical care fellowship as well as sleep medicine fellowship all at Stanford University. Dr. Singh chaired the annual California Thoracic Society (CTS) conference for three years, and he is currently serving on the executive committee. His clinical, research, and academic interests include chronic obstructive airways disease (COPD), chronic respiratory failure, and non-invasive ventilation.
