Staff
Operations
Jennifer J. Cory, MA2, CRA
Director of Strategy and Operations
Ms Cory has over 20 years of experience in research administration in the academic environment, having held positions in pre-award, business operations, and post-award management and compliance. She has extensive experience building teams and programs, focusing on adaptability and efficiency by implementing processes to facilitate workflow and communication.
She is responsible for strategy, program management and coordination, overseeing finance, administration, business development and compliance for the Center.
Yanfeng “Alex” Wang, PhD
Director of Business Development
Dr Wang leads business development for the CDCM and is the key liaison to industry partners. He spent several years at the University of Maryland where he was the Director of the Maryland International Incubator, prior to which he worked in biotech and in consulting for Ernst & Young. He has extensive experience working with academic and private sector partners in the development of programs, including the provision of project management and financial planning support. Alex earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Rhonda Perriman, PhD
Research Strategy Manager
Rhonda Perriman is the Grants Manager and Scientific Editor for the CDCM. She completed her PhD. at Australian National University and her postdoctoral training as an American Cancer Society fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Following this training, she worked as a Senior Research Scientist at UCSC studying structure-function relationships within the multi-subunit RNA-protein enzyme (spliceosome) responsible for pre-mRNA splicing in eukaryotes. Her research provided substantial insights into the mechanistic details of novel spliceosomal RNA rearrangements that are required for accurate pre-mRNA splicing, and identified key protein co-factors that aid these. She is proficient in genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Currently she leads the preparation of scientific proposals, grant applications and original manuscripts being submitted by faculty in the CDCM and Stem Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine. She also assists in the preparation of pre- and IND submissions to the FDA for approval of Clinical Trials.
Rowel Padilla
Finance Manager
Rowel supports the CDCM’s financial management, coordinates payments, and supports research operations. He has various finance roles at Stanford but is also skilled in facilities management, information security, and was active duty US Army for over 10 years.
Ginger Exley
Executive Assistant and Program Coordinator
Ginger Exley is an expert administrator and program coordinator with over five years of experience at Stanford. She also worked in the private sector for over 15 years, supporting executives and senior leadership. She supports the leadership of the CDCM, their labs, and our operations.
Nick Yu
Communications Manager
Nick is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he studied nutritional science and discovered a passion for healthcare through both his coursework and his experience in biology, chemistry, and physiology labs. He supports the CDCM as the communications manager, where he regularly updates their website and social media channels, and assists with marketing activities and event planning as well.
Research Team
Manasvi Marathe, BDS, MPH
Senior Discovery Stage Project Manager
Manasvi Marathe has been building her clinical research experience for several years after earning her Master’s in Public Health from NYU. She studied and received her degree in dentistry, where her passion for research started. Her knowledge of ICH-GCP, regulatory affairs and protocol management provide her the foundation for her project management role in the CDCM.
Jenny Lee, PhD, PMP
Discovery Stage Project Manager
Jenny Lee is a project professional with seven years of experience in strategic development and academic relations, most recently within scholarly publishing before joining Stanford. Throughout her career, she led cross-functional teams to deliver impactful, tailored outcomes aligned with organizational goals. She obtained her PhD in synthetic organic chemistry and developed platform technologies with applications for drug discovery, which resulted in several peer-reviewed publications. Within the CDCM, Jenny manages a clinical trial in collaboration with multiple teams and empowers researchers to advance immunological cell therapies for children and young adults with hematologic malignancies.
Isobel Hawes, PhD
Discovery Stage Project Manager
Isobel Hawes is currently the Discovery Stage Project Manager for CDCM. She completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 2023 in the labs of Dr. Michael Wilson and Dr. Joseph DeRisi. Her thesis work sits at the intersection between neurology, immunology, and infectious diseases and focused on highly translational antibody discovery and diagnostic strategies for infectious and autoimmune pathologies in the context of the central nervous system. Her work contributed to the current understanding of syndromes such as acute flaccid myelitis, neuroHIV, and neuroCOVID. She also completed pre-graduate work at Harvard and the NIH on microglial cells within the developing brain. Her current role is to facilitate the implementation of a CIRM clinical trial grant in the stem cell transplant space as well as aide in the management investigator-lead translational research projects.
Yu-Hsuan Kuo, PhD
Discovery Stage Project Manager
Yu-Hsuan Kuo is currently the Discovery Stage Project Manager for CDCM. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2019. Yu-Hsuan developed bioconjugation chemistry for redox protein modifications, which resulted in valuable tools in cysteine-centric proteomics and enhanced the development of antibody-drug conjugates. Before joining Stanford, she worked as a postdoc at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in Dr. Michelle Arkin’s lab, exploring the biology of the homeostatic protein p97/VCP. She is passionate about translational research and innovation and is certified in project management. At CDCM, she provides comprehensive project support and manages the early-stage development of cell and gene therapy trials within the CDCM engineering the immune system platform.
Sarah Sisbot, PMP
Stanford Alpha Clinic Project Manager
Sarah has years of experience working as a Project Manager for tech and biotech companies. At Stanford, she manages the priorities for the Alpha Clinic. She coordinates work being done towards operational milestones and communicates progress to internal and external stakeholders. She is passionate about therapeutic applications of genome engineering and making clinical trials more diverse and inclusive. In her spare time, she volunteers for organizations that support people with cancer.
Liwen Xu, PhD
Scientist
Liwen Xu is an experienced senior scientist who primarily works on the gene editing platform of the CDCM pipeline. She has extensive experience in cell and molecular biology, CRISPR techniques, and lab management.
Imene Smati
Research Coordinator, Binns Program for Cord Blood Research
Imene is a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Through this major, she developed a passion for medicine and health care. This pushed her to join an undergraduate research lab focusing on auto-immune diseases and T cell development in an autoreactive transgenic mice model. In addition to the lab, she was also a math tutor for younger children and high school students. At Stanford, Imene is one of the Clinical Research Coordinators and hopes to attain an MD in the future.
Julise Hall
Research Coordinator, Binns Program for Cord Blood Research
Julise Hall is currently one of the Clinical Research Coordinators for the Binns Program for Cord Blood Research. Before joining Stanford, she graduated in 2019 from San Jose State University, earning her degree in Biological Sciences and a minor in Chemistry. She discovered her passion for medicine and research at college; but after earning her degree, she still wanted to explore the biotech sphere. During this time, she worked at Thermofisher Scientific where she gained extensive lab and quality control experience. However, her passion for medicine led her to continue her pursuit to be a physician. She completed her post baccalaureate program at California State University East Bay in 2021. She aspires to attain her MD and pursue a career as an OB/GYN.
Leah Maltzman
Research Coordinator, Binns Program for Cord Blood Research
Before joining the Binns Program, Leah Maltzman graduated from Emory University with a bachelors in biology and a minor in art history. She cultivated a love of medicine and research through her involvement in undergraduate clubs, serving as Vice President for Emory’s Kidney Disease Research and Awareness Program and joining a genetics-focused research lab. In returning to the Bay Area, Leah is excited to serve as a clinical research coordinator for the Binns Program. She hopes to later pursue a career in medicine as an MD.
Grecia Maldonado
Research Coordinator, Binns Program for Cord Blood Research
Grecia Maldonado is one of the Clinical Research Coordinators for the Binns Program for Cord Blood Research. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley where she received both of her bachelor’s degrees in Molecular Environmental Biology and Spanish. Due to her upbringing and direct involvement with marginalized communities, she is passionate about reducing health disparities. Grecia aspires to become an MD and increase Latinx representation in the healthcare system.
Vanessa Arreola
Associate Discovery Stage Project Manager
Vanessa Arreola is currently an Associate Discovery Stage Project Manager at the CDCM. She graduated from Stanford University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. Upon graduating, she joined the lab of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka as a Research Associate, where she investigated the mechanisms driving naïve and primed pluripotent cell states. Her current role plans, organizes, and oversees investigator-initiated translational research projects of the blood stem cell engineering and transplantation platform.
Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials Program
Kirstin Dougall, MBA
Director, Finance and Operations
Kirstin Dougall leads the finance and operations of the Clinical Trials Program, including oversight of budgets, billing, staffing, and development of new protocols. She has extensive experience in clinical research operations, both as a coordinator and as a manager.
Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine
Kathryn Melsop
Director, Finance and Facility Operations
Kathryn oversees finance and facility operations at the Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine (LCGM) and is the key liaison to the CDCM and its investigators. Her experience at Stanford includes program management and administration of complex research centers.
Guangwen "Gavin" Wang
Director of Development and Manufacturing
Gavin leads the process development and manufacturing team at the Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine (LCGM), the translational laboratory and cGMP manufacturing facility here at Stanford. He is the key liaison in CDCM to work with its investigators to translate their research findings to clinical applications. He oversees a series of activities during this transition, including grant and pre-IND/IND applications, tech transfer from research to PD to manufacturing, process development and optimization, clinical manufacturing, and DP formulation. Before this position, Gavin spent a few years in the cell therapy industry in the fields of PD, MFG, and CMC regulations. Prior to that, he was the Director of the Stem Cell Core in the Genetics Department at Stanford University where he initiated the facility to work on iPSC reprogramming, gene editing, banking, characterization, differentiation, and disease modeling. Gavin earned both his BS and PhD degrees from Peking University in China and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.