School of Medicine
Showing 451-500 of 629 Results
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Sharon Pitteri
Professor (Research) of Radiology (Diagnostic Sciences Laboratory)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Pitteri laboratory is focused on the discovery and validation of proteins that can be used as molecular indicators of risk, diagnosis, progression, and recurrence of cancer. Proteomic technologies, predominantly mass spectrometry, are used to identify proteins in the blood that are differentially regulated and/or post-translationally modified with disease state. Using human plasma samples, tumor tissue, cancer cell lines, and genetically engineered mouse models, the origins of these proteins are being investigated. A major goal of this research is to define novel molecular signatures for breast and ovarian cancers, including particular sub-types of these diseases. This laboratory is also focused on the identification of proteins with expression restricted to the surface of cancer cells which can be used as novel targets for molecular imaging technologies.
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Philip A. Pizzo, M.D.
David and Susan Heckerman Professor, Emeritus
BioPhilip Pizzo, MD, is the David and Susan Heckerman Professor Emeritus. Pizzo served as Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine from April 2001 to December 1, 2012. He was Founding Director of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute from 2012 - 2022. Pizzo began rabbinical studies at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California in 2022 and studies in Spiritual Care and Counseling at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2024.
Dr. Pizzo career focused on the diagnosis, management, prevention and treatment of childhood cancers and the infectious complications that occur in children whose immune systems are compromised by cancer and AIDS. He has been a leader in academic medicine and in longevity and the future of higher education.
Pizzo received his MD degree with Honors and Distinction in Research from the University of Rochester in 1970 and completed an internship and residency at the Boston Children’s Hospital. He was a fellow in pediatric oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and served as head of the NCI’s infectious disease section, chief of pediatric oncology, and scientific director for the Division of Clinical Sciences between. Before joining Stanford in 2001, he was the physician-in-chief of Boston Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, where he was also the Thomas Morgan Rotch Professor of Pediatrics.
Dr. Pizzo is the author of more than 650 scientific articles and 16 books and monographs. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Pediatrics from 2012 - 2019. He co-led the National Academy of Medicine 2011 report Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research; and “Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences at the End of Life” that was published in 2015.
Pizzo has received numerous awards and honors, including the Public Health Service Outstanding Service Medal in 1995, the Barbara Bohen Pfiefer Award for Scientific Excellence in 1991, the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Award in 2008, the Ronald McDonald Charities “Award of Excellence” in 2009, and the John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award in 2013. He is the 2012 recipient of the John Howland Award, the highest honor for lifetime achievement bestowed by the American Pediatric Society. In 2019 he received the John Stearns Medal from the New York Academy of Medicine. Pizzo received the 2021 International Immunocompromised Host Society’s Lifetime Distinguished Career Award. He received the Dean’s Medal from the University of Rochester in 2023.
Pizzo has been elected to the Association of American Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Pediatric Society, the National Academy of Medicine. He has served as Chair of the Association of Academic Health Centers and Chair of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Society for Clinical Oncology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He was President of the International Immunocompromised Host Society between1998 – 2011, and he served on the Governing Board for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine from 2004 - 2012. Pizzo was elected to the Board of Trustees of the University of Rochester from 2009 - 2022 and the Board of Overseers of Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey from 2010 - 2022. He served Academic Advisory Council for Merritt Hawkins between 2015 - 2022., and the Advisory Board to the Milken Institute Center on Aging from 2015 - 2022. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research from 2012- 2022. In 2015 Pizzo was elected to the Board of Directors of Global Blood Therapeutics through 2023, and in 2019 he was elected to the Board of Directors of Hillel at Stanford through 2023. -
Sylvia K. Plevritis, PhD
William M. Hume Professor in the School of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Data Science and of Radiology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research program focuses on computational modeling of cancer biology and cancer outcomes. My laboratory develops stochastic models of the natural history of cancer based on clinical research data. We estimate population-level outcomes under differing screening and treatment interventions. We also analyze genomic and proteomic cancer data in order to identify molecular networks that are perturbed in cancer initiation and progression and relate these perturbations to patient outcomes.
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Natalia Plewa Juraszek
Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford Cancer Institute
BioDr. rer. nat. Natalia Plewa-Juraszek is a postdoc in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine in Prof. Sabine Heitzeneder and Prof. Crystal Mackall Labs. She is leading a collaborative project focused on designing cancer-specific T cell-based immunotherapies for pediatric solid tumors. Her 9 years hands-on experience, supported by 8 scholarships, including Fulbright, is dedicated to translating innovative technologies from the lab to patient care. Ownership mindset with strong communication and management skills. Critical thinker living the idea “Follow your heart but take your brain with you”. Outside of science, Natalia is a professional Bachata Sensual Instructor and International Dance Judge who transformed a dance business into a global brand, earning over 70 teaching invitations in 15+ countries worldwide.
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Jonathan Pollack
Professor of Pathology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch in the Pollack lab centers on translational genomics, with a focus on prostate diseases. The lab employs next-generation sequencing, single-cell and spatial genomics, gene editing, and human cell/tissue-based modeling to uncover disease mechanisms, biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Current areas of emphasis include benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, and rare/neglected cancer types (ameloblastoma, liposarcoma).
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Matthew Porteus
Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine
BioDr. Porteus was raised in California and was a local graduate of Gunn High School before completing A.B. degree in “History and Science” at Harvard University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and wrote an thesis entitled “Safe or Dangerous Chimeras: The recombinant DNA controversy as a conflict between differing socially constructed interpretations of recombinant DNA technology.” He then returned to the area and completed his combined MD, PhD at Stanford Medical School with his PhD focused on understanding the molecular basis of mammalian forebrain development with his PhD thesis entitled “Isolation and Characterization of TES-1/DLX-2: A Novel Homeobox Gene Expressed During Mammalian Forebrain Development.” After completion of his dual degree program, he was an intern and resident in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and then completed his Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship in the combined Boston Chidlren’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute program. For his fellowship and post-doctoral research he worked with Dr. David Baltimore at MIT and CalTech where he began his studies in developing homologous recombination as a strategy to correct disease causing mutations in stem cells as definitive and curative therapy for children with genetic diseases of the blood, particularly sickle cell disease. Following his training with Dr. Baltimore, he took an independent faculty position at UT Southwestern in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry before again returning to Stanford in 2010 as an Associate Professor. During this time his work has been the first to demonstrate that gene correction could be achieved in human cells at frequencies that were high enough to potentially cure patients and is considered one of the pioneers and founders of the field of genome editing—a field that now encompasses thousands of labs and several new companies throughout the world. His research program continues to focus on developing genome editing by homologous recombination as curative therapy for children with genetic diseases but also has interests in the clonal dynamics of heterogeneous populations and the use of genome editing to better understand diseases that affect children including infant leukemias and genetic diseases that affect the muscle. Clinically, Dr. Porteus attends at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital where he takes care of pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
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George A. Poultsides, MD, MS
Stanford Department of Surgery Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsClinical trials of experimental diagnostics and therapeutics; outcomes analysis following combined modality treatment of hepatic, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal malignancies.
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Guillem Pratx
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Physics)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Physical Oncology Lab is interested in making a lasting impact on translational cancer research by building novel physical tools and methods.
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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.
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Carla Pugh, MD, PhD
Thomas Krummel Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (T.E.C.I.) Center is a multidisciplinary team of researchers dedicated to the design and implementation of advanced engineering technologies that facilitate data acquisition relating to clinical performance.
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Stanley Qi
Associate Professor of Bioengineering and, by courtesy, of Biomedical Data Science
BioStanley Qi (publishing as Lei S. Qi) is a pioneer in the field of genome engineering and the architect of the foundational technologies that transitioned CRISPR from a "cutting" tool into a universal platform for Programmable Biology. As the inventor of CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR activation (CRISPRa), Qi established the first methods for the precise, reversible, and targeted regulation of the human genome without altering the DNA sequence.
The Qi Lab integrates scalable genomic perturbation with live-cell and super-resolution imaging and computation-guided design to redefine the boundaries of cellular control. Under Dr. Qi’s leadership, the group has fundamentally expanded the genome engineering toolbox, evolving CRISPR from a single editing tool into a multidimensional platform for the precise control of dynamic and spatial cell states. This work includes establishing foundational technologies and architectures for precise epigenetic editing, multiplexed regulation of the transcriptome, programmable 3D genome organization, and spatial control of RNA logistics. By pioneering real-time visualization of chromatin dynamics and RNA in living cells, the lab provides an unprecedented window into the fundamental "control principles of life."
This principle-driven technology lineage has moved into the clinic, with the lab's compact epigenetic editor currently in first-in-human clinical testing for FSHD muscular dystrophy (NCT06907875). This milestone represents a core mission of the lab: translating foundational engineering into next-generation therapeutics that act predictably as dynamic, complex systems.
Beyond single-cell control, the Qi Lab is building a framework for synthetic cell–cell communication, with a particular emphasis on the bidirectional interplay between immune cells and neurons. The lab’s goal is to move beyond describing molecular parts to discovering fundamental control principles in living systems: how regulatory landscapes create stable states and memory, how spatial genome–RNA organization shapes dynamic responses, and how engineered cell–cell interactions can generate emergent multicellular behaviors.
By integrating computational design with experimental biology, Dr. Qi aims to identify the generalizable rules linking molecular programs to systems-level physiology. He is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator and an Institute Scholar at the Sarafan ChEM-H, and is dedicated to shaping the technical and ethical frameworks that will define the future of human genome engineering. -
Stephen Quake
Lee Otterson Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSingle molecule biophysics, precision force measurement, micro and nano fabrication with soft materials, integrated microfluidics and large scale biological automation.
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Sneha Ramakrishna
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology)
BioSneha Ramakrishna obtained her B. A. from the University of Chicago and her M.D. from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. In medical school, through the Howard Hughes Medical Research Scholar Award, she joined Dr. Crystal Mackall’s laboratory, where she designed and developed various GD2 CAR-Ts and tested them in preclinical models. During her residency training in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she cared for some of the first patients treated with CD19 CAR T cells, learning the power of this therapy first-hand. During her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Johns Hopkins/National Cancer Institute combined program, she worked with Dr. Terry Fry. She evaluated the mechanism of CD22 CAR T cell relapse in patients by developing an antigen escape model and establishing a deeper understanding of the effects of antigen density on CAR-T phenotype, expansion, and persistence (Fry…Ramakrishna…Mackall Nat Med, 2018; Ramakrishna, et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2019). Since arriving at Stanford, Dr. Ramakrishna leads an interdisciplinary team that designs, develops, and successfully implements a robust correlative science platform for our novel CAR-T therapies. Analyzing patient samples from our first-in-human GD2 CAR-T trial (NCT04196413) treating a universally fatal cancer, diffuse midline glioma (DMG), we identified that intracerebroventricular CAR-T administration correlates with enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduced immunosuppressive cell populations in cerebrospinal fluid as compared to intravenous CAR-T administration (Majzner*, Ramakrishna*, et al., Nature 2022 *co-first authors). Her research program evaluates unique sets of patient samples using novel single-cell immune profiling to identify the drivers of CAR-T success or failure. Building on these findings, her team assesses approaches to enhance CAR-T efficacy and translate these findings to the clinic.
Clinically, Dr. Ramakrishna cares for children with solid tumors and treats hematologic, solid, and brain tumor pediatric patients with CAR T cell therapies in the Cancer Cellular Therapies program. -
Kavitha Ramchandran
Clinical Professor, Medicine - Oncology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on innovative models of care delivey to understand how to integrate primary and specialist palliative care. We also do work in palliative care education and how to scale our education to be impactful and sustainable. We are evaluating online models.
In cancer care I do research on novel therapeutics in thoracic malignancies including immunotherapy, new targeted agents, and new sequencing of approved drugs. -
Jianghong Rao
Professor of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford) and, by courtesy, of Chemistry
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProbe chemistry and nanotechnology for molecular imaging and diagnostics
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Lawrence Recht, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences (Adult Neurology) and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory focuses on two interrelated projects: (1) assessment of glioma development within the framework of the multistage model of carcinogenesis through utilization of the rodent model of ENU neurocarcinogenesis; and (2) assessment of stem cell specification and pluripotency using an embryonic stem cell model system in which neural differentiation is induced.
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David Rehkopf
Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Sociology, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics, and of Health Policy
BioI am a social epidemiologist and serve as a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health. I joined the faculty at Stanford School of Medicine in 2011.
I am Director of the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences. In this position, I am committed to making high-value data resources available to researchers across disciplines in order to better enable them to answer their most pressing clinical and population health questions.
My own research is focused on understanding the health implications of the myriad decisions that are made by corporations and governments every day - decisions that profoundly shape the social and economic worlds in which we live and work. While these changes are often invisible to us on a daily basis, these seemingly minor actions and decisions form structural nudges that can create better or worse health at a population level. My work demonstrates the health implications of corporate and governmental decisions that can give the public and policy makers evidence to support new strategies for promoting health and well-being. In all of his work, I have a focus on the implications of these exposures for health inequalities.
Since often policy and programmatic changes can take decades to influence health, my work also includes more basic research in understanding biological signals that may act as early warning signs of systemic disease, in particular accelerated aging. I examine how social and economic policy changes influence a range of early markers of disease and aging, with a particular recent focus on DNA methylation. I am supported by several grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to develop new more sensitive ways to understand the health implications of social and economic policy changes. -
David A. Relman
Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy investigative program focuses on human-microbe interactions and human microbial ecology, and primarily concerns the ecology of human indigenous microbial communities; a secondary interest concerns the classification of humans with systemic infectious diseases, based on features of genome-wide gene transcript abundance patterns and pther aspects of the host response.
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Nathan Reticker-Flynn, PhD
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTo metastasize throughout our bodies, tumors subvert and co-opt our immune systems. Our lab seeks to uncover how these processes occur and develops therapies to put a stop to them.
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Andrew Rezvani, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsClinical research in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
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Thomas Robinson
The Irving Schulman, M.D. Professor of Child Health, Professor of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center) and, by courtesy, of Epidemiology and Population Health
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Robinson originated the solution-oriented research paradigm and directs the Stanford Solutions Science Lab. He is known for his pioneering obesity prevention and treatment research, including the concept of stealth interventions. His research applies social cognitive models of behavior change to behavioral, social, environmental and policy interventions for children and families in real world settings, making the results relevant for informing clinical and public health practice and policy.
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William H. Robinson, MD PhD
James W. Raitt, M.D. Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab investigates the molecular mechanisms of and develops therapies to treat autoimmune and rheumatic diseases, with a focus on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and osteoarthritis.
The overriding objectives of our laboratory are:
1. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying autoimmune and rheumatic diseases.
2. To investigate the role of innate immune inflammation in osteoarthritis.
3. To develop novel diagnostics and therapeutics -
Stanley G. Rockson, MD
Allan and Tina Neill Professor of Lymphatic Research and Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy clinical research includes studies on risk factor modification in atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease; clinical trials involving medical therapies for peripheral arterial insufficiency; coronary angiogenesis; therapy of lymphedema; atherand photodynamic therapy in atherosclerosis.
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Kacper Rogala
Assistant Professor of Structural Biology and of Chemical and Systems Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur team is fascinated by how cells make growth decisions — to grow or not to grow. In order to grow, cells require nutrients, and we are unraveling how cells use specialized protein sensors and transporters to sense and traffic nutrients in between various compartments. We use approaches from structural biology, chemical biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology — to reveal the mechanisms of basic biological processes, and we develop chemical probes that modulate them.
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Rajat Rohatgi
Professor of Biochemistry and of Medicine (Oncology)
Current Research and Scholarly Intereststhe overall goal of my laboratory is to uncover new regulatory mechanisms in signaling systems, to understand how these mechanisms are damaged in disease states, and to devise new strategies to repair their function.
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Maria Grazia Roncarolo
George D. Smith Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch Interests
Immunetolerance: Mechanisms underlying T-cell tolerance, induction of T-cell anergy and regulatory T cells; Immunomodulation: mAbs, proteins and low molecular weight compounds which can modulate T-cell activation; Primary immunodeficiencies: Characterization of molecular and immunological defects; Gene therapy: Gene transduction of hematopoietic cells for gene therapy in primary immunodeficiencies and metabolic diseases; Hematopoiesis: Mechanisms underlying growth and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells; Transplantation: Immune reconstitution and T-cell tolerance after allogenic stem cell transplantation; Cytokines/Cytokine receptors: Role in regulation of immune and inflammatory responses
Clinical Interests
Primary Immunodeficiencies
Monogenic Autoimmune Disorders
Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation
Gene Therapy Clinical Trials
Cell Therapy Clinical Trials
Clinical Trials in Autoimmune Diseases and Organ Transplantation
Clinical Trials in Hemoglobinopathies -
Lisa Goldman Rosas
Associate Professor (Research) of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics
BioLisa Goldman Rosas, PhD MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and the Department of Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford School of Medicine. An epidemiologist by training, Dr. Goldman Rosas’ research focuses on addressing disparities in diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, and cancer especially for those who face food insecurity. This research features rigorous quantitative and qualitative methodologies, participatory qualitative approaches, and shared leadership with patient and community partners. She is passionate about integrating patients, caregivers, community organizations, and other key stakeholders in the research process in order to affect the greatest improvements in health and well-being. As a reflection of this passion, Dr. Goldman Rosas serves as the Faculty Director for the School of Medicine Office of Community Engagement, Co-Director of Community-Engaged Research for the Office of Cancer Health Equity, and Director of the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core for the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. In these roles, she supports other faculty and patient and community partners to develop sustainable and meaningful partnerships to support transformative research. In addition to research, she teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has a special focus on increasing capacity in community engagement methods.
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David Rosenthal
Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Cardiology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interests include the study of Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy and ventricular dysfunction in children, from a clinical perspective. Investigations include clinical trials of medications, cardiac resynchronization, and mechanical circulatory support.
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Jason B. Ross, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Therapy)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory studies studying normal, dysfunctional, and malignant stem cells in the context of aging, cancer, and cancer therapies.
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Theodore Roth
Assistant Professor of Pathology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Roth Lab develops, applies, and translates scalable genetic manipulation technologies in primary human cells and complex in vivo tissue environments. Working with students, trainees, and staff with backgrounds across bioengineering, genetics, immunology, oncology, and pathology, the lab has developed CRISPR-All, a unified genetic perturbation language able to arbitrarily and combinatorially examine genetic perturbations across perturbation type and scale in primary human cells. Ongoing applications of CRISPR-All in the lab have revealed surprising capacities to synthetically engineer human cells beyond evolved cellular states. These new capacities to perturb human cell’s genetics beyond their evolved functionality drives ongoing work to understand the biology and therapeutic potential of synthetic cell state engineering - in essence learning how to build new human genes tailor made for a specific cell and specific environment to drive previously inaccessible therapeutic cellular functions.
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Daniel Rubin
Professor of Biomedical Data Science and of Radiology (Integrative Biomedical Imaging Informatics at Stanford), Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interest is imaging informatics--ways computers can work with images to leverage their rich information content and to help physicians use images to guide personalized care. Work in our lab thus lies at the intersection of biomedical informatics and imaging science.
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Mirabela Rusu
Assistant Professor of Radiology (Integrative Biomedical Imaging Informatics) and, by courtesy, of Biomedical Data Science and of Urology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Mirabela Rusu focuses on developing analytic methods for biomedical data integration, with a particular interest in radiology-pathology fusion. Such integrative methods may be applied to create comprehensive multi-scale representations of biomedical processes and pathological conditions, thus enabling their in-depth characterization.
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Raya Saab
Lindhard Family Professor of Pediatric Cancer Biology
BioI am a pediatric oncologist, and I primarily treat children who are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas including rhabdomyosarcoma, and children diagnosed with the eye tumor retinoblastoma, as well as children with other solid tumors.
I have two very different areas of primary research interest, both of which I pursue with passion. One focuses on global oncology, including clinical and research resource capacity building towards effective treatment and improving outcomes of children with cancer worldwide. I work with collaborators across the globe towards a common goal of improving access to diagnostic and clinical care, training of multidisciplinary teams, and building clinical resources and research capacity to develop context-informed approaches to improving cancer care and achieving better outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer irrespective of where they happen to live.
My parallel research interest, which is the focus of my laboratory, is understanding oncogenic signaling in pediatric soft tissue sarcomas, in an effort to clarify the driving biology and determinants of metastatic disease, to uncover novel targets for more effective treatment. We use preclinical in vitro and in vivo models, including murine and human cell lines, and mouse models of cancer. We have recently uncovered a paracrine role for rhabdomyosarcoma-secreted exosomes in impacting biology of stromal cells. Rhabdomyosarcoma-derived exosomes carry specific miRNA cargo that imparts an invasive and migratory phenotype on normal recipient fibroblasts, and proteomic analysis revealed specific and unique pathways relevant to the two different molecular rhabdomyosarcoma subtypes that are driven by distinct oncogenic pathways. We identified that the driver oncogene in fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma, PAX3-FOXO1, modulates exosome cargo to promote invasion, migration, and angiogenic properties, and identified specific microRNA and protein cargo acting as effectors of PAX3-FOXO1 exosome-mediated signaling, including modulation of oxidative stress response and cell survival signaling. Our ongoing work is focused on interrogating specific paracrine signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms of metastatic disease progression in rhabdomyosarcoma, for potential therapeutic targeting. -
Chiara Sabatti
Professor of Biomedical Data Science and of Statistics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStatistical models and reasoning are key to our understanding of the genetic basis of human traits. Modern high-throughput technology presents us with new opportunities and challenges. We develop statistical approaches for high dimensional data in the attempt of improving our understanding of the molecular basis of health related traits.
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Julien Sage
Elaine and John Chambers Professor of Pediatric Cancer and Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe investigate the mechanisms by which normal cells become tumor cells, and we combine genetics, genomics, and proteomics approaches to investigate the differences between the proliferative response in response to injury and the hyperproliferative phenotype of cancer cells and to identify novel therapeutic targets in cancer cells.
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Kathleen M. Sakamoto
Shelagh Galligan Professor in the School of Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on the molecular pathways that regulate normal and aberrant blood cell development, including acute leukemia and bone marrow failure syndromes. We are also studying novel drugs for treatment of cancer.
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Julia Salzman
Associate Professor of Biomedical Data Science, of Biochemistry and, by courtesy, of Statistics and of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsstatistical computational biology focusing on splicing, cancer and microbes
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Serena Sanulli
Assistant Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the organizing principles of the genome and how these principles regulate cell identity and developmental switches. We combine Biochemistry and Biophysical methods such as NMR and Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange-MS with Cell Biology, and Genetics to explore genome organization across length and time scales and understand how cells leverage the diverse biophysical properties of chromatin to regulate genome function.
