Vice Provost and Dean of Research
Showing 1,201-1,250 of 1,742 Results
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Theo Palmer
Professor of Neurosurgery, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMembers of the Palmer Lab study the biology of neural stem cells in brain development and in the adult. Our primary goal is to understand how genes and environment synergize in influencing stem cell behavior during development and how mild genetic or environmental risk factors for disease may synergize in their detrimental effects on brain development or in the risk of neuronal loss in age-related degenerative disease.
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Stephen Palumbi
Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor of Marine Sciences, Professor of Oceans and of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe're interested in ecological, evolutionary, and conservation questions related to marine (and sometimes terrestrial) organisms and ecosystems. We use evolutionary genetics and molecular ecology techniques, and our fieldwork takes us all around the world. Currently, we're studying coral diversity, the adaptive potential of corals in response to climate change, the movement of organisms between marine reserves, genetic changes in abalone in response to environmental.
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Jennifer Pan
Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science and of Sociology
BioJennifer Pan is a political scientist whose research focuses on political communication, digital media, and authoritarian politics. She is the Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication and (by courtesy) Political Science and Sociology, and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute.
Dr. Pan's research uses experimental and computational methods with large-scale datasets on political activity to answer questions about the role of digital media in politics, including how political censorship, propaganda, and information manipulation work in the digital age and how preferences and behaviors are shaped as a result. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed publications such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Science, and Nature.
She graduated from Princeton University, summa cum laude, and received her Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Department of Government. -
Danielle Mari Panelli
Instructor, Obstetrics & Gynecology - Maternal Fetal Medicine
BioDr. Danielle Panelli, MD, MS is an Instructor in Maternal–Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed Ob/Gyn residency training at Harvard (Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Mass General Hospital), and both fellowship training in Maternal–Fetal Medicine and a Masters Degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Stanford.
Dr. Panelli is a clinician–scientist whose work bridges clinical and translational research to understand how stress and mental health shape pregnancy outcomes and postpartum recovery. Her research program focuses on psychobiologic markers of stress—including telomere dynamics and epigenetic aging—to advance precision medicine approaches for perinatal mental illness and pregnancy complications.
Clinically, she cares for routine and high-risk obstetric patients and integrates trauma-informed, evidence-based approaches into care delivery. She is committed to mentorship and education, serves as Director of Research for the Maternal–Fetal Medicine Fellowship, and contributes to national leadership and scholarship in perinatal mental health. -
Alan C. Pao
Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and, by courtesy, of Urology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are broadly interested in how the kidneys control salt, water, and electrolyte homeostasis in the body. Our disease focus is on kidney stone disease. We use cultured kidney cells, transgenic mice, human plasma/urine samples, and electronic health record data to study the pathogenesis of kidney stone disease. Our therapeutic focus is on the development of small molecule compounds that can be used for kidney stone prevention.
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Peter Parham
Professor of Structural Biology and, by courtesy, of Microbiology and Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Parham laboratory investigates the biology, genetics, and evolution of MHC class I molecules and NK cell receptors.
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Victoria Parikh, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)
BioDr. Parikh is a clinician scientist who cares for patients with and studies inherited (genetic) cardiovascular disease. She is the director of the Stanford Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease (SCICD) which is one of the largest of its kind in the country. SCICD integrates clinical and basic science with the expert care of patients with genetic cardiovascular conditions (e.g., cardiomyopathies, arrhythmias and vascular diseases). It provides cutting edge care for thousands of patients and families across the lifespan and integrates medical, surgical and genetics care. Our team includes physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, genetic counselors, exercise physiologists and scientists.
Dr. Parikh's own clinical practice and laboratory are focused on the genetics of cardiomyopathies and their associated arrhythmogenic substrates. She completed clinical cardiology fellowship at Stanford School of Medicine and her medical residency at the University of California, San Francisco. Funded by multiple research grants from the NIH, her lab seeks to identify novel mechanisms and therapeutic technologies for genetic cardiomyopathy as well as better understand the natural histories of patients affected by these diseases. -
David J. Park, MD, PhD, FCNS
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe goal of our Laboratory is to improve patients’ care and outcomes by analyzing clinical data from thousands of patients treated at our institution. Our current primary areas of interest are benign tumors, brain and spine metastases, and neurogenetic disorders.
Our lab is led by Dr. Steven D. Chang and Dr. David J. Park and proudly hosts talented young clinical scientists from around the world.
Link: https://med.stanford.edu/neurosurgery/research/NeuroOncLab.html -
Jon Park, MD, FRCSC
Saunders Family Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNon-fusion dynamic spinal stabilization, artificial disc technologies, and regenerative spinal technologies.
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Karen J. Parker, PhD
Truong-Tan Broadcom Endowed Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Comparative Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Parker Lab conducts research on the biology of social functioning in monkeys, typically developing humans, and patients with social difficulties.
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Sonia Partap
Clinical Professor, Pediatric Neurology
Clinical Professor (By courtesy), NeurosurgeryCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests involve the epidemiology, treatment and diagnosis of pediatric and young adult brain tumors. I am also interested in long-term neurologic effects and designing clinical trials to treat brain and spinal cord tumors.
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Josef Parvizi, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences (Adult Neurology) and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery
BioDr. Parvizi completed his medical internship at Mayo Clinic, neurology training at Harvard, and subspecialty training in clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy at UCLA before joining the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford in 2007. Dr. Parvizi directs the Stanford Program for Medication Resistant Epilepsies and specializes in surgical treatments of intractable focal epilepsies. Dr. Parvizi is the principal investigator in the Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, where he leads a team of investigators to study the human brain. http://med.stanford.edu/parvizi-lab.html.
Epilepsy patient story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXy-gXg0t94&t=3s -
Anca M. Pasca, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
On Partial Leave from 01/05/2026 To 04/19/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe research focus of the lab is to understand molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders associated with premature birth, neonatal and fetal brain injury with the long-term goal of translating the lab’s findings into therapeutics. The research team employs a multidisciplinary approach involving genetics, molecular and developmental neurobiology, animal models and neural cells differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. In particular, the lab is using a powerful 3D human brain-region specific organoid system developed at Stanford (Nature Methods, 2015; Nature Protocols, 2018) to ask questions about brain injury during development.
https://www.neopascalab.org/ -
Sergiu P. Pasca
Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Bonnie Uytengsu and Family Director of the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsA critical challenge in understanding the intricate programs underlying development, assembly and dysfunction of the human brain is the lack of direct access to intact, functioning human brain tissue for detailed investigation by imaging, recording, and stimulation.
To address this, we are developing bottom-up approaches to generate and assemble, from multi-cellular components, human neural circuits in vitro and in vivo.
We introduced the use of instructive signals for deriving from human pluripotent stem cells self-organizing 3D cellular structures named brain region-specific spheroids/organoids. We demonstrated that these cultures, such as the ones resembling the cerebral cortex, can be reliably derived across many lines and experiments, contain synaptically connected neurons and non-reactive astrocytes, and can be used to gain mechanistic insights into genetic and environmental brain disorders. Moreover, when maintained as long-term cultures, they recapitulate an intrinsic program of maturation that progresses towards postnatal stages.
We also pioneered a modular system to integrate 3D brain region-specific organoids and study human neuronal migration and neural circuit formation in functional preparations that we named assembloids. We have actively applied these models in combination with studies in long-term ex vivo brain preparations to acquire a deeper understanding of human physiology, evolution and disease mechanisms.
We have carved a unique research program that combines rigorous in vivo and in vitro neuroscience, stem cell and molecular biology approaches to construct and deconstruct previously inaccessible stages of human brain development and function in health and disease.
We believe science is a community effort, and accordingly, we have been advancing the field by broadly and openly sharing our technologies with numerous laboratories around the world and organizing the primary research conference and the training courses in the area of cellular models of the human brain. -
Chirag Patel, MD, PhD
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNeuro-oncology, Clinical Trials, Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), Molecular/PET Imaging, Neuroimaging, Immunotherapy, Big Data Analysis
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Michele Lanpher Patel
Instructor, Medicine - Stanford Prevention Research Center
BioMichele L. Patel, PhD is an Instructor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Trained as a clinical health psychologist, Dr. Patel conducts research to optimize scalable digital health interventions for adults with obesity. She leads clinical trials that test innovative strategies to address the critical challenge of suboptimal engagement in digital interventions.
Dr. Patel's research is supported by an NIH career development award (K23; 2022-2027). Her recent Spark trial investigated the most potent combination of self-monitoring strategies in a behavioral weight loss intervention among 176 adults with overweight or obesity. Results are expected to be published in 2026.
She is also testing other strategies to promote engagement, weight loss, and health. This includes the impact of easier vs. harder goals, and the effect of high-frequency, low-friction behavioral strategies. Her work leverages the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to systematically identify intervention strategies that maximize effectiveness while minimizing patient burden.
Dr. Patel received her PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University. She completed her clinical internship at the VA Palo Alto with a specialization in behavioral medicine, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship (T32) at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. She currently serves as the Chair of the Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions special interest group in the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
Primary Research Interests:
-- Optimizing digital interventions for obesity treatment and prevention
-- Leveraging behavioral science to create lower-burden self-monitoring strategies to improve engagement and outcomes
-- Identifying psychosocial factors (including health literacy and self-efficacy) that influence treatment success
Methodological Expertise:
-- Randomized clinical trials, including factorial designs and embedded trials
-- Systematic reviews
-- Signal detection analysis -
Zara M. Patel, MD
Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS) and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCurrently performing research studies in Smell and Taste Disorders,Artificial Intelligence in Rhinology, Chronic Sinusitis and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery.
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Margot Paul
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioDr. Paul is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She received her undergraduate degree from Tulane University where she graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors in psychology. She then received a master of science degree in behavioral health psychology the following year, after partaking in the 4+1 master's program. She graduated with her doctor of psychology degree from the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, where she won the award for Outstanding Overall Student (2021). She completed her clinical psychology doctoral internship at the Sepulveda VA in Los Angeles and her postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine.
During her postdoctoral year she continued her research on using virtual reality (VR) as a method of engaging in behavioral activation for individuals with depression. Dr. Paul began her VR work in 2017 after joining Dr. Kim Bullock’s Virtual Reality-Immersive Technology Clinic & Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Paul won the Cheryl Koopman Dissertation of the Year Award for designing and implementing a feasibility study and three-arm pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility of using a VR headset as a way to administer behavioral activation therapy for participants with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. She presented her past and ongoing research findings as a speaker at Shift Medical 2021: Virtual Medical XR Congress and Expo (2021), Stanford Psychiatry Grand Rounds (2022), IVRHA’s 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Global Symposium (2023), VMed23 (2023), ADAA (2023), and CYPSY26 (2023). Dr. Paul has worked and consulted with VR companies and local Bay Area startups in the technology and mental health space. She has published on her virtual reality work.
Clinically, she is interested in working with adults with anxiety and mood disorders, interpersonal difficulties, health-related difficulties, and/or perfectionistic tendencies. Dr. Paul has experience working with high-performance individuals, such as healthcare providers and student athletes. She practices using predominantly cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavioral therapies, but integrates various skills depending on the presentation and need of each unique individual. -
John M. Pauly
Reid Weaver Dennis Professor
BioInterests include medical imaging generally, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in particular. Current efforts are focused on medical applications of MRI where real-time interactive imaging is important. Two examples are cardiac imaging, and the interactive guidance of interventional procedures. Specific interests include rapid methods for the excitation and acquisition of the MR signal, and the reconstruction of images from the data acquired using these approaches.
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Kim Butts Pauly
Professor of Radiology (Radiological Sciences Lab) and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are investigating and developing, and applying focused ultrasound in neuromodulation, blood brain barrier opening, and ablation for both neuro and body applications.
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Marco Pavone
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering & of Computer Science
BioDr. Marco Pavone is an Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, where he directs the Autonomous Systems Laboratory and the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. He is also a Distinguished Research Scientist at NVIDIA where he leads autonomous vehicle research. Before joining Stanford, he was a Research Technologist within the Robotics Section at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He received a Ph.D. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010. His main research interests are in the development of methodologies for the analysis, design, and control of autonomous systems, with an emphasis on self-driving cars, autonomous aerospace vehicles, and future mobility systems. He is a recipient of a number of awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, a National Science Foundation Early Career (CAREER) Award, a NASA Early Career Faculty Award, and an Early-Career Spotlight Award from the Robotics Science and Systems Foundation. He was identified by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) as one of America's 20 most highly promising investigators under the age of 40. His work has been recognized with best paper nominations or awards at a number of venues, including the European Conference on Computer Vision, the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, the European Control Conference, the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, the Field and Service Robotics Conference, the Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, and the INFORMS Annual Meeting.
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Jonathan Payne
Dorrell William Kirby Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy goal in research is to understand the interaction between environmental change and biological evolution using fossils and the sedimentary rock record. How does environmental change influence evolutionary and ecological processes? And conversely, how do evolutionary and ecological changes affect the physical environment? I work primarily on the marine fossil record over the past 550 million years.
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Roy Pea
Director, H-STAR, David Jacks Professor of Education and Professor, by courtesy, of Computer Science
Current Research and Scholarly Interestslearning sciences focus on advancing theories, research, tools and social practices of technology-enhanced learning of complex domains
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Kabir Peay
Senior Associate Dean for Education, Director of the Earth Systems Program, Professor of Biology, of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur lab studies the ecological processes that structure natural communities and the links between community structure and the cycling of nutrients and energy through ecosystems. We focus primarily on fungi, as these organisms are incredibly diverse and are the primary agents of carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. By working across multiple scales we hope to build a 'roots-to-biomes' understanding of plant-microbe symbiosis.
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Donna Peehl, PhD
Professor (Research) of Urology, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on the molecular and cellular biology of the human prostate. Developing realistic experimental models is a major goal, and primary cultures of prostatic epithelial and stromal cells are my main model system. Our discoveries are relevant to prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant prostatic diseases.
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Mark Pegram
Susy Yuan-Huey Hung Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMolecular mechanisms of targeted therapy resistance in breast and other cancers
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Norbert Pelc
Boston Scientific Applied Biomedical Engineering Professor and Professor of Radiology, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBroadly, Dr. Pelc is interested in the physics, engineering and mathematics of medical imaging, especially computed tomography, digital x-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and hybrid multimodality systems. His current research is concentrated in the development of computed tomography systems with higher image quality and dose efficiency, in the characterization of system performance, and in the development and validation of new clinical applications.
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Gary Peltz
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Department Research)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe laboratory develops and uses state of the art genomic methods to identify genetic factors affecting disease susceptibility, and to translate these findings into new treatments. We have developed a more efficient method for performing mouse genetic analysis, which has been used to analyze the genetic basis for 16 different biomedical traits. We are developing novel methods, and have developed a novel experimental platform that replaces mouse liver with functioning human liver tissue.
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Alex P Pentland
Center Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI
BioAlex “Sandy” Pentland is HAI Center Fellow and faculty lead for digital society at Stanford HAI and Digital Economy Lab, He is Toshiba Professor at MIT, member of US National Academies, Advisor to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Lab, and formerly advisory board member at UN Secretary General’s office, Google, ATT, Telefonica, and elsewhere. Spin-off companies and open source systems from his lab manage authentication of most digital transactions in the world, media for roughly 1B people in far east, and health resources for roughly 0.5B people in the indopacific. His current focus is on problems and opportunities in using AI to improve our social institutions.
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Jon-Paul Pepper, MD
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFacial paralysis is a debilitating condition that affects thousands of people. Despite excellent surgical technique, we are currently limited by the regenerative capacity of the body. The mission of our research is to identify new treatments that improve current facial paralysis treatments. We do this by exploring the regenerative cues that the body uses to restore tissue after nerve injury, in particular through pathways of neurogenesis and nerve repair in small mammals.
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Marco Perez
Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)
BioDr. Marco Perez's research goal is to better understand the fundamental causes of cardiovascular disease through the study of genetics and epidemiology. His group studies the genetic variations and environmental exposures that are associated with conditions such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure. He has led the studies of atrial fibrillation in Women's Health Initiative, one of the largest nation-wide population-based cohorts. He is currently conducting a large study monitoring for silent or asymptomatic atrial fibrillation in women from the WHI randomized to exercise intervention, and was co-PI of the Apple Heart Study, a clinical trial that validated the ability of a smartwatch to detect atrial fibrillation. He is now PI of the Clinical Coordinating Center at Stanford for the REACT-AF which is a clinical trial to evaluate efficacy and safety of a "pill-in-the pocket" approach to anticoagulation for AF using a smartwatch. He is interested in understanding the paradox that atrial fibrillation is less common in African Americans and Hispanics, despite a greater burden of risk factors such as hypertension. As director of the Stanford Inherited Arrhythmia Clinic, he evaluates families with rare inherited arrhythmias associated with sudden death such as Long QT and Brugada Syndromes and explores their links with novel genes. He also studies the genetic causes of very early onset atrial fibrillation. He also studies how best to use the electrocardiogram and imaging modalities using Machine Learning techniques to identify patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Perez receives funding from the NIH/NHLBI, Apple Inc., Janssen and the Colson Foundation.
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VJ Periyakoil, Professor of Medicine
Professor of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy lab is focused on longevity and healthy aging research.
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Petra Persson
Associate Professor of Economics, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Health Policy
BioPetra Persson is Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University, where she also serves as the Nina C. Crocker Faculty Scholar in the School of Humanities and Sciences and holds a courtesy appointment as Associate Professor of Health Policy. She is a Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Professor Persson earned her PhD in Economics from Columbia University in 2013, her MSc in Economics from Stockholm School of Economics in 2006, and her BA in Political Science and Mathematics from Stockholm University in 2005. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (2013-2014) and a Dissertation Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Women and Public Policy Program (2012-2013).
Persson's research lies at the intersection of family economics, health economics, and public finance, spanning topics including health disparities, maternal and child well-being, family structure and behavior, fertility policy, and social insurance design. She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and has published articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and British Medical Journal. -
Claudia Katharina Petritsch
Associate Professor (Research) of Neurosurgery
Senior Research Scientist, Adult NeurologyCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Petritsch lab broadly investigates underlying causes for the intra-tumoral heterogeneity and immune suppression in brain tumors from a neuro-developmental perspective. Defective cell fate decisions fuel the intra-humoral heterogeneity and plasticity in human brain tumors and may contribute to immune suppression. We use patient-derived models as avatars to study how brain cells control the fate of their progeny, whereby we unravel novel points of vulnerabilities in brain tumor cells.
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Dmitri Petrov
Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvolution of genomes and population genomics of adaptation and variation
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Michael Adam Pfeffer
Chief Information Officer, Stanford Health Care and Stanford School of Medicine, Associate Dean, Stanford School of Medicine, and Clinical Professor, Medicine
Clinical Professor, MedicineBioMichael A. Pfeffer, MD, FACP serves as Chief Information Officer and Associate Dean for Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine. Michael oversees Technology and Digital Solutions (TDS), responsible for providing world class technology solutions to Stanford Health Care and School of Medicine, enabling new opportunities for groundbreaking research, teaching, and compassionate care across two hospitals and over 150 clinics. TDS supports Stanford Medicine’s mission to improve human health through discovery and care and strategic priorities to be value focused, digitally driven, and uniquely Stanford.
Michael is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine and Division of Hospital Medicine with a joint appointment in the center for Biomedical Research (BMIR) in Stanford University School of Medicine. As such, Michael continues to provide clinical care as a Hospitalist Physician as well as teaching medical students and residents on the medicine inpatient wards.
Prior to joining Stanford Medicine, Michael served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer for UCLA Health Sciences. During his tenure, Michael served as the lead physician for the largest electronic health record “big bang” go-live of its time, encompassing over 26,000 users. Michael subsequently became the first Chief Medical Informatics Officer for UCLA Health before transitioning into the Chief Information Officer position. Under his leadership, UCLA Health IT achieved numerous industry awards including the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 Inpatient, Ambulatory, and Analytics Certifications; the Most Wired designation for eight consecutive years; US News & World Report’s Most Connected Hospitals; the Top Master’s in Healthcare Administration 30 Most Technologically Advanced Hospitals in the World; and the prestigious HIMSS Davies Award. Michael also implemented of one of the first ACGME-accredited Clinical Informatics Fellowship Programs and served as its Associate Program Director.
Michael has lectured worldwide on health information technology; served on the national HIMSS Physician Committee and as a HIMSS Stage 7 international site surveyor; and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on health IT. Michael was featured in Becker’s Hospital Review as 10 physician CIOs to know and 12 standout healthcare CIOs and was one of LA’s top doctors in Los Angeles Magazine. -
Suzanne Pfeffer
Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor of Medical Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe major focus of our research is to understand the molecular basis of inherited Parkinson's Disease (PD). We focus on the LRRK2 kinase that is inappropriately activated in PD and how it phosphorylates Rab GTPases, blocking the formation of primary cilia in specific regions of the brain. The absence of primary cilia renders cells unable to carry out Hedgehog signaling that is critical for neuroprotective pathways that sustain dopamine neurons.
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Adolf Pfefferbaum
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDevelopment and application of magnetic resonance imaging approaches for in vivo studies of human and animal brain integrity in neurodegenerative conditions, including alcoholism, HIV infection, Alzheimer's disease, and normal aging
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Trung Hoang Minh Pham
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and of Microbiology and Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUncovering mechanisms of tissue immunity and immunophysiology during persistent infection
The immune system safeguards the health of complex organisms by rapidly eliminating invading pathogens, curbing infection-induced tissue disruptions, and maintaining tissue homeostasis. Many bacterial pathogens evade host antimicrobial mechanisms and persist in infected tissues at low levels for long periods of time even in the presence of innate and adaptive immune resistance. During persistent infection, the immune system simultaneously orchestrates antimicrobial responses to contain the pathogen, repairs damaged tissue, regulates nutrient resources, and maintains other tissue physiological functions to ensure host survival. Failure of any of these tasks leads to uncontrolled infection, devastating disease, and even death. The goals of our research are to understand:
1)What are the innate and adaptive immune cellular mechanisms that contain pathogens during persistent infection?
2)How are tissue physiological functions, such as tissue repair and nutrient regulation, maintained during persistent infection?
3)How do pathogens survive innate and adaptive antimicrobial mechanisms in infected tissues?
4)How does persistent infection impact host immunity to secondary infections of a similar or different pathogen?
Through investigating these fundamental questions, we may be able to decode the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that can be harnessed to eradicate infections, promote tissue resilience, and restore health after an infectious insult. We integrate immunology, tissue biology, microbiology, and genetics to uncover the mechanisms of tissue immunity and immunophysiology during persistent infection from the molecular to organismal level.
Current areas of research:
•Development, maintenance, and plasticity of macrophage functional diversity in infected tissue
•Tissue repair and nutrient regulation during persistent infection
•Cellular dynamics and bacterial persistence in lymphoid organs -
Harold Westley Phillips
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery (Pediatric Neurosurgery)
BioH. Westley Phillips, MD is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University where he is a neurosurgeon-scientist specializing in pediatric neurosurgery with a special interest in epilepsy. Dr. Phillips received his undergraduate degree at Yale University where he was a member of the Varsity Football Team and received a Fulbright Scholarship. He completed an MD at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a certificate of distinction in the Clinical Neuroscience Training Program. He completed neurosurgical residency at UCLA where he received 2 years of NIH funding to investigate the genetic underpinnings of epilepsy. He received fellowship training in pediatric epilepsy surgery and genetics research at Boston Children’s Hospital as well as pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh before his arrival at Stanford. At Stanford, Dr. Phillips leads a molecular genetics laboratory and has a particular interest in defining and further understanding somatic mosaicism and its role in epileptogenesis. He has published manuscripts in leading academic journals including Nature: Genetics, JAMA Neurology, Journal of Neuroscience, Scientific Reports, Epilepsia and Neurology. He is dedicated to improving the treatment and outcomes for children with drug resistant epilepsy through innovative research and cutting-edge surgical techniques.
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Piero Pianetta
Professor (Research) of Photon Science and of Electrical Engineering
BioPianetta's research is directed towards understanding how the atomic and electronic structure of semiconductor interfaces impacts device technology pertaining to advanced semiconductors and photocathodes. His research includes the development of new analytical tools for these studies based on the use of synchrotron radiation. These include the development of ultrasensitive methods to analyze trace impurities on the surface of silicon wafers at levels as low as 1e-6 monolayer (~1e8 atoms/cm2) and the use of various photoelectron spectroscopies (X-ray photoemission, NEXAFS, X-ray standing waves and photoelectron diffraction) to determine the bonding and atomic structure at the interface between silicon and different passivating layers. Recent projects include the development of high resolution (~30nm) x-ray spectromicroscopy with applications to energy materials such as Li batteries.
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Jennifer Pien MD
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioJennifer H. Pien is a Clinical Associate Professor through the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University. She is the Director of The Pegasus Physician Writers, Founder of The Pegasus Review, and is a founding faculty editor for the Oxford Review of Books x Stanford collaboration. She also serves on the Advisory Board for The Bellevue Literary Press and the Stanford School of Medicine Medical Humanities Fellowship. Jennifer is represented by Amy Collins of Talcott Notch. She is the author of Healing the Healers, Johns Hopkins University Press, forthcoming 2025 and is the Co-Founder of Hesperides Literary Agency.
In addition to her work in Medical Humanities, her interests include advocacy for adults with developmental disabilities where she cofounded Puente Clinic through the San Mateo County Medical System, an innovative dev. disabilities subspecialty clinic. She serves on the Regional Advisory Committee to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities. Currently, her clinical focus is on physician well-being through the WellConnect team.
