School of Medicine
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Kekoa Taparra, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Medical Fellow, Radiation Therapy
Resident in Radiation Oncology - Radiation TherapyBioAloha, my name is Kekoa and I am an Indigenous Native Hawaiian born and raised in Mililani, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. My life's mission is to return home to the islands and provide high-quality cancer care to the communities that raised me. I earned my PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Cellular and Molecular Medicine) and my MD from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (Science of Healthcare Delivery Certification), experiences that have prepared me for my current role as a resident physician and postdoctoral medical fellow in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford Health Care. I am a Masters of Public Health Merit Award scholar at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. I'm proud to be a member of the inaugural cohort of the President Barack Obama Foundation Leaders USA program. I also run a lab with over 20 talented Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) and NHPI-ally scholars across the nation, focusing on unmasking NHPI health disparities that have been overlooked for decades.
My lab specifically focuses on Pacific Islander health disparities, overcoming Indigenous Erasure, resolving structural racism in NHPI data, and sustainable climate-resilient healthcare systems. We use perspectives from the lived experiences of our communities to help guide the most pertinent research questions. For my research, I have been awarded the inaugural 2023 ASCO Dr. Judith and Alan Kaur Endowed Young Investigator Award along with awards from ASH, ASTRO, NMF, and AACR. My work has been published in The Lancet, NEJM, JAMA, JAMA Oncology, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Health Forum, JNCI, and JCO Oncology Practice, among others. I was selected as a 2022-2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Journals Editorial Fellow and a 2023-2024 Stanford Cancer Institute Fellow.
As an advocate for Pacific Islander health equity, I strive to engage with community partners, federal agencies, and academic research institutions to educate others on the unique health concerns of our population. I've been invited to speak on NHPI health at institutions such as Harvard, MDACC Grand Rounds, UCLA, UCSF, NIH/NCI, FDA, and Papa Ola Lōkahi, among others. I warmly welcome interdisciplinary collaborations that aim to improve the health of our underserved Pacific Islander communities. -
Nicholas Trakul, MD, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology - Radiation Therapy
BioDr. Nicholas Trakul is a radiation oncologist with Stanford Medicine Cancer Center and clinical associate professor of Radiation Oncology-Radiation Therapy with Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Trakul serves as Medical Director for Stanford Medicine Radiation Oncology in Pleasanton and for the Stanford Medicine I Sutter Health Cancer Collaborative in Castro Valley.
Dr. Trakul completed residency training at Stanford in 2013 and then joined the faculty at the University of Southern California, where he specialized in head and neck and central nervous system malignancies, with an emphasis on stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR/SBRT). He is widely published as first author in peer-reviewed journals. His research focus involves the creation of novel clinical databases as well as outcomes in the treatment of head and neck, gastrointestinal and thoracic malignancies. In 2017, Dr. Trakul returned to Stanford Medicine, becoming the Medical Director of Stanford Medicine Radiation Oncology in Pleasanton. In 2020, he was named Medical Director of Stanford Radiation Oncology Network Sites. In February 2022, Dr. Trakul assumed the medical directorship of Eden Radiation Oncology Center, the first site to become operation under the Stanford/Sutter Cancer Collaborative. He is focused on providing access to high quality radiation therapy, collaboration with community health care systems and creating/maintaining productive and high engagement workplace culture. He believes in providing personalized, high-quality care, and bringing new technology to the East Bay, allowing patients to access cancer care while staying connected to their communities and support networks.
