School of Medicine
Showing 1-30 of 30 Results
-
Rosa Bacchetta
Professor (Research) of Pediatrics (Stem Cell Transplantation)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsIn the coming years, I plan to further determine the genetic and immunological basis of diseases with autoimmunity or immune dysregulation in children. I believe that much can still be learned from the in depth mechanistic studies of pediatric autoimmune diseases. Genomic analysis of the patients' samples has become possible which may provide a rapid indication of altered target molecules. I plan to implement robust functional studies to define the consequences of these genetic abnormalities and bridge them to the patient's clinical phenotype.
Understanding functional consequences of gene mutations in single case/family first and then validating the molecular and cellular defects in other patients with similar phenotypes, will anticipate and complement cellular and gene therapy strategies.
For further information please visit the Bacchetta Lab website:
http://med.stanford.edu/bacchettalab.html -
Jon Bernstein
Professor of Pediatrics (Genetics) and, by courtesy, of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research is focused on the diagnosis, discovery and delineation of rare genetic conditions with a focus of neurodevelopmental disorders. This work includes the application of novel computational methods and multi-omics profiling (whole genome sequencing, RNA sequencing, metabolomics). I additionally participate in an interdisciplinary project to develop induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of genetic neurodevelopmental disorders..
-
Alice Bertaina MD, PhD
Lorry I. Lokey Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Bertaina is a highly experienced clinician and will play a key role in supporting Section Chief Dr. Rajni Agarwal and Clinical Staff in the Stem Cell Transplant Unit at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. She will also continue her research on immune recovery and miRNA, understanding the mechanisms underlying immune reconstitution, Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD), and leukemia relapse after allogeneic HSCT in pediatric patients affected by hematological malignant and non-malignant disorders.
-
Ami Bhatt
Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology) and of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Bhatt lab is exploring how the microbiota is intertwined with states of health and disease. We apply the most modern genetic tools in an effort to deconvolute the mechanism of human diseases.
-
Genevieve D'Souza
Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
BioGenevieve D’souza MD, FASA is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Pediatric Anesthesia division of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. She is a Board-certified Pediatric Anesthesiologist , Fellowship trained Pediatric Pain Doctor, and trained in Medical Acupuncture.
She is a practicing Chronic Pediatric Pain Doctor at Stanford Medicine Children's Health and is also part of the Acute Pain Service. She is the Interim Medical Director of the Pediatric Pain Division. She is also the Director of the Pediatric Anesthesia Resource Center at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.
She is also the Senior Editor for the Visual Pearl Series For the Society of Pediatric Pain Medicine and on the Board of Directors for Society of Pediatric Pain Medicine. -
Dylan Dodd
Assistant Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHarnessing the gut microbiome to treat human disease.
-
Nielsen Fernandez-Becker
Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine - Gastroenterology & Hepatology
BioI am the director of the Celiac Disease Program at Stanford and I am highly experienced in diagnosis and management of celiac disease and gluten associated disorders.
My objective is to provide excellent and compassionate clinical care for my patients while seeking a better understanding of diseases I treat, particularly Celiac disease (CeD), eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). My top priorities are patient care and translational research to make new discoveries and improve the care my patients. -
Michael Fischbach
Liu (Liao) Family Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe microbiome carries out extraordinary feats of biology: it produces hundreds of molecules, many of which impact host physiology; modulates immune function potently and specifically; self-organizes biogeographically; and exhibits profound stability in the face of perturbations. Our lab studies the mechanisms of microbiome-host interactions. Our approach is based on two technologies we recently developed: a complex (119-member) defined gut community that serves as an analytically manageable but biologically relevant system for experimentation, and new genetic systems for common species from the microbiome. Using these systems, we investigate mechanisms at the community level and the strain level.
1) Community-level mechanisms. A typical gut microbiome consists of 200-250 bacterial species that span >6 orders of magnitude in relative abundance. As a system, these bacteria carry out extraordinary feats of metabolite consumption and production, elicit a variety of specific immune cell populations, self-organize geographically and metabolically, and exhibit profound resilience against a wide range of perturbations. Yet remarkably little is known about how the community functions as a system. We are exploring this by asking two broad questions: How do groups of organisms work together to influence immune function? What are the mechanisms that govern metabolism and ecology at the 100+ strain scale? Our goal is to learn rules that will enable us to design communities that solve specific therapeutic problems.
2) Strain-level mechanisms. Even though gut and skin colonists live in communities, individual strains can have an extraordinary impact on host biology. We focus on two broad (and partially overlapping) categories:
Immune modulation: Can we redirect colonist-specific T cells against an antigen of interest by expressing it on the surface of a bacterium? How do skin colonists induce high levels of Staphylococcus-specific antibodies in mice and humans?
Abundant microbiome-derived molecules: By constructing single-strain/single-gene knockouts in a complex defined community, we will ask: What are the effects of bacterially produced molecules on host metabolism and immunology? Can the molecular output of low-abundance organisms impact host physiology?
3) Cell and gene therapy. We have begun two new efforts in mammalian cell and gene therapies. First, we are developing methods that enable cell-type specific delivery of genome editing payloads in vivo. We are especially interested in delivery vehicles that are customizable and easy to manufacture. Second, we have begun a comprehensive genome mining effort with an emphasis on understudied or entirely novel enzyme systems with utility in mammalian genome editing. -
Adam Frymoyer
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatal and Developmental Medicine
Clinical Associate Professor, PediatricsCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests focus on understanding the clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of medicines used in complex pediatric populations. This includes identifying sources of variation in drug response through the application of population PK-PD modeling and simulation approaches. The goal is to ultimately apply this quantitative understanding to guide therapeutic decision-making in infants and children.
-
Hayley Gans
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics - Infectious Diseases
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe focus of my laboratory is the immune response to viral vaccines evaluating the ontogeny of responses in infants and limitations in immunocompromised hosts. We have studied responses to an early two-dose measles immunization, one versus 2 doses of varicella immunization, and polio vaccine in preterm versus term infants. Other active areas of research include measles and varicella immunity in HIV infected individuals, and transplant recipients.
-
Chris Garcia
Younger Family Professor and Professor of Structural Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStructural and functional studies of transmembrane receptor interactions with their ligands in systems relevant to human health and disease - primarily in immunity, infection, and neurobiology. We study these problems using protein engineering, structural, biochemical, and combinatorial biology approaches.
-
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe role of nutrition in individual and societal health, with particular interests in: plant-based diets, differential response to low-carb vs. low-fat weight loss diets by insulin resistance status, chronic disease prevention, randomized controlled trials, human nutrition, community based studies, Community Based Participatory Research, sustainable food movement (animal rights and welfare, global warming, human labor practices), stealth health, nutrition policy, nutrition guidelines
-
Sohail Z Husain
Chambers-Okamura Endowed Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research delves into three broad areas of the exocrine pancreas: (1) The crucial signaling pathways that initiate and transduce pancreatitis; (2) the factors that turn on pancreatic regeneration and recovery after pancreatic injury; and (3) the mechanisms underlying drug-induced pancreatitis.
-
Kian Keyashian
Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine - Gastroenterology & Hepatology
BioThe management of inflammatory bowel disease continues to evolve, with the introduction of biologic and small molecule therapies and new goals of treatment, with an emphasis on healing the bowel. My career goal since my graduation from IBD fellowship in 2012 has been to improve the outcomes and quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In line with these goals, my research has focused investigating new noninvasive diagnostic test, finding factors early in the disease course that might predict a more aggressive disease course and need for different therapies, and investigating new promising effective medications with less side effects.
-
Chaitan Khosla
Wells H. Rauser and Harold M. Petiprin Professor and Professor of Chemistry and, by courtesy, of Biochemistry
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch in this laboratory focuses on problems where deep insights into enzymology and metabolism can be harnessed to improve human health.
For the past two decades, we have studied and engineered enzymatic assembly lines called polyketide synthases that catalyze the biosynthesis of structurally complex and medicinally fascinating antibiotics in bacteria. An example of such an assembly line is found in the erythromycin biosynthetic pathway. Our current focus is on understanding the structure and mechanism of this polyketide synthase. At the same time, we are developing methods to decode the vast and growing number of orphan polyketide assembly lines in the sequence databases.
For more than a decade, we have also investigated the pathogenesis of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine, with the goal of discovering therapies and related management tools for this widespread but overlooked disease. Ongoing efforts focus on understanding the pivotal role of transglutaminase 2 in triggering the inflammatory response to dietary gluten in the celiac intestine. -
Calvin Kuo
Maureen Lyles D'Ambrogio Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study cancer biology, intestinal stem cells (ISC), and angiogenesis. We use primary organoid cultures of diverse tissues and tumor biopsies for immunotherapy modeling, oncogene functional screening and stem cell biology. Angiogenesis projects include blood-brain barrier regulation, stroke therapeutics and anti-angiogenic cancer therapy. ISC projects apply organoid culture and ko mice to injury-inducible vs homeostatic stem cells and symmetric division mechanisms.
-
Grace Lee
Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)
BioDr. Grace Lee is Chief Quality Officer and the Christopher G. Dawes Endowed Director of Quality at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, and Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health (Quality and Safety) and Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. She oversees the Center for Pediatric and Maternal Value that seeks to improve quality, safety, patient experience and health equity across the organization. Dr. Lee previously served as a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee (IOM) to Review Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan, the IOM Committee on the Ethical and Scientific Issues in Studying the Safety of Approved Drugs, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on Vaccine Research and Development Recommendations for Advancing Pandemic and Seasonal Influenza Preparedness and Response, and AHRQ's Healthcare Safety and Quality Improvement Research Study Section. She also served as a Board Member for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice. She was previously the Chair of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that recommends vaccines for the U.S. population, and she is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
-
Mary Leonard
Arline and Pete Harman Professor and Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and, by courtesy, of Epidemiology and Population Health
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy multidisciplinary research program is focused on (1) the detrimental effects of glucocorticoids, sarcopenia and inflammation on bone development in pediatric diseases, (2) the long-term effects of childhood cancer on bone and muscle quality, (3) the assessment of renal osteodystrophy using novel micro-imaging techniques, (4) the effects of vitamin D deficiency on physical function and cardiovascular disease, and (5) the evaluation of biomechanical interventions as anabolic bone therapies.
-
David B. Lewis
Naddisy Foundation Professor of Pediatric Food Allergy, Immunology, and Asthma
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory is focused on defining cellular and molecular mechanisms that limit T cell responses to vaccines and pathogens during normal early postnatal development and in cases of inherited genetic immunodeficiencies. We are also determinomg how these limitations in immunity can be overcome by using novel approaches for vaccine adjuvants for influenza vaccine and by using catalytically inactive Cas proteins for inducing endogenous gene expression.
-
David Maahs
Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics and Professor, by courtesy, of Epidemiology and Population Health
BioDr David M. Maahs is the Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics, Division Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology, and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs in Pediatrics at Stanford University and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He earned his MD followed by Pediatric Residency at the University of New Mexico. After 3 years on New Mexico’s faculty, Dr. Maahs completed a Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship and a concurrent PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Colorado. He remained on Colorado’s faculty for 10 years, advancing to Professor of Pediatrics before moving to Stanford. Prior to his medical career, Dr. Maahs received a BA and MA in English from the University of Kansas and was inspired to pursue a medical career after serving in the Peace Corps with assignments in Tunisia and the Central African Republic.
Dr. Maahs’ leadership experiences include being a past co-Chair (2013-16) for Protocols and Publications with the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange for which he continues as Director of International Collaborations. This complements his role as President-elect for the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD, 2021-25) and Editor-in-Chief for the 2018 ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines. He served on the Professional Practice Committee for the American Diabetes Association (ADA, 2016-18), which writes the annual ADA Standards of Care. Previously, he served on the ADA Scientific Sessions committee representing the Council on Youth. He has also served on national committees for the American Heart Association, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, and multiple journal editorial boards and review committees.
His scholarly interest is improving care and preventing complications in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Along with Dr Peter Chase, he is author of the 12th and 13th editions of Understanding Diabetes, or ‘Pink Panther,’ which are the most widely used educational books for children newly diagnosed with T1D, distributed internationally by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF). More specifically, he has conducted epidemiologic studies that help generate hypotheses for clinical studies, including trials to develop artificial pancreas systems to improve glucose control, lower disease burden, prevent the complications of diabetes, and reduce disparities in diabetes care. He is author or co-author of over 350 research publications. His multi-disciplinary research has been funded by the JDRF, the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Dr Maahs is Associate Director for the recently formed and NIDDK P30 funded Stanford University Diabetes Research Center (https://sdrc.stanford.edu). His collaborations extend to his role as Principal Investigator (PI) or steering committee member for NIH funded multi-center clinical trials including the FLEX, PERL, and ACTION studies as well as multiple Artificial Pancreas clinical trials. Education, mentorship, and training leadership includes being Program Director with Dr. Georgeanna Klingensmith on the Barbara Davis Center T32 and K12 training grants in Pediatric Endocrinology while at the University of Colorado. He is the PI on the Stanford NIH funded K12 "Training Research Leaders in Type 1 Diabetes.' Dr Maahs is also the Associate Chair for Academic Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics.
While in the Peace Corps, David met his wife, Christine Walravens, who is also a Pediatrician at Stanford. They enjoy outdoor activities and traveling with their adult children. -
Elizabeth Mellins
Member, Bio-X
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMolecular mechanisms and intracellular pathways of MHC class II antigen processing and presentation, with a focus on B cells; mechanisms underlying HLA allele association with disease; disease mechanisms in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, including an HLA-linked complication; monocytes as drivers or suppressors of auto-inflammation in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and pediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome.
-
David A. Relman
Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
On Partial Leave from 04/29/2024 To 10/30/2024Current 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.
-
Sidhartha Sinha
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThere are two primary and overlapping emphases of my research, both of which are driven and united by needs-based innovation and translational potential:
(1) Understanding the microenvironment of the inflamed versus normal gut in order to identify better therapeutic targets for people with immune-¬mediated GI disorders. Here, our investigations include understanding the influence and interactions of pharmacologic and dietary interventions on gut microbiome/metabolomic changes and the host immune response. In the context of providing patients with new understanding and solutions for their disease, I have led and advised on the design of both pilot and large clinical trials (including new FDA approved therapies) for anti-inflammatory therapies;
(2) Applying novel approaches and technologies (including natural language processing, computer vision, and reinforcement learning) to identify and address unmet clinical needs. In this area we have ongoing and published efforts in my lab to validate and develop solutions to pressing clinical needs. We have developed/led new drug delivery technologies with a multidisciplinary team that have shown strong potential in ongoing human IBD clinical trials. My lab has utilized both supervised and unsupervised approaches to analyze social media discourse and unstructured data sets for identifying patient needs that are rarely addressed in clinical settings. We have gained insights into patient perceptions around preventative health interventions, such as health screening and diet, including the dearth of evidence-based dietary recommendations to treat IBD (despite strong patient desire for solutions in this domain). -
Michael Snyder, Ph.D.
Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory use different omics approaches to study a) regulatory networks, b) intra- and inter-species variation which differs primarily at the level of regulatory information c) human health and disease. For the later we have established integrated Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP), an analysis that combines longitudinal analyses of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, DNA methylation, microbiome and autoantibody profiles to monitor healthy and disease states
-
Justin L. Sonnenburg
Alex and Susie Algard Endowed Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe goals of the Sonnenburg Lab research program are to (i) elucidate the basic mechanisms that underlie dynamics within the gut microbiota and (ii) devise and implement strategies to prevent and treat disease in humans via the gut microbiota. We investigate the principles that govern gut microbial community function and interaction with the host using a broad range of experimental approaches including studies of microbiomes in diverse human cohorts.
-
Sarah Streett
Clinical Professor, Medicine - Gastroenterology & Hepatology
BioDr. Sarah Streett is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Education at Stanford, and she is passionate about taking care of people with IBD. She is a national expert in treating complex IBD and initiated a multi-disciplinary approach to care with colorectal surgery, pediatrics, and nutrition. In 2018 she received the Champion of Hope Award from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and serves on their National Scientific Advisory Committee. Her interests focus on fertility and pregnancy in people with IBD, developing precision approaches to IBD therapy, and the role that the microbiome and diet play in its pathogenesis. She is a primary investigator of the Stanford IBD Registry and has research projects focused on optimizing clinical outcomes in IBD, the role of the microbiota and diet in IBD and pregnancy, and applying new technologies to individualizing therapy for IBD. She is also the primary investigator on multiple industry-sponsored IBD trials.
Teaching is a top priority for Dr. Streett who feels that mentoring fellows in the development of their careers is a privilege. She has held many national leadership roles in the American Gastroenterological Association, where she has been Chair of the Practice Management and Economics Committee, and currently serves on the Government Affairs Committee. She also an appointed member of the Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee at the FDA. She has represented the interests of gastroenterologists and their patients on Capitol Hill numerous times. Dr. Streett believes strongly in a collaborative approach to give patients personalized care based on the latest therapies for the treatment of IBD and is committed to mentoring the next generation of experts in the field. -
Ali Bin Syed
Clinical Assistant Professor, Radiology - Pediatric Radiology
BioDr. Syed is a member of the divisions of Pediatric Radiology and Body MRI and serves as the Director of MRI for Stanford Medicine Children's Health. His clinical interests include MR imaging of pediatric and adult hepatobiliary disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, gynecologic pathology, and congenital heart disease. He is also an active researcher, collaborating with fellow engineers and scientists at Stanford to translate technical innovations in MRI into improved patient care. His recent work focuses on translation of machine learning techniques for rapid, robust MRI in children and adults.
