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BioKalpana Nathan, MD is an adjunct clinical professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. After completion of residency and research fellowship at Stanford, she served 4 years at the San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF, gaining experience in the areas of substance use, HIV and public health. She worked at Palo Alto VA for more than a couple of decades. She served as chief medical director at Mental Health and Addiction services, El Camino Health for two and a half years, and later was the Executive Medical Director of Custody Behavioral Health at Santa Clara County. She is a certified physician executive. She has worked and taught in various settings, both inpatient and outpatient, as well as private and public sectors. She is board certified in General, Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry, as well as Lifestyle Medicine. Her interests include wellness and self-care for physicians, women's health, health creation and resiliency building for the community. She is a certified meditation teacher, has completed sprint and Olympic triathlons, and enjoys traveling around the world. She received the outstanding community clerkship preceptor award in 2010 and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Award in Recognition of Excellence in the Teaching of Clinical Medicine in 2015 at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Recent Publications:
1. Yen Li, M, Mata C, Nathan K: Is Life Unlivable for Youth in Post-DEI America?: Understanding Rising Suicide Rates Across Diverse Youth Groups Through Traditional Suicide Paradigms. Healthcare 2025 Oct, 13(20), 2585 https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13202585

2. Tran BX, Nguyen TT, Boyer L, Fond G, Auquier P, Nguyen HSI,Ha Thi Nhi Tran HTN, Nguyen HM, Choi J, Le HT, Latkin CA, Nathan KI, Husain SF, et al: Differentiating people with schizophrenia from healthy controls in a developing country: An evaluation of portable functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as an adjunct diagnostic tool. Frontiers of Psychiatry 2023 Jan 26; vol 14

3. Tatum, J, Nathan, K: The USA. Lancet Psychiatry 2021, 8(5):365-366

4. Nathan N & Nathan KI: Suicide, Stigma, and Utilizing Social Media Platforms to Gauge Public Perceptions. Front. Psychiatry 2020 January 13

5. Tran BX, Nathan KI, Phan HT, Hall BJ, Vu GT et al: A Global Bibliometric Analysis of Services for Children Affected by HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: Implications for Impact Mitigation Programs (GAPRESEARCH). AIDS Rev. 2019 Oct 3;21(3).

6.Lee A, Nathan KI: Understanding Psychosis in a Veteran With a History of Combat and Multiple Sclerosis. Fed Pract. 2019 Jun;36(Suppl 4):S32-S35.

7. Tran BX, Ha GH, Vu GT, Nguyen LH, Latkin CA, Nathan K, McIntyre RS, Ho CS, Tam WW, Ho RC: Indices of Change, Expectations, and Popularity of Biological Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder between 1988 and 2017: A Scientometric Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jun 26;16(13)

Yasodha Natkunam, M.D., Ph.D

Ronald F. Dorfman, MBBch, FRCPath Professor of Hematopathology

Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests focus on the identification and characterization of markers of diagnostic and prognostic importance in hematolymphoid neoplasia.

Contact Info

Other Names:

Yaso Natkunam

Vaidehi Natu

Physical Sci Res Scientist, Psychology

Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Vaidehi Natu is a developmental neuroscientist. Her research program aims to study how the human brain matures from infancy to adulthood, as it acquires new life skills and behaviors: What are the origins of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain development during infancy? How does the trajectory of neural mechanisms unfold during development, as school-aged children acquire complex skills such as reading or face recognition? What are some of the parallels in brain development across primate species? What changes occur in the brain in developmental disorders such as autism, multiple sclerosis, and dyslexia?

She uses a multi-modal approach by combining various neuroimaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), quantitative MRI (qMRI), and diffusion MRI (dMRI) as well as behavioral observations, histology, comparative methods across humans and macaques, and intracranial electroencephalography. Combining complementary techniques provides a unified understanding of how the brain’s anatomy, function, and behavior co-develop to achieve complex human skills.

Amy Nava

Research Scientist, Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Contingent OTP 1, Pathology Sponsored Projects #2

Contact Info
arnava@stanford.edu

Shaghayegh Navabpour

Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry

Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research investigates how genetic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic mechanisms shape brain function and contribute to psychiatric disorders, with a special focus on PTSD. By combining large-scale human genomic data with molecular neuroscience approaches, I aim to identify cell-type-specific pathways and therapeutic targets that advance our understanding and treatment of mental health conditions.

Contact Info
shnavab@stanford.edu

Manchula Navaratnam

Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

BioDr. Manchula Navaratnam is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University, specializing in Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia. With over 16 years of expertise in the perioperative care of pediatric patients with complex cardiac conditions, Dr. Navaratnam serves as the anesthesiology lead for pediatric cardiac transplantation, ventricular assist devices, single ventricle physiology and perioperative hemostasis management.
Dr. Navaratnam’s research includes pivotal work on left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral (LVOT VTI) as a measure of ventricular function, now widely utilized at Stanford Children’s Hospital. Dr Navaratnam has led multidisciplinary clinical studies to improve care for single ventricle physiology patients, developed standardized pathways for perioperative hemostasis management, and recently contributed to an FDA-funded multicenter trial investigating pulse oximetry accuracy in congenital heart disease patients with darker skin tones.
As a dedicated mentor and educator, Dr. Navaratnam founded and directs the Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Learning (PCAL) workshop for fellows nationwide and leads Stanford’s undergraduate course, “Mending a Broken Heart.” Dr Navaratnam's mentorship has supported numerous trainees and collaborators, resulting in award-winning presentations and impactful research contributions. Dr. Navaratnam is an associate editor for Pediatric Anesthesia, an active peer reviewer for leading journals, a coach and board member for the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society, and an active contributor to national committees and task forces advancing faculty development and the field of pediatric cardiac anesthesia.
Dr. Navaratnam's mission is providing exceptional and compassionate patient care while training the next generation of leaders in the field.