Faculty Advisors and
their Research Interests

Upon acceptance into the program, students will be assigned a course advisor, until the student identifies a master’s thesis advisor. You will prepare your thesis proposal and final academic plan at that time. For more information please contact, compmed-mlas-info@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACLAM received her DVM from Michigan State University (1999). After studying the genetics of feline mammary adenocarcinoma at Michigan State University, she became a postdoctoral fellow in laboratory animal medicine at University of Michigan. While at University of Michigan, she received her PhD in Human Genetics for the study of genetic variation in a mouse model of prostate carcinoma (2007). She joined Stanford in 2007 as a staff veterinarian and became board certified as a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine in 2008. Her interests include clinical care of laboratory animal species, cancer genetics, and development of mouse models of human cancers. (650) 725-3603; megan.albertelli@stanford.edu

Diplomate, ACLAM, Diplomate ACVPM, Clinical Professor of Comparative Medicine. He received his VMD from the University of Pennsylvania, MPH from the Uniformed Services University, and Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency in the US Army. He joined Stanford in 2019 following a 23-year military career.  His research interests include biocontainment, regulatory oversight, and promoting animal welfare through improved vivarium operations. (650) 498-1560; dbentzel@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACVP, Clinical Associate Professor of Comparative Medicine. Dr. Casey obtained her DVM from Tufts University in 2013 and completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology at the University of California-Davis. Following board-certification by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 2016,  Dr. Casey completed a one-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship within the Department of Comparative Medicine and now serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Her collaborative research interests include cancer biology (including PDX and PDOX models), radiation oncology, and aging phenotypes. (650) 497-8725; kmcasey@stanford.edu

Associate Professor of Comparative Medicine and Co-Director of the Master of Laboratory Animal Science degree program. She earned her BSc (Hons) and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Melbourne, and completed her postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University in New York City. Her research is mainly focused on answering questions relating to (1) the organization of central neural pathways involved in fine finger/hand control, and (2) the capacity of these sensorimotor pathways to compensate/adapt following localized injury.

Her laboratory uses neuroanatomical (e.g., neuronal pathway tracing, immunolabeling procedures, confocal microscopy, etc.), electrophysiological (e.g., recording and stimulation), and behavioral approaches to study multiple levels of the sensorimotor pathways involved in hand and forelimb function in nonhuman primates and rodents. Her lab is primarily interested in questions relating to the selective disruption of pathways mediating fine finger control. (650) 736-0969; cdarian@stanford.edu

Diplomate, ACLAM, Diplomate ACVPM, Professor of Comparative Medicine obtained his DVM from the University of Wisconsin, MPH from the Uniformed Services University, and Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency in the US Army. He joined Stanford in 2007 following an 11-year military career.  His research interests include infectious diseases, particularly zoonoses, and exploring techniques which promote the health and welfare of laboratory animals. (650) 723-5305; felt@stanford.edu

Professor of Comparative Medicine. Dr. Garner's lab uses an integrated interdisciplinary approach, best described as developmental neuroethology, to address issues in human and animal well-being. The lab has a particular focus on two closely related issues: 1) Developing methods and underlying psychobiological principles to predict and prevent abnormal behavior (in animals) and mental disorder (in humans). 2) Identifying the general reasons why animal models often fail to predict human outcomes, and providing solutions to improve the efficacy and well-being of animal models. Both these issues reflect the interface between animal-based medical research, and animal well-being. The medical research community has long recognized that “good well-being is good science” – the lab’s work is directed at exploring this interface, while providing tangible deliverables for the well-being of human patients and research animals. (650) 725-5850; jgarner@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACVIM, Professor of Comparative Medicine is primarily responsible for the intensive care of large animal species, and routine care of aquatic species. Dr. Green received her DVM from Louisiana State University and completed an internship in Equine Medicine and Surgery at the University of Missouri, a residency in Large Animal Medicine at the University of Florida, and was a clinical instructor in Large Animal Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. She subsequently completed a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Green is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Her research interests concern protein phosphorylation and the neurobiology of disease, particularly of diseases that involve cytoskeletal pathology, and the husbandry and diseases of laboratory Xenopus laevis frogs. (650) 724-7880; sherril@stanford.edu

Professor of Comparative Medicine. Dr. Hestrin's group is interested in the synaptic mechanisms that underlie the coordinated activity of neurons in local cortical circuits. They are recording from multiple individual cells that are synaptically connected in neocortical slices. They have recently discovered that electrical synapses connect fast spiking (FS) cells, which are specific type of inhibitory cortical neurons. These findings raise the hypothesis that groups of cells with similar roles may synchronize their spiking activity. Current studies include: 1) Defining the cell types that are inter-connected via electrical synapses. 2) What are the specific roles of chemical and electrical synapses in coordinating spike timing within a network? 3) The role of temporal patterns of action potential trains in short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. (650) 498-5086; shaul.hestrin@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACLAM, Associate Professor.  Received her DVM from Western University of Health Sciences and her BA/MS from Stanford University.  Upon graduation from veterinary school she worked in small animal practice and for the IACUC at UCSF.   She joined the laboratory animal medicine residency program in Comparative Medicine at Stanford in July of 2012, and completed it in 2015.  Her interests include developing animal models, clinical medicine and regulatory oversight.   (650) 723-9774; monikag@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACLAM, Associate Professor of Comparative Medicine received his DVM from the University of Tennessee in 2004, completed his residency training in Laboratory Animal Medicine at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007, and became a diplomate of the ACLAM in 2008. He joined the Department of Comparative Medicine at Stanford in 2008. Prior to entering veterinary school, Dr. Nagamine obtained a PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis (1979), obtained postdoctoral training in endocrinology, developmental genetics, immunology, and molecular biology of the mouse at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (NYC), Pasteur Institute (Paris, France), and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of California, San Francisco and was an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His research interests include the molecular genetics of mammalian sex determination and infectious diseases in mice.  (650) 498-4773; cnagamin@stanford.edu

Diplomate ACVAA. He is a veterinary anesthesiologist who received his DVM degree from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and MS degree from Washington State University, studying epidural analgesia. He completed his residency in Anesthesiology/Pain Management at the Washington State University. He received his PhD in pain research at the University of Minnesota, studying the roles of rostral ventromedial medulla in hyperalgesia induced by an intraplantar injection of capsaicin. His interests include peri- and post-operative pain management, cancer pain, local anesthetics, and inhalational anesthesia. (650) 724-9832; cholawat@stanford.edu

Dr. Parker is Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with a courtesy appointment in Comparative Medicine. She also leads Psychiatry’s Major Laboratories Steering Committee. Dr. Parker received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan. She completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University and joined the Stanford faculty thereafter. The principal goal of the Parker Lab Social Neurosciences Research Program is to better understand the biological underpinnings of social functioning using an integrative, translational approach. The lab is particularly interested in investigating the roles of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin in animal and human social behavior and whether these neuropeptide signaling pathways are robust biomarkers of, and treatment targets for, social impairments in clinical populations, with a core focus on autism spectrum disorder.

Diplomate ACVP. Received his D.V.M. from Purdue University. He completed his residency training in Anatomic Pathology (with an emphasis in pathology of laboratory animal species) and his Ph.D. in Comparative Pathology at the University of California-Davis. He joined Stanford in 2015, and is the Director of the Comparative Medicine Animal Histology Service (CMAHS) Center. Dr. Vilches-Moure is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, and his collaborative research interests include cardiac development and pathology, developmental pathology, and refinement of animal models in which to study early cancer detection techniques. His teaching interests include comparative anatomy, general pathology, comparative pathology, and pathology of laboratory animal species.  (650) 723-8680; jvilches@stanford.edu

Updated September 20, 2023