Stanford University
Showing 1-10 of 13 Results
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Matei Banu, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery
BioDr. Matei Banu is a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon at Stanford Health Care. He is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Banu specializes in treating brain, skull base, and pituitary tumors. He also specializes in the management of the buildup of brain fluid (hydrocephalus) and related conditions. He is skilled in minimally invasive techniques, such as microscopic surgery (using microscopes and tiny instruments to repair small structures) and endoscopic techniques (using a thin, flexible tube to take pictures inside the body).
Dr. Banu often collaborates with rhinologists (doctors who diagnose and treat diseases of the nose and sinuses), head and neck surgeons, and otologists (doctors who diagnose and treat ear-related conditions). His goals are ensuring each patient receives comprehensive care and providing precise, compassionate treatment that enhances each patient’s quality of life.
His research interests include developing personalized treatment strategies for brain and skull base cancers. Dr. Banu is exploring how aggressive tumors grow, resist treatment, and evade the immune system. Using tumor samples from patients, Dr. Banu and his team are testing novel drugs to create more effective therapies.
Dr. Banu has published his research in several peer-reviewed journals, including Lancet Oncology, Cell, Nature Cell Biology, and Nature Communications. He has also contributed book chapters on topics like pediatric endoscopic skull base surgery and drug delivery for brain tumors. He has shared his findings at numerous national and international meetings in neurosurgery and oncology.
Dr. Banu is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the North American Skull Base Society, and the Society for Neuro-Oncology. -
Mahendra T. Bhati
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Professor, NeurosurgeryBioDr. Bhati is an interventional psychiatrist with expertise in psychiatric diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and neuromodulation. He completed postdoctoral research studying language abnormalities and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evoked potentials in schizophrenia. He was a principal investigator for the DSM-5 academic field trials, and his research experiences included roles in the first controlled clinical trials of TMS and deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment of depression. He was the founding Chief of Interventional Psychiatry at Stanford where he performs consultations and provides pharmacological and neuromodulatory treatments. His current research interests include studying magnetic resonance imaging and augmented reality to target TMS, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for treatment-resistant depression, DBS for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression, responsive neurostimulation (RNS) for treatment of impulse and fear-related disorders, and focused ultrasound (FUS) for treatment-resistant OCD and depression. Dr. Bhati seeks to train more providers in mental healthcare and founded a clinical fellowship in Interventional Psychiatry at Stanford.
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Nikolas Blevins, MD
Larry and Sharon Malcolmson Professor in the School of Medicine, Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS) and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsInner ear microendoscopy -- Developing techniques for minimally-invasive imaging of inner ear microanatomy and neural pysiology. Applications include improved cochlear implant development, inner ear regenerative techniques, inner ear surgery, and auditory physiology.
Microsurgical robotics -- Developing scalable microsurgical instrumentation and robotic techniques for use in head and neck surgery.
Surgical Simulation -- Immersive environment for temporal bone surgical simulation. -
Nawal Maria Boukli
Affiliate, Neurosurgery
BioDr. Nawal Boukli’s research focuses on understanding how cells transition from adaptive to maladaptive stress responses, with a central emphasis on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling, and GRP78 as a master regulator of cell fate and survival. Her work has defined critical mechanistic links between GRP78-driven stress adaptation, metabolic reprogramming, and therapeutic resistance in glioblastoma (GBM), while advancing GRP78 as a translational therapeutic target through antibody-based anti-GRP78 strategies designed to disrupt tumor survival pathways.
Her broader research program integrates molecular biology, quantitative multi-omics, cancer biology, and NeuroHIV to uncover stress-driven mechanisms underlying disease progression. In parallel, her NeuroHIV studies investigate how HIV-1 gp120 induces maladaptive ER stress responses that alter astrocyte–neuron communication, promote synaptic vulnerability, and contribute to neurodegenerative processes. Collectively, her work bridges cancer and neurodegeneration through a unifying framework centered on proteostasis disruption and chronic stress signaling.
In her project at Stanford University, awarded by The NIH Brain Initiative, Dr. Boukli is extending her research program using advanced spatial omics and neurobiology approaches to define astrocyte-specific ER stress domains and map how gp120-driven stress signaling becomes spatially organized within intact neural systems. This work aims to identify spatially resolved therapeutic targets and advance high-impact translational neuroscience studies.
Dr. Boukli is also recognized for her innovative teaching, scientific leadership, and commitment to mentorship. She has mentored more than 32 master’s students, 8 Ph.D. students, and numerous undergraduate trainees, while developing student-centered scientific training and mentoring initiatives. Following her election to the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities Executive Board in 2019, she launched the organization’s first annual speed-mentoring initiative in 2020. She additionally serves as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review, including study sections focused on cancer therapeutics and biomarker development.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications: Dr. Nawal Boukli Publications =
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=nawal+boukli&sort=date&sort_order=desc&utm_source=chatgpt.com
