School of Medicine
Showing 9,601-9,700 of 12,875 Results
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Perisa Ruhi-Williams, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated), Surgery - General Surgery
Staff, Surgery - General SurgeryBioDr. Perisa Ruhi-Williams is a board-certified General Surgeon practicing at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Her clinical practice is centered on utilizing robotic-assisted techniques for metabolic/bariatric surgery and hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction.
She graduated as an Echols Scholar with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Virginia. She earned her MD from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and completed her General Surgery residency at the University of California, Irvine. While in residency, she served as the Chief Resident in Quality and Patient Safety at the VA Long Beach Medical Center. She subsequently completed an advanced fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery, Bariatrics, and Foregut Surgery at Stanford Health Care.
Dr. Ruhi-Williams is passionate about advancing surgical education and the wellness of surgical trainees. In addition to her clinical roles, she serves as the Site Director for the Surgery Core Clerkship at VA Palo Alto and Assistant Site Director for the General Surgery Residency Program at VA Palo Alto. -
Brian Ruhle, MD, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor, Surgery - General Surgery
BioDr. Ruhle is a board-certified surgeon with dual fellowship training in bariatric and minimally invasive surgery from Stanford Health Care and endocrine surgery from UCLA Health. He also serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Ruhle specializes in bariatric (weight loss) surgery, foregut (upper digestive tract) surgery, and abdominal wall reconstruction. He uses leading-edge laparoscopic and robotic surgical techniques to help patients achieve sustainable weight loss and improve obesity related health conditions. His expertise in advanced minimally invasive procedures offers patients significant benefits, including faster recoveries, reduced pain, and shorter hospital stays.
Dr. Ruhle’s research interests span a wide range of topics in metabolic and bariatric surgery. His studies have explored combination therapy for obesity management, improved screening and treatment of endocrine disorders, and optimizing outcomes in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He has published his findings in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Blood, and Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
During his surgical training, Dr. Ruhle presented at prominent national and regional meetings, including the annual meetings of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons and American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. His presentations have addressed innovative topics such as using GLP-1 agonists (medications that help regulate blood sugar and reduce appetite) before bariatric surgery. His presentations have also addressed improving screening protocols for hyperaldosteronism (high blood pressure caused by the excess production of the hormone aldosterone).
Dr. Ruhle is a member of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Clinical Association of California Endocrinologists, and Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. -
Alejandra Ruiz
Postdoctoral Scholar, General Surgery
BioDr. Alejandra Ruiz is a physician scientist with experience in high-complexity medical settings, including oncology and intensive care. She is a strong advocate for integrative care, addressing both physical and mental health needs. Currently, Dr. Ruiz is a postdoctoral researcher in both the Department of of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Surgery, where she investigates the barriers faced by underserved communities when seeking health care while developing strategies to improve access and connection to health services. Deeply committed to community based participatory research and health advocacy, Dr. Ruiz is dedicated to creating sustainable pathways for underserved populations to receive comprehensive care.
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Cristin Runfola
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Runfola's research focuses on the epidemiology of dysregulated eating and weight concerns in undeserved populations and her primary interest is in developing and testing the efficacy of clinical interventions designed to improve outcome for eating disorders.
With support from GFED, Dr. Runfola adapted the Uniting Couples in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa (UCAN) therapy manual for couples in which one or both members have binge-eating disorder (UNITE) and recently completed pilot testing on this treatment. She is in the process of expanding this treatment for all couples affected by binge eating, and is submitting a grant to fund future work testing efficacy. -
Stephen Ruoss
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe have an active collaborative project examining basic and clinical aspects of non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung infection in non-immune compromised adults. Studies have examined possible cellular immune mechanisms for increased susceptibility to these infections, and are also investigating aspects of optimal diagnosis and treatment. In addition, a clinical and translational research program is investigating the causes and genetic factors underlying the evolution of bronchiectasis.
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Christopher John Russell
Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine)
BioDr. Russell is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and a board-certified academic pediatric hospitalist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. His clinical responsibilities include caring for children hospitalized for a variety of illnesses. His research focuses on developing evidence-based care for hospitalized children with medical complexity, including acute respiratory infections (such as pneumonia and bacterial tracheitis). His research efforts have been recognized through receipt of the University of Southern California’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Award (2014-16), the Academic Pediatric Association’s Young Investigator Award (2015-16), the NIH Loan Repayment Program (2017-2021) and a large grant from the Gerber Foundation (2020-2022). In August 2021, he received a five-year R01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study bacterial respiratory infections in children with tracheostomy. Outside of his clinical and research responsibilities, Dr. Russell focuses on research mentorship of medical students, pediatric residents, and pediatric hospital medicine fellows as well as improving representation of underrepresented minorities in medicine throughout the continuum of physician training. Dr. Russell completed a term as the chair of the Academic Pediatric Association’s Membership, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (2022-2025) and is on the Executive Committee for the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings research network. Dr. Russell is active in the AAP and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Hospital Pediatrics.
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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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Florentine Rutaganira
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and of Developmental Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe use chemical tools to decipher the roles of key signaling networks in choanoflagellates, single-celled organisms that are the closest living relatives of animals. Choanoflagellates produce molecular signals essential for intercellular communication in animals and the presence of these molecules in choanoflagellates suggests that signaling components needed to communicate between cells is evolutionarily ancient. We aim to uncover new understanding of animal development, physiology and disease.
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Erica Marie Rutherford
Data Wrangler, Biomedical Data Science
BioMy career spanning nine years as a data curator has given me a lot of experience and perspective into the workings of scientific data and metadata, and its organization. During my time before graduate school, I attained experience on a variety of fieldwork projects in ecology (2008-2013). During these temporary seasonal assignments, the importance of precision and care in data collection was impressed in me. When I went to graduate school at San Francisco State University (2013-2016), I gained experience in all parts of a molecular biology experiment, from fieldwork to labwork to data analysis. After graduation, I worked at a microbiome focused startup company, Second Genome, as their data curator (2016-2021). While there, I was responsible for curation of metadata for both internal studies for R&D and for clients, and for external studies being brought in for our internal Knowledgebase. While there, I developed an appreciate for ontologies, and developed a custom Second Genome Ontology to handle our metadata. I moved on to the Lattice group, located at Stanford University, where I continued to expand my skills in data curation (2021-present). I have gained experience in handling single cell datasets and their associated metadata, and curating them to meet precise standards. I strive to work collaboratively with data contributors in order to ensure FAIR data standards.
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Brian Rutt
Professor of Radiology (Radiological Sciences Lab), Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests center on MRI research, including high-field and high-resolution MRI technology development as well as applications of advanced MRI techniques to studying the brain, cardiovascular system and cancer.
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maura ruzhnikov
Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)
BioChild neurologist and medical geneticist focusing on the diagnosis and management of rare neurologic disorders. Specific interests are in genetic epilepsy syndromes, childhood neurodegenerative and neurometabolic diseases and undiagnosed suspected genetic conditions.
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Charles William Ryan
Affiliate, Department Funds
Resident in SurgeryBioI was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. I first attended Onondaga Community College, where I developed a fascination with the development of complex biological systems, and then transferred to Syracuse University where I completed my B.S. in biochemistry. I next attended the University of Michigan MD/PhD program, where I used in-vitro models of human neurodevelopment to study to role of epigenetic marks in guiding neurogenesis. While at Michigan, I became interested in the prospect of harnessing in-vitro differentiation to cultivate functional tissues that can be transplanted to replace what is lost in degenerative conditions. Ophthalmology, with its microsurgical access to functionally critical cell layers, is well-positioned to capitalize on this emerging field of science to treat degenerative conditions. I am humbled and incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to pursue this aim as a SOAR resident at Stanford.
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Katherine Jane Ryan
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology
Clinical Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Adult NeurologyCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Katherine “Katie” Ryan is a pediatric neuro-oncologist whose research focuses on developing and translating cellular immunotherapies for children with malignant brain tumors. She leads the first-in-human trial of GPC2-directed CAR T cells for CNS Embryonal Tumors. As a member of Stanford Children’s world-renowned pediatric brain tumor team, she diagnoses and treats children with CNS tumors while advancing innovative trial design, intracerebroventricular delivery, and correlative science.
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Tracy Rydel
Clinical Professor, Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health
BioTracy Rydel is Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine where she holds the positions of Assistant Dean for Clerkship Education and Director, Core Clerkship in Family and Community Medicine. She has also served as the Director of Medical Student Education in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health, and was an Educator-4-CARE faculty from 2017-2020. She is a family physician with a passion for medical education. She completed the Rathmann Family Foundation Fellowship in Patient-centered Care and Medical Education in 2012, was in the first wave of peer coaches in the Peer Coaching Program under the Stanford Teaching and Mentoring Academy, and was the Director of the Practice of Medicine Year One Course at Stanford from 2013-2016. She emphasizes patient-centered care in the pursuit of clinical and educational excellence. She is frequently an invited presenter at the national conferences of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), and the Western Group on Educational Affairs (WGEA) regional group of the AAMC; her scholarly work focuses on medical education endeavors, including equity and justice in systems of medical education assessment. She has also presented and published on topics in nutrition education and the teaching kitchen, working with medical scribes, Entrustable Professional Activities, primary care career recruitment and mentoring, procedures training, time management in ambulatory teaching, communication skills, virtual health and telehealth, teaching gender-affirming primary care, and learning communities.
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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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Suzanne Michelle Sachsman, MD
Basic Life Research Scientist, Dermatology
BioSuzanne Sachsman, M.D., is Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology. Dr. Sachsman received her Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Brown University in 2000. She received her medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in 2008 where she spent one year doing dedicated basic science research studying cancer immunotherapy. She trained in radiation oncology, completing residency at USC and fellowship at the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute, prior to completing her dermatology residency at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018. Dr. Sachsman is a board certified dermatologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. Her clinical interests are general dermatology and complex medical dermatology including acne, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, high risk non-melanoma skin cancer, pigmented lesions, supportive dermato-oncology, and cutaneous lymphoma.
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Zahra Sadat-Hossieny, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Adult Neurology
BioZahra Sadat-Hossieny, MD, is a board-certified neurologist who completed her fellowship in clinical epilepsy at Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics. She finished her residency in neurology at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She obtained her medical degree and a certificate in global health from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
She has extensive experience treating patients with epilepsy and currently provides care through the Comprehensive Epilepsy and Comprehensive Neurology Programs at Stanford Health Care. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Sadat-Hossieny also teaches future generations of clinicians as an assistant professor at Stanford School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology, Epilepsy, and Comprehensive Neurology.
Dr. Sadat-Hossieny has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She has presented her research orally and through posters at various conferences. During her fellowship at Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics, she used advanced diagnostic techniques including video-EEG monitoring, computerized brainwave mapping, diagnostic imaging, neuropsychiatric testing, and functional mapping to accurately diagnose epilepsy and conditions imitating epilepsy. She also gained expertise in the most advanced forms of epilepsy treatment including neuromodulation, epilepsy surgery and medications specific to epilepsy. Her research focused on the cognitive effects of anti-seizure medications on patients with epilepsy and their children. She has also published on the importance of nutrient supplementation on cognition in patients taking anti-seizure medications. Her collaborations include projects that assess and improve patients’ understanding of their own seizure types. -
Amin Sadeghi
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsApplications of artificial intelligence in medicine
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Sina Sadeghzadeh
MD Student with Scholarly Concentration in Clinical Research, expected graduation Spring 2026
BioSina was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Zanjan, Iran. He came out to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University where he obtained his undergraduate degree cum laude in Neuroscience with a secondary in Economics. In college, Sina conducted wet-lab research under the supervision of Dr. Hugo Bellen, worked as a legal intern in Levy Firestone Muse LLP, and served as a research assistant for Drs. Francis Shen, Steven Levitsky, and Jennifer Hochschild. Sina moved to California (by bike!) to begin medical school at Stanford where he is currently pursuing clinical and basic science research opportunities in the neuroscience domain. Outside of medical school, Sina is an avid cyclist, enjoys going on walks, doing yoga, and learning to salsa dance.
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Agustina D Saenz
Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine
BioAgustina Saenz is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She earned her medical degree from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and completed her internal medicine residency, and later served as Chief Resident at Einstein Medical Center. She further pursued graduate studies at Harvard, earning a Master in Public Health from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Master in Biomedical Informatics from Harvard Medical School. She also completed a Clinical Informatics fellowship at Mass General Brigham prior to joining the Stanford faculty.
Dr. Saenz’s work bridges clinical care, AI research, and health system operations. At Curai Health, she serves as a Senior Clinical Informaticist, focusing on optimizing large language models to improve diagnostic reasoning and patient safety. Her academic interests include the responsible deployment of AI in healthcare, evaluation of model generalizability, and developing system-level interventions to advance health equity. Prior to her current role, she served as Unit Medical Director and Chair of the Hiring Committee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she led initiatives to enhance quality metrics and foster inclusive hiring practices. -
Rebecca Saenz
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAllergy, Immunology, Bioengineering and Biodesign
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Samuel Ricardo Saenz
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioDr. Sam Saenz was born in the Bay Area and received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University. He completed his medical degree at UC Irvine’s Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community, and he also obtained a Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley. After serving as chief psychiatry resident during his psychiatry residency at Stanford, he completed a fellowship in public psychiatry at UC San Francisco. His professional interests include fostering the next generation of diverse mental health providers and community advocacy.
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Debra Safer
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology-Adult)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPrimary research interests include the nature and treatment of eating disorders
(particularly bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder), the development and treatment of obesity, and the development and treatment of problematic eating patterns in patients following bariatric surgery. -
Marc R. Safran, MD
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Safrans practice focuses on arthroscopic management of hip problems as well as articular cartilage regeneration, shoulder surgery and athletic shoulder and elbow problems. He is actively involved in research in these areas.
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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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Manish Saggar
Associate Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Interdisciplinary Brain Science Research)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are a computational neuropsychiatry lab dedicated to developing computational methods to better understand brain’s overall dynamical organization in healthy and patient populations. We employ algorithms from a wide range of fields, including Applied Mathematics, Econometrics, Machine Learning, Biophysics, and Network Science.
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Jeffrey Sagun
Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, Dermatology
BioJeffrey Sagun, B.S., is a REACH Postbaccalaureate Scholar at Stanford Medicine's Department of Dermatology. He was born and raised in Chicago. He received his B.S. in Neuroscience from Trinity College–Hartford in 2021 and was a Posse Foundation Scholar. He then spent three years training at the NIH/NCI as a NIH Academy Enrichment Program Scholar and Postbac CRTA Research Fellow, studying neurological disease in xeroderma pigmentosum patients. He is currently interested in studying the clinical characteristics and genetic causes of rare or complex disease patients.
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Mustafa Caglar Sahin
Visiting Instructor, Neurosurgery
BioMustafa Caglar Sahin, MD is a neurosurgeon and research scholar at Stanford University with a primary focus on neuro-oncology and stereotactic radiosurgery. He completed his medical education at Erciyes University and his neurosurgical residency at Gazi University. Following his residency training, he has worked as a board-certified neurosurgeon, gaining independent clinical experience in the management of intracranial tumors and complex cranial pathologies.
Dr. Sahin’s clinical practice includes the treatment of meningiomas, vestibular schwannomas, pituitary adenomas, gliomas, and other intracranial tumors. He has experience in microsurgical tumor resection, multimodal treatment planning, and stereotactic radiosurgery applications. His work also involves outcome evaluation and longitudinal patient follow-up in neuro-oncology.
In parallel with his clinical career, Dr. Sahin has developed an active research portfolio integrating clinical neurosurgery with molecular tumor biology and computational approaches. A central focus of his research has been telomere biology and long non-coding RNA regulation in meningiomas, particularly investigating the role of TERRA expression and telomere dynamics as potential biomarkers for tumor monitoring and prognosis. His work in this field has been recognized with the Best Young Meningioma Researcher Award.
He has also contributed to research exploring artificial intelligence applications in neurosurgery, including studies evaluating large language models in neurosurgical education and comparative analyses of AI systems in brain MRI interpretation. Through his academic work, he aims to contribute to the development of data-informed, evidence-based strategies for improving clinical decision-making in patients with intracranial tumors.
Dr. Sahin is a member of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies, the European Skull Base Society, and the Turkish Neurosurgical Association. His long-term vision is to bridge surgical precision with computational intelligence and translational tumor biology to improve evidence-based decision-making in neuro-oncology. -
Kristin Sainani (n e Cobb)
Professor (Teaching) of Epidemiology and Population Health
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsScience writing, science communication, biostatistics. Research areas: osteoporosis, stress fractures, sports injuries, female athlete triad.
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Neetu Saini
Postdoctoral Scholar, Stem Cell Transplantation
BioMy research interests focus on translational human T-cell immunology, with an emphasis on regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their therapeutic potential in restoring immune tolerance and tissue homeostasis. I am particularly interested in engineering FOXP3-programmed CD4⁺ T cells as a stable and functional alternative to conventional Tregs, especially in inflammatory settings where endogenous Tregs may be unstable or dysfunctional. My work integrates gene-editing approaches, immunophenotyping, and human organoid systems to study how these engineered cells interact with epithelial and stem cell compartments, with a focus on mechanisms of tissue repair and immune–epithelial crosstalk in barrier tissues such as the intestine. Moving forward, I aim to advance next-generation cell therapies by combining insights from T-cell biology, tissue biology, and disease modeling to develop durable and clinically relevant strategies for treating immune-mediated and epithelial barrier disorders.
