Personalized Medicine
Russ Altman, MD ’90, PhD ’89
Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics and Medicine (Medical Informatics, General Internal Medicine) and, by courtesy, of Computer Science; Chairman of the Department of Bioengineering; Director of the Biomedical Informatics Training Program

A new idea in medical care is the concept of Personalized Medicine—basing the management of a patient’s health on the individual patient’s specific characteristics, including age, gender, height/weight, diet, environment, etc.  Dr. Altman will present his work in developing Genomic Personalized Medicine, which is the combination of comprehensive genetic testing with proactive, personalized preventative medicine.  His research is leading to discoveries in pharmacogenomics that deal with the influence of genetic variation of drug response in patients.

Imaging Using Molecular Spies
Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD
Professor of Radiology and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering, Director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, Member Bio-X

Technologies for imaging are rapidly evolving and include positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), high resolution ultrasound and cooled charge coupled devise (CCD), based on optical cameras for imaging very low levels of light as well as many other novel instruments.  Several of these technologies utilize molecular spies that are injected into the blood stream and search out disease in individual cells.  Dr. Gambhir will review how these technologies are being utilized to develop entirely new ways to manage patients including the earlier detection of cancer, imaging of early dementia and monitoring drugs at work deep within your body. He will also discuss how the future will allow nanotechnologies to further enhance what we can image as well as treat in order to develop the new field of theranostics.

Biotechnology: Filling the Innovation Gap
(This session is targeted for PhD alumni. MD alumni are also welcome to attend.)
Jim Healy, MD '98, PhD '98
General Partner, Sofinnova Ventures

The aging population is placing an unprecedented strain on healthcare systems throughout the world.  Pharmaceutical companies are seeking novel, late stage products to address this growing demand and also to defend against the expiration of patents on many their existing block buster drugs.  In recent years an increasing number of drug candidates within the pipelines of most pharmaceutical companies were discovered elsewhere.  Through collaboration with leading medical centers biotechnology companies will continue provide new medicines that fill the innovation gap.

Health in Extreme Environments: Monitoring with Medical Devices
Gregory T. Kovacs, MD '92, PhD '90
Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Medicine

Dr. Kovacs travels all over the world studying the effects of extreme environments on living organisms.  He is involved in hands-on field testing of NASA wearable physiologic monitors in high altitude conditions, he's developed a cell-based system to detect toxins used in chemical or biological warfare and used balloons to launch worms into the stratosphere to study the effects of space radiation and microgravity on genes.  Professor Kovacs has even been in simulated zero-gravity.  He's an enthusiastic generalist with expertise in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering and medicine.  Come hear about the exciting adventures engineers can have traveling between engineering and the life sciences.

The Impact of a Simulation-based Endovascular Curriculum on Trainee Performance and Clincal Outcomes in Vascular Surgery
Jason T. Lee, MD
Professor of Surgery (Vascular Surgery) at the Stanford University Medical Center, Associate Program Director-Vascular Surgery Residency/Fellowship, Director of Endovascular Surgery

The lab of Dr. Lee specific intentions include determining if a simulation-based endovascular surgery curriculum improves trainee performance measured by technical skill, didactic knowledge, and learner satisfaction, assessing endovascular simulation as a tool to promote procedural efficiency and reduce procedural errors by determining metrics that translate into improved patient outcomes, and determining if the implementation  of a structured educational program improves patient outcomes and patient safety.  Dr. Lee's lab is creating a multi-institutional randomized trial of surgical trainees to be instructed within a new paradigm of procedural-based skills by utilizing high-fidelity endovascular simulators to augment traditional teaching methods.  All modules and teaching occur within the Goodman Simulation Center.

Center for Advanced Pediatric Education (C.A.P.E.): Practice, Practice, Practice...Do One

Visit the first Pediatrics and Obstetric simulation center to see training session video of medical professionals learning resuscitation skills, delivering bad news and practicing management of complex patients.  A tour of the simulation center by CAPE staff will be provided along with a question and answer session.