Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Showing 21-40 of 661 Results
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Stephen A. Baccus
Professor of Neurobiology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study how the neural circuitry of the vertebrate retina encodes visual information and performs computations. To control and measure the retinal circuit, we present visual images while performing simultaneous two-photon imaging and multielectrode recording. We perturb the circuit as it operates using simultaneous intracellular current injection and multielectrode recording, and use the resulting large data sets to construct models of retinal computation.
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Amir Bahmani
Instructor, Genetics
BioAmir Bahmani is a Genetics Instructor and Director of Stanford's Deep Data Research Center (https://deepdata.stanford.edu ) at the Stanford School of Medicine. He has worked on distributed and parallel computing applications since 2008. Amir is currently an active researcher in the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP), Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), Stanford Metabolic Health Center (MHC), Integrated Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP), and Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI).
His team has designed and developed several notable cloud-scale frameworks, including the Personal Health Dashboard (PHD), cloud-based cost-saving platforms such as Hummingbird and Swarm, and the MyPHD platform, which now has over 12,000 participants and hosts more than 37 studies. His team also created Stanford Data Ocean (SDO), an innovative platform for educating engineers and biologists. SDO is the first serverless multi-omics and wearables data platform used for education and training.
Since 2017, he has trained more than 30 graduate interns (engineers and designers) from outside the School of Medicine, engaging them in the field of medicine. His course has been offered to physicians, biologists, engineers, and designers, earning him recognition as the recipient of Stanford’s 2024 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2023, he received the Terman Mentorship Award for mentoring Terman Fellow Ryan Park (top 1%), who transitioned to a Genetics PhD program inspired by Amir’s course. Committed to accessibility in education, Amir created a first-of-its-kind scholarship for under-resourced communities at Stanford, providing his course free of charge—along with Genetics certificates—to over 4,500 students from under-resourced backgrounds across 104 countries and all 50 U.S. states. -
Jeremy Bailenson
Thomas More Storke Professor, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Education
BioJeremy Bailenson is founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Thomas More Storke Professor in the Department of Communication, Professor (by courtesy) of Education, Professor (by courtesy) Program in Symbolic Systems, and a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. He has served as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication for fifteen years. He earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1994 and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Northwestern University in 1999. He spent four years at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Post-Doctoral Fellow and then an Assistant Research Professor.
Bailenson studies the psychology of Virtual and Augmented Reality, in particular how virtual experiences lead to changes in perceptions of self and others. His lab builds and studies systems that allow people to meet in virtual space, and explores the changes in the nature of social interaction. His most recent research focuses on how virtual experiences can transform education, environmental conservation, empathy, and health. He is the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford. In 2020, IEEE recognized his work with “The Virtual/Augmented Reality Technical Achievement Award”.
He has published more than 250 academic papers, spanning the fields of communication, computer science, education, environmental science, law, linguistics, marketing, medicine, political science, and psychology. His work has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation for over 25 years.
His first book Infinite Reality, co-authored with Jim Blascovich, emerged as an Amazon Best-seller eight years after its initial publication, and was quoted by the U.S. Supreme Court. His new book, Experience on Demand, was reviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Nature, and The Times of London, and was an Amazon Best-seller.
He has written opinion pieces for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNN, PBS NewsHour, Wired, National Geographic, Slate, The San Francisco Chronicle, TechCrunch, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and has produced or directed six Virtual Reality documentary experiences which were official selections at the Tribeca Film Festival. His lab has exhibited VR in hundreds of venues ranging from The Smithsonian to The Superbowl. -
Steven Banik
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
BioSteven Banik’s research interests center on rewiring mammalian biology and chemical biotechnology development using molecular design and construction. Projects in the Banik lab combine chemical biology, organic chemistry, protein engineering, cell and molecular biology to precisely manipulate the biological machines present in mammalian cells. Projects broadly aim to perform new functions that shed light on regulatory machinery and the potential scope of mammalian biology. A particular focus is the study of biological mechanisms that can be coopted by synthetic molecules (both small molecules and proteins). These concepts are applied to develop new therapeutic strategies for treating aging-related disorders, genetic diseases, and cancer.
Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, Steven was a NIH and Burroughs CASI postdoctoral fellow advised by Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford. His postdoctoral research developed approaches for targeted protein degradation from the extracellular space with lysosome targeting chimeras (LYTACs). He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2016, where he worked with Prof. Eric Jacobsen on synthetic methods for the selective, catalytic difluorination of organic molecules and new approaches for generating and controlling reactive cationic intermediates in asymmetric catalysis. -
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. -
Zhenan Bao
K. K. Lee Professor, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering, of Chemistry, and of Bioengineering
BioZhenan Bao joined Stanford University in 2004. She is currently a K.K. Lee Professor in Chemical Engineering, and with courtesy appointments in Chemistry, Bioengineering and Material Science and Engineering. She was the Department Chair of Chemical Engineering from 2018-2022 and in 2025. She founded the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative (eWEAR) and is the current faculty director. Bao received her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from The University of Chicago in 1995 and joined Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies. She became a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 2001. Professor Bao currently has more than 800 refereed publications and more than 80 US patents with a Google Scholar H-index 237.
Bao is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. Bao was elected a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Science in 2021. She is a Fellow of AAAS, ACS, MRS, SPIE, ACS POLY and ACS PMSE.
Bao is a member of the Board of Directors for the Camille and Dreyfus Foundation from 2022. She served as a member of Executive Board of Directors for the Materials Research Society and Executive Committee Member for the Polymer Materials Science and Engineering division of the American Chemical Society. She co-founded C3 Nano Co. (acquired by Du Pont) and PyrAmes, which have produced products used in commercial smartphones and hospitals, respectively. Multiple inventions from her lab have been licensed and served as foundational technologies for several additional start-ups.
Bao was a recipient of the VinFuture Prize Female Innovator 2022, ACS Award of Chemistry of Materials 2022, MRS Mid-Career Award in 2021, AICHE Alpha Chi Sigma Award 2021, ACS Central Science Disruptor and Innovator Prize in 2020, ACS Gibbs Medal in 2020, the Wilhelm Exner Medal from the Austrian Federal Minister of Science in 2018, the L'Oreal UNESCO Women in Science Award North America Laureate in 2017. She was awarded the ACS Applied Polymer Science Award in 2017, ACS Creative Polymer Chemistry Award in 2013 ACS Cope Scholar Award in 2011. She is a recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry Beilby Medal and Prize in 2009, IUPAC Creativity in Applied Polymer Science Prize in 2008.
In Stanford, Bao has pioneered molecular design concepts and fabrication processes to advance the scope and applications of skin-inspired electronics. Her group discovered nano confinement effect of conjugated polymers in polymer blends, which established the fundamental foundation for skin-inspired electronic materials and devices. Her work has resulted in new materials and device solutions for soft robotics, wearable and implantable electronics for precision health, precision mental health and advanced tools for understanding neuroscience and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Building on chemical insights, her group has developed foundational materials and devices that enabled a new generation of skin-inspired soft electronics. They provide unprecedented opportunities for understanding human health through developing monitoring, diagnosis and treatment tools. Some examples include: a neuromorphic e-skin that can sense force and temperature and directly communicate with brain, a wireless wound healing patch, a soft NeuroString for simultaneous neurochemical monitoring in the brain and gut, soft high-density electrophysiological recording array, a meta-learned skin sensor for detailed body movements, a reconfigurable self-healing electronic skin. -
Maria Barna
Associate Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab studies how intricate control of gene expression and cell signaling is regulated on a minute-by-minute basis to give rise to the remarkable diversity of cell types and tissue morphology that form the living blueprints of developing organisms. Work in the Barna lab is presently split into two main research efforts. The first is investigating ribosome-mediated control of gene expression genome-wide in space and time during cellular differentiation and organismal development. This research is opening a new field of study in which we apply sophisticated mass spectrometry, computational biology, genomics, and developmental genetics, to characterize a ribosome code to gene expression. Our research has shown that not all of the millions of ribosomes within a cell are the same and that ribosome heterogeneity can diversify how genomes are translated into proteomes. In particular, we seek to address whether fundamental aspects of gene regulation are controlled by ribosomes harboring a unique activity or composition that are tuned to translating specific transcripts by virtue of RNA regulatory elements embedded within their 5’UTRs. The second research effort is centered on employing state-of-the-art live cell imaging to visualize cell signaling and cellular control of organogenesis. This research has led to the realization of a novel means of cell-cell communication dependent on a dense network of actin-based cellular extension within developing organs that interconnect and facilitate the precise transmission of molecular information between cells. We apply and create bioengineering tools to manipulate such cellular interactions and signaling in-vivo.
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Annelise E. Barron
Associate Professor of Bioengineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBiophysical mechanisms of host defense peptides (a.k.a. antimicrobial peptides) and their peptoid mimics; also, molecular and cellular biophysics of human innate immune responses.
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Michael Bassik
Associate Professor of Genetics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are an interdisciplinary lab focused on two major areas:(1) we seek to understand mechanisms of cancer growth and drug resistance in order to find new therapeutic targets(2) we study mechanisms by which macrophages and other cells take up diverse materials by endocytosis and phagocytosis; these substrates range from bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells to drugs and protein toxins. To accomplish these goals, we develop and use new technologies for high-throughput functional genomics.
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Fiona Baumer
Assistant Professor of Neurology (Pediatric Neurology)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCauses of Disturbed Cognition in Pediatric Epilepsy
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Philip Beachy
The Ernest and Amelia Gallo Professor, Professor of Urology, of Developmental Biology and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFunction of Hedgehog proteins and other extracellular signals in morphogenesis (pattern formation), in injury repair and regeneration (pattern maintenance). We study how the distribution of such signals is regulated in tissues, how cells perceive and respond to distinct concentrations of signals, and how such signaling pathways arose in evolution. We also study the normal roles of such signals in stem-cell physiology and their abnormal roles in the formation and expansion of cancer stem cells.
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Gill Bejerano
Professor of Developmental Biology, of Computer Science and of Pediatrics (Genetics)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests1. Automating monogenic patient diagnosis.
2. The genomic signatures of independent divergent and convergent trait evolution in mammals.
3. The logic of human gene regulation.
4. The reasons for sequence ultraconservation.
5. Cryptogenomics to bridge medical silos.
6. Cryptogenetics to debate social injustice.
7. Managing patient risk using machine learning.
8. Understanding the flow of money in the US healthcare system. -
Sean Bendall
Associate Professor of Pathology
On Partial Leave from 02/01/2026 To 10/31/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur goal is to understand the mechanisms regulating the development of human systems. Drawing on both pluripotent stem cell biology, hematopoiesis, and immunology, combined with novel high-content single-cell analysis (CyTOF – Mass Cytometry) and imagining (MIBI-Multiplexed Ion Beam Imaging) we are creating templates of ‘normal’ human cellular behavior to both discover novel regulatory events and cell populations as well as understand dysfunctional processes such as cancer.
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Jonathan Berger
Denning Family Provostial Professor
BioJonathan Berger is the Denning Family Provostial Professor in Music at Stanford University, where he teaches composition, music theory, and cognition, and directs the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
Jonathan is a 2017 Guggenheim Fellow and a 2016 winner of the Rome Prize.
He was the founding co-director of the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts (SICA, now the Stanford Arts Institute) and founding director of Yale University’s Center for Studies in Music Technology
Described as “gripping” by both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, “poignant”, “richly evocative” (San Francisco Chronicle), “taut, and hauntingly beautiful” (NY Times), Jonathan Berger’s recent works deal with both consciousness and conscience. His monodrama, My Lai, toured internationally. The Kronos Quartet's recording was released by Smithsonian/Folkways. His opera, The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist was performed at Lincoln Center in July 2024. Other recent premiers include Hajar Yasini for narrator, string quartet and video (premiered by the Kronos Quartet), and Mekong:Soul (co-composed with Van Anh Vo) which was performed at the Kennedy Center and in Houston.
Thrice commissioned by The National Endowment for the Arts, Berger’a recent commissions include The Mellon and Rockefeller Foundations, Chamber Music Society, Lincoln Center, and Chamber Music America.
In addition to composition, Berger is an active researcher with over 80 publications in a wide range of fields relating to music, science and technology and has held research grants from DARPA, the Wallenberg Foundation, The National Academy of Sciences, the Keck Foundation, and others.
Berger is the PI of a major grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to study how music and architecture interact to create a sense of awe. -
Miles Berger
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (MSD)
BioI am a neuroanesthesiologist and translational human neuroscientist. Clinically, I care for patients undergoing brain and spine surgery, and have an interest in optimizing anesthesia care (and postoperative cognitive outcomes) for older surgical patients.
My research team studies mechanisms of perioperative neurocognitive disorders (such as delirium) in older adults, the relationship between anesthetic brain sensitivity (as measured by EEG) and preclinical/prodromal age-related changes in brain structure and function, and mechanisms by which the APOE4 allele leads to increased Alzheimer's Disease risk and neurocognitive decline. Together with collaborators, we use a transdisciplinary approach combining molecular/cellular assays (including ELISAs, proteomics, metabolomics, and flow cytometry) on pre- and post-operative CSF and plasma samples from older surgical surgical patients, functional and structural MRI neuroimaging, pre- and intra-operative EEG recordings, genetics (and epigenetics), and pre and postoperative delirium screening and cognitive testing. Overall, our hope is that the combination of these different methods will allow us to obtain insights into the mechanisms of perioperative neurocognitive disorders that could not be obtained by any single method alone.
Our group values mentorship, and we are happy to talk with prospective undergraduate, graduate or post-doctoral students with an interest in our work. -
Edward Bertaccini
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (MSD), Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsmolecular modeling of anesthetic-protein interactions, molecular modeling of the ligand-gated ion channels
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Carolyn Bertozzi
Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology
BioCarolyn Bertozzi is the Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology and of Radiology at Stanford University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1993. After completing postdoctoral work at UCSF in the field of cellular immunology, she joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1996. In June 2015, she joined the faculty at Stanford University and became the co-director and Institute Scholar at Sarafan ChEM-H.
Prof. Bertozzi's research focuses on fundamental studies of disease-associated glycobiology and the development of new therapeutic modalities that target these pathways. Her inventions include bioorthogonal chemistries for in vivo imaging and bioconjugation, work for which she received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As well, her lab has developed next generation antibody-drug conjugates, lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs), antibody-enzyme conjugates and antibody-lectin chimeras. Several of these new therapeutic modalities have been translated into clinical candidates for treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Prof. Bertozzi has been recognized with many honors and awards for both her research and teaching accomplishments. For example, she is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Inventors Academy and the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and she is a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society. In addition, Prof. Bertozzi received the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society, the Welch Award, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Heineken Prize, Lemelson-MIT award for inventors, and a MacArthur "Genius Award". -
Richa Bhatia, MD
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioDr. Bhatia is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is a dual Board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist, specializing in treating anxiety disorders. Her work has been cited in Time magazine and Scientific American, and her professional opinions have been quoted in media such as CNBC, The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Bay Area, WUCF-TV (PBS), and others. Dr. Bhatia served as President-Elect of Northern California Psychiatric Society. She is an avid advocate of improving mental health awareness and reducing the stigma surrounding psychiatric conditions and treatments. For her work in this arena, she was awarded the 2021 Jerilyn Ross Clinician Advocate Award by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and the Marian Butterfield award in 2018. Her other roles include serving as Section Editor for Current Opinion in Psychiatry, a Wolters Kluwer journal, for the last 7 years. She also served as Associate Editor of Current Psychiatry for 6 years. She is often invited to give talks at national, regional and local conferences and organizations.
She values the academic as well as the humanistic aspects of psychiatry. During her psychiatry residency training from 2007 to 2010, she scored between 94th and 98th percentile among US psychiatry resident physicians. She takes a whole-person approach, utilizing active, empathic listening and aimed at understanding the biological, psychological, social, and other factors affecting an individual’s mental health. She integrates medication management (where needed) with psychotherapy. Her psychotherapy approach is informed by various evidence-based psychotherapies such as psychodynamic therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based, compassion-focused interventions. Dr. Bhatia’s other professional interests include ruling out medical conditions mimicking psychiatric disorders, diagnostic errors, mindfulness, bullying prevention, and compassion and empathy cultivation.
