School of Medicine


Showing 101-150 of 181 Results

  • Andrea Pedroza Tobias

    Andrea Pedroza Tobias

    Postdoctoral Scholar, General Pediatrics

    BioDr. Andrea Pedroza is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford Impact Labs and the Department of Pediatrics in the Partnerships for Research in Child Health Lab. She earned a Ph.D. in Global Health from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a Master of Science in Nutrition from the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico (INSP). Her research focuses on generating evidence for interventions and policy recommendations aimed at improving the dietary quality of children to impact their health and development. Currently, she is employing a community-engaged approach to design nutrition interventions and policy recommendations that aim to reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods among low-income children to narrow the gap in health disparities.

  • Julia Rachel Plank

    Julia Rachel Plank

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry

    BioI am a postdoctoral researcher in the BRain Imaging, Development, and GEnetics (BRIDGE) Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Currently my work focuses on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for improving understanding of the neuropathophysiology underlying neuropsychiatric disorders with a genetic basis.

    My PhD investigated the use of neuroimaging techniques (diffusion MRI, quantitative magnetization transfer, magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, electroencephalography) for detection of neuroinflammation in human participants.

    My research interests are centered on the clinical applications of MRI for elucidation of pathology and improving diagnosis and treatment.

  • Shaun Quah

    Shaun Quah

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry

    BioThe current literature of neuroscience is lacking a unifying model of brain function. My goal is to use novel computational methods to improve our understanding of how different cognitive and emotional functions are hierarchically organized in the brain.

  • Vasiliki Rahimzadeh

    Vasiliki Rahimzadeh

    Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)

    BioVasiliki (Vaso) Rahimzadeh, PhD is an applied bioethics scholar with research interests at the intersection of precision medicine, data governance and public policy.

  • Rameshwar (Ram) Rao MD PhD

    Rameshwar (Ram) Rao MD PhD

    Instructor, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology

    BioMy scientific training spans over a decade of published research in the fields of vascularized bone tissue engineering, biomineralization, gene therapy, and spectral ultrasound. I earned my BS from UC Davis and MS/PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. I have aimed to form highly collaborative and multidisciplinary research groups at each level of training. This work has resulted in 21 publications, award-winning manuscripts, and multiple national conference research awards. My successful research career began during my undergraduate studies where my work in Prof. Kent Leach’s lab resulted in 3 publications and the Department of Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award. My graduate thesis under the guidance of Prof. Jan Stegemann resulted in 12 publications (7 as first author) in high quality, peer-reviewed journals in the fields of engineering and biotechnology. My graduate studies were funded by an NIH T32 Training grant and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. My graduate work culminated in the 2013 Outstanding PhD Research Award from the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) and the 2013 Outstanding Student Award from the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS). Recognizing the gap in translation of bioengineering research into clinical practice, I opted to pursue an MD at the University of Michigan to become the physician-scientist that identifies clinical problems, engineers the solution, and delivers it back to the patient to advance treatments and improve survival outcomes. My success continued through medical school with 4 clinical research manuscripts and Graduation with Distinction in Research, awarded to 10% of the class.

    In the next phase of my training, I will complete my fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford through the Accelerated Research Pathway by the American Board of Pediatrics. Prof. Sarah Heilshorn, Associate Chair of Materials Science at Stanford, will be my primary research and career development mentor. Together, we have designed an innovative approach targeting the extracellular matrix to improve survival outcomes in pediatric osteosarcoma.

  • Eduardo Pontes Reis

    Eduardo Pontes Reis

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Radiology

    BioI'm a visiting scholar at Stanford AIMI Center, working in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Medicine. My purpose is to contribute to our understanding of intelligence. And our best chance to achieve this is through AI.



    Research highlights:

    - Published BRAX, the Brazilian Chest X-ray Dataset - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01608-8

    - Open-sourced the PyTorch implementation of ConVIRT (Y Zhang et al), a contrastive learning method for radiologic images and text (before CLIP) - https://github.com/edreisMD/ConVIRT-pytorch

    - Released Brain Hemorrhage Annotations - Brain Hemorrhage Extended - BHX (https://physionet.org/content/bhx-brain-bounding-box)



    At Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein:

    - Started the Health Story project, a medical history timeline to support research and a more personalized clinical practice

    - Ran the development of AI algorithms for diseases of national importance: Tuberculosis, COVID, Melanoma and Head CT

  • Kat Adams Shannon

    Kat Adams Shannon

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychology

    BioKat studies how young children adapt their attention and learning behaviors to best match different early environments, with particular focus on understanding variability and strengths in contexts of early adversity. A key aim of her research is to create and collaborate on innovative uses of technology and statistical methods to support education and developmental science.

  • Sushruta Surappa

    Sushruta Surappa

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Radiology

    BioSushruta Surappa is a postdoctoral researcher at the Canary Center for Early Cancer Detection at Stanford University. His current research focuses on developing various MEMS-based tools for the separation and capture of extracellular vesicles for medical diagnostics. Sushruta received his MS (‘15) and PhD (‘21) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he developed a new class of nonlinear MEMS transducers with applications in wireless power transfer, sensing and energy harvesting. He is passionate about developing low-cost, miniature technologies for medical diagnostics and is a keen proponent of science communication.

  • Xiwei She

    Xiwei She

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Neurology and Neurological Sciences

    BioDr. Xiwei She is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Neurology. He received his B.S. degree in Computer Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2013, and his M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2016. Worked as a research assistant at the USC Neural Modeling and Interface Laboratory, he received his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2022. After graduation, he joined Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar at the Pediatric Neurostimulation Laboratory (Baumer Lab) and Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute.
    His research interests are largely directed toward identifying the causal relationship of neurons/brain regions and understanding how information is encoded in neural signals by employing machine learning models. Specifically, his postdoc research focuses on applying machine learning modeling techniques on EEG and TMS-EEG data to better understand the impact of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) on brain activity in children with childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (CECTS).

  • Benjamin Singer

    Benjamin Singer

    Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)

    BioBen Singer is a postdoctoral scholar with interests in mathematical epidemiology and global public health. Ben's research career began with an internship at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, where he applied quantitative skills he had learnt studying physics at the University of Oxford to the study of nematode locomotion. Ben further pursued quantitative methods in life sciences in the Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership at the University of Oxford, earning a DPhil (PhD equivalent) in mathematical methods for evaluating pandemic risk and control. During these studies he maintained an interest in global public health policy, interning with the UK government's Department for International Development, where he developed models of international COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Ben is now working in Nathan Lo's research group at Stanford, creating infectious disease models informing public health policy for schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, and other infections.

  • Chelse Spinner, PhD, MPH

    Chelse Spinner, PhD, MPH

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Neonatal and Developmental Medicine

    BioAn Ohio native, Dr. Chelse Spinner obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences (Biomedical Studies) with a minor in Health Education from the University of Cincinnati. She earned a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Maternal & Child Health (MCH) from the University of South Florida. She received a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health Sciences with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Spinner is certified in public health and has experience working across health systems. Her research interests include health disparities, women’s health, social determinants of health, domains of structural racism, and oral-systemic health within the MCH population. She employs quantitative and qualitative methods in the hopes of providing innovative and evidence-informed research to improve health outcomes for marginalized and underserved communities. Her research agenda intends to focus on the exploration of social and structural factors that impact health and well-being.

  • Ashley Styczynski

    Ashley Styczynski

    Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine - Infectious Diseases

    BioAshley Styczynski, MD, MPH, is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases & Geographic Medicine and Global Health Faculty Fellow, and a Medical Officer in the International Infection and Control Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Styczynski's research interests are in infectious disease epidemiology, global health, emerging infections, and antimicrobial resistance. She holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MD from University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to coming to Stanford for her infectious disease fellowship, she spent two years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at the CDC. During her time as an EIS officer, Dr. Styczynski conducted outbreak investigations on Zika virus, vaccinia virus, and rabies. She is currently conducting research on antimicrobial resistance and interventions to reduce nosocomial infections within low-resource healthcare facilities.

  • Diana Tordoff

    Diana Tordoff

    Instructor, Obstetrics & Gynecology - General

    BioDiana M. Tordoff, PhD, MPH is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on LGBTQ+ health equity. Dr. Tordoff completed her PhD and MPH in Epidemiology and received a BA with honors in Mathematics from Vassar College. She has been PI on several NIH funded studies focused on the sexual health of transgender populations, and currently is PI on a study exploring the impact of testosterone gender affirming hormones on the vaginal microenvironment and gynecological health of transmasculine adults. She is also an affiliated researcher with The PRIDE Study (pridestudy.org), where she recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Tordoff has over ten years of experience working with and within LGBTQ+ communities. Her research interests include sexual and reproductive health, the vaginal microbiome, molecular epidemiology, intersectionality, and community-engaged research methods.

  • Themistoklis Tsarouchas

    Themistoklis Tsarouchas

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry

    BioThemis completed his PhD at the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland under Prof Catherina Becker, with focus on the contribution of the innate immune system during regeneration of the zebrafish spinal cord. As a postdoctoral researcher with Prof Anna Williams at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh he worked on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the differentiation and functional maturation of human oligodendrocytes. Over the last few years, he worked on several projects focused on the identification of genes that regulate the axonal regeneration of spinal cord after injury and the differentiation of human oligodendrocyte progenitor cells into myelin producing oligodendrocytes. As a member in the Gibson lab, Themis aims to identify molecular regulators of the circadian clock and how tuning the circadian system affects the maturation and function of oligodendrocytes in health and disease.

  • Praveesh Valissery

    Praveesh Valissery

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Infectious Diseases

    BioPraveesh was raised in Chennai, India and studied Biotechnology at the Loyola College while minoring in English Literature. He received his Ph.D. from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India). He has experience in organic chemical synthesis and molecular biology. With Prof. Suman Kumar Dhar, he studied the cell cycle of the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) and worked on the optimization of water-soluble Artemisinin nanopreparations in the mouse model of malaria (Plasmodium berghei). His PhD thesis concerned “The design, discovery and improvement of novel and existing antimalarial compounds”. He helped in the synthesis and characterization of a novel class of hybrid antimalarial drug, CQ-CFX.

    In the Egan lab, Praveesh is interested in exploring essential protein-protein interactions taking place at the interface between the malaria parasite and the red blood cell at key moments during invasion. His research involves the use of genome editing tools, including lentiviral and adenoviral vectors to modify hematopoietic stem cells and generate genetically modified red blood cells by ex vivo erythropoiesis.

    In the long term, he hopes to

    1. acquire enough skill to study and develop antimalarial vaccine antigens and improve existing vaccine formulations.

    2. employ a reverse genetics approach to understand mechanisms that facilitate parasite invasion using genetically modified red blood cells.

  • Allison Vreeland

    Allison Vreeland

    Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development

    BioDr. Allison Vreeland (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in working with children, teens, and families. Dr. Vreeland received her PhD in Clinical Psychological Science with a minor in Quantitative Studies at Vanderbilt University. She completed her predoctoral clinical internship in Child Psychology at UCSF with specialty training through the Child Trauma Research Program. She completed a research and clinical fellowship in the Immune Behavioral Health Clinic at Stanford University, where she focused her research efforts on examining neurological markers of patients diagnosed with pediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS). Clinically, Dr. Vreeland’s program of clinical care is focused on the delivery of evidence-based clinical interventions for individuals with anxiety, OCD, PANS/PANDAS, mood disorders, and behavioral challenges.

  • Bing Wang

    Bing Wang

    Postdoctoral Scholar, Stem Cell Transplantation

    BioMy academic training and research experience have equipped me with multidisciplinary skills and knowledge of molecular biology and immunology.

    I led two projects when I was an undergraduate, in which I got primary academic learning. My team member and I investigated the bacteria content in drinking water from two types of machines that are commonly used in colleges under the guidance of our experimental microbiology teacher Zhihong Zhong. Secondly, we produced a hybridoma cell line secreting monoclonal antibody against the core antigen of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to develop an ELISA kit for the detection of HCV under the guidance of Dr. Rushi Liu and Minjing Liao.

    Thereafter, as a Ph. D. candidate at Xiaoming Feng’s lab, my research primarily focused on understanding the biology of regulatory T cells (Treg) and CD11c+ myeloid cells using cutting-edge single-cell sequencing and conditional knockout mice under healthy and disease conditions. We first revealed the heterogeneity and bifurcated differentiation pathway of human Tregs from normal donors and transplanted patients at the single-cell transcriptome level. A subsequent first and corresponding author publication identified a key innate responsive protein in CD11c+ alveolar macrophages, NRP2, that protects mice from lung injury via promoting the phagocytosis of neutrophils. I also participated in two projects regarding the role of a serine/threonine kinase, LKB1, in mice CD11c+ dendritic cells from lymphoid tissues and adipose tissue with diet-induced obesity. These academic experiences guided me into a strong passion and independent capacities for biomedical studies.

    For my postdoctoral training, I will focus on developing Treg therapies and genetic stem cell therapy to cure patients with IPEX syndrome (a severe autoimmune disease) at preclinical and clinical stages, and other immune disorders. My sponsor Dr. Rosa Bacchetta is a well-known leader in treating IPEX patients and developing Treg therapies. My co-mentor Dr. Maria Grazia Roncarolo is a well-recognized pediatric immunologist and also one of the pioneers in the stem cell and gene therapy field, who discovered the type 1 regulatory T cells or Tr1 cells and translate the scientific discoveries into novel Treg therapies. Both of them have an excellent record of training postdoctoral fellows. The proposed projects will provide me with great opportunities in cutting-edge technology and translational research and outline a set of career development including grant writing, public presentation, and lab management, which will enhance my ability to become an independent investigator and help me to reach my goal of developing efficient and safe Treg therapies for a wide range of immune disorders and associated human diseases.