Stanford University
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Steven Z. Chao
Clinical Professor (Affiliated), Adult Neurology
Staff, Adult NeurologyBioDr. Steven Chao graduated from UCLA in biochemistry with highest honors, Summa Cum Laude. He then finished his combined MD/PhD training program from Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin University with AOA Honors. Following his neurology residency at Stanford, he continued with a behavior neurology fellowship training at UCSF Memory and Aging Center, where he started research in dementia.
Currently, He serves as a staff neurologist at the Palo Alto VA and with an appointment at the Stanford Department of Neurology as a clinical professor (affiliated). His current research interest is in early imaging diagnosis of dementia and early treatment/prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive treatment in traumatic brain injury, and alternative treatments for headache.
Community and academic education about dementia and cognitive health has always been his passion, and he continues to publish research articles and book chapters to support clinical education. -
Tina Duong MPT, PhD
Sr Res Scientist-Basic Life, Adult Neurology
BioAs the Director of Clinical Outcomes and Research Development, and the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Neuro-IGNITE Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine, I focus on translational rehabilitation science, psychometric measurement theory, clinical outcomes development, trial design, and digital health technology for individuals with neuromuscular disorders.
My research is guided by a simple premise: measurement determines access. Individuals who are harder to measure, and constructs that are meaningful to patients but difficult to quantify, are frequently overlooked in clinical trials, limiting both trial participation and treatment access. Complementing established functional scales, our team works to bridge this gap by defining the concept of interest and context of use with patients, clinicians, and regulators, then developing and validating fit-for-purpose clinical outcome assessments and digital endpoints across neuromuscular disorders, including spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. This alignment supports a clearer regulatory path so that patients who have been difficult to measure can qualify for trials, demonstrate meaningful benefit, and gain access to therapies.
Bridging clinical expertise and computational engineering, I collaborate with bioengineers to integrate digital health tools, including markerless motion capture (OpenCap) and multimodal sensors (wearables, video and imaging biomarkers, cardiopulmonary exercise testing) into clinical research. Together, we aim to better understand disease mechanisms and functional impact across the drug development pipeline. This work has contributed high-resolution, video-based kinematic datasets and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) thresholds that inform regulatory benchmarks for clinical trials and therapeutic evaluations.
Key Academic & Research Focus Areas:
•Outcome Measure Development & Psychometrics: Developing and validating functional instruments and digital biomarkers designed to meet regulatory standards in rare diseases.
•Digital Biomechanics & Kinematic Modeling: Applying markerless motion capture and wearable inertial sensors to quantify disease progression and subtle changes in movement.
•Translational Clinical Trial Design: Advising on endpoint selection and contributing to international natural history studies to improve trial readiness, reduce participant burden, and strengthen statistical sensitivity.
•Scientific Leadership & Mentorship: Leading multi-center academic consortia, publishing peer-reviewed research, and mentoring the next generation of clinical researchers.
