Inside Stanford Medicine
Notable People
November 2009
Mignot, the Craig Reynolds and the Respironics Sleep and Respiratory Research Foundation Professor, has been appointed director of the newly created Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine and chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. The goal of the SCSSM will be to engage the broad Stanford community in research, education and patient care in sleep medicine. Also the director of the Stanford Center for Narcolepsy, Mignot has conducted numerous studies of sleep disorders, most notably narcolepsy and is credited with the discovery of the cause of narcolepsy.
Herschlag, professor of biochemistry, has been chosen as the 2010 recipient of the William C. Rose Award presented by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to biochemical and molecular biological research and a demonstrated commitment to the training of younger scientists. Herschlag’s research is aimed at understanding the chemical and physical behavior underlying biological macromolecules and systems, as these behaviors define the capabilities and limitations of biology. He will receive a plaque and $3,000, in addition to giving a lecture at the 2010 ASBMB meeting next April in Anaheim.
Cheung has been promoted to professor of medicine at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, as of Nov. 1. He serves as director of the GI & hepatology fellowship at Stanford, as well as chief of hepatology at the VAPAHCS. In collaboration with basic scientists, he is interested in using molecular biology approaches to study clinical samples from chronic hepatitis C patients and investigate the host-virus interaction. Cheung is also investigating the model of care for hepatitis C among infected veterans, as well as interaction between hepatitis C infection and alcoholic cirrhosis.
Manish Butte, MD, PhD
Butte has been appointed assistant professor of pediatrics, as of Nov. 1. His lab aims to address fundamental and therapeutic questions in immunology by developing and using tools from soft lithography and advanced microscopy to visualize and manipulate cells. The primary focus is understanding the molecular controls that balance T cell activation versus tolerance.
Brian Feldman, MD, PhD
Feldman has been appointed assistant professor of pediatrics, as of Nov. 1. The goal of his research is to understand on both a molecular and systemic level how hormones regulate stem cell fate decisions and the role these pathways play in both physiology and disease. Feldman uses molecular biology and in vivo models to elucidate mechanisms of regulating cell fate determination by the endocrine system.
Ting-Ting Huang, PhD
Huang has been promoted to associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences, as of Nov. 1. She studies the role of oxygen free radicals in oxidative tissue damage and degeneration. Her research tools include transgenic and knockout mice and tissue culture cells for in vitro gene expression.
Craig Levin, PhD
Levin has been promoted to professor of radiology, effective Dec. 1. His research interests involve the development of novel instrumentation and software algorithms for in vivo imaging of molecular signals in humans and small laboratory animals. The ultimate goal is to introduce these new imaging tools into studies of molecular mechanisms and treatments of disease within living subjects. Levin also serves as co-director of the Stanford Center for Innovation in In Vivo Imaging.
Fan Yang, PhD
Yang has been appointed assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and of bioengineering, as of Nov. 1. Her research seeks to understand how microenvironmental cues regulate stem cell fate, and to develop novel biomaterials and stem-cell-based therapeutics for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Yang is particularly interested in developing better therapies for treating musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Philip Pizzo, MD
Pizzo, dean of the School of Medicine, is the new chair of the board of directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the country’s health through the leadership of academic centers. Pizzo’s term began Oct. 1. The group has 105 institutions as members. Steven Wartman, MD, PhD, AAHC president and CEO, said Pizzo brings to the position “impressive insight into all aspects of academic medicine and health care."
Christopher Dawes
Dawes, president and CEO of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, has been elected chair of the board of trustees for the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals. Founded in 1968, NACHRI is an association of 220 children’s hospitals and related institutions devoted to improving the health and well-being of children and families. NACH is NACHRI’s public policy affiliate. Dawes has served as a board member and executive committee member for NACHRI and is currently on the board of the California Hospital Association.
Sanjeev Dutta, MD
Dutta has been promoted to associate professor surgery and of pediatrics at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, as of Oct. 1. His research examines issues relating to laparoendoscopic and robotic surgery; surgical innovation and emerging technologies; and surgical education and simulation-based training. He is director of the Stanford surgical skills curriculum, as well as surgical director of the intestinal rehabilitation program at Packard Children’s Hospital.
Ronald Dalman, MD
Dalman, professor and chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery, has been elected president of the Western Vascular Society, effective September 2011. The WVS was organized in 1986 by a group of university vascular surgeons from the western United States and is home to vascular surgeons who practice the broad spectrum of vascular surgery in both community and university settings. In addition to also serving as program director of the medical school’s vascular surgery residency program and director of the vascular center at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, he conducts research on the biological and mechanical basis of aneurysmal degeneration of the aorta.
Uta Francke, MD
Francke has been selected as an associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization. Founded in 1964, the EMBO promotes excellence in molecular life sciences by recognizing leading researchers and fostering talented scientists as well as disseminating information about the field. Francke’s research has ranged from identification and gene mapping of both mouse and human chromosomes to the discovery of genes involved in heritable disorders and studies of their functions and of disease-causing mechanisms. To understand the functional consequences of microdeletions that cause defined clinical syndromes, her laboratory has created mouse models for Williams-Beuren syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome.
Alan Garber, MD, PhD
Garber, the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor, is the recipient of the Society for Medical Decision Making’s career achievement award. Presented in October at the SMDM’s annual conference, the award recognizes senior investigators who have made significant contributions to the field of medical decision making. Garber’s work focuses on methods for improving health-care delivery and financing. He is the founding director of both the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford.
David Magnus, PhD
Magnus has been promoted to professor (teaching) of pediatrics, and, by courtesy, of medicine, as of Oct. 1. He serves as director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. His research interests include genetic testing, gene therapy, stem cell research and cloning and egg procurement, organ transplantation and end-of-life issues in both adults and children.
Merritt Maduke, PhD
Maduke has been promoted to associate professor of molecular and cellular physiology, as of Oct. 1. The goal of her research is to determine the molecular mechanisms of chloride-selective ion channels and transporters. To approach this subject, her lab uses a unique combination of biophysical methods to probe protein structure and dynamics together with electrophysiological analysis to directly measure function.
John Morton, MD
Morton, associate professor of surgery, has been appointed chief of the section of minimally invasive and metabolic surgery in the Department of Surgery. In his six years on the faculty, he has led the development of a program in minimally invasive and metabolic surgery, which focuses, in particular, on the clinical practice of bariatric surgery and its metabolic consequences, as well as its implications for policy and procedure in this country.
Rajat Rohatgi, MD, PhD
Rohatgi, assistant professor of oncology, is the recipient of a 2009 V Scholar grant presented by the V Foundation for Cancer Research, a cancer research fundraising organization. The $200,00 two-year grants are designed to identify, retain and further the careers of young investigators. Rohatgi received the Martin D. Abeloff Scholar Award, which is given to the highest rated V Scholar. His research is focused on dissecting the role of the tumor suppressor sufu in hedgehog-driven cancers.
Irvin Yalom, MD
Yalom, emeritus professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, will be this year’s guest at the Austrian event, “Eine STADT. Ein BUCH” (One city. One book). Every year 100,000 copies of a chosen title are printed and given free-of-charge to the citizens of Vienna. On Nov. 12, the organizers will begin handing out Yalom’s book When Nietzsche Wept.
October 2009
Deisseroth received the Society for Neuroscience’s Young Investigator Award on Oct. 19 during the society’s annual meeting in Chicago. Established in 1983 and supported by AstraZeneca, the award includes $15,000 and recognizes the achievements of young neuroscientists who have received an advanced degree within the past 10 years.
Deisseroth, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of bioengineering and a member of Bio-X, has pioneered optogenetics, the use of light-activated proteins. This approach allows brain-cell firing to be controlled with millisecond precision, providing a better understanding of normal brain circuits and brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, and allowing researchers to establish a causal relationship between defined neuron activity and complex behaviors.
Shatz, professor of neurobiology and of biology and director of Bio-X, has been named winner of the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of more than 39,000 researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
This award, established in 2000 to recognize individuals with outstanding career achievements in neuroscience who have also actively promoted the professional advancement of women in neuroscience, includes a prize of $5,000. Sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi Aventis, it was presented on Oct. 17 during the Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.
Shatz has investigated the ways that connections in the adult nervous system are established during early development. Her work has also added a new dimension to interactions between the nervous and immune systems that may underlie psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. She has published a number of studies delineating the role of specific immune molecules, once thought to be largely unexpressed in the brain, in neuronal physiology and animal behavior. She is past president of the society as well as an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Tina Cowan, PhD, and Athena Cherry, PhD
Cowan, associate professor of pathology, and by courtesy, pediatrics (medical genetics) and Cherry, associate professor of pathology and pediatrics (medical genetics), were elected into leadership roles at the American Board of Medical Genetics. Cowan was elected vice president of the American Board of Medical Genetics for 2010 and will be president in 2011, while Cherry was elected secretary for a term of two years (2010 and 2011). The ABMG is the certifying agency for approximately 2,000 professionals in the field of human genetics, as well as the accreditation agency for the approximately 44 training programs in this field in the United States.
Christine Wijman, MD, and Stephanie Harman, MD
Wijman and Harman are the recipients of clinical awards given by Stanford Hospital & Clinics at its board of directors meeting in September. Wijman, associate professor of neurology and neurosciences, received the Denise O’Leary Award for Clinical Excellence. She is interested in evaluating the causes and optimal treatment of brain hemorrhages, the use of hypothermia for the treatment of stroke and brain injury, predicting outcome in comatose survivors after cardiac arrest, studying the process of brain swelling and secondary injury after brain hemorrhage and prognostication of critically ill neurologic patients. She also directs the Stanford Neurocritical Care Program.
Harman, instructor in medicine, received the Isaac Stein Award for Compassion in Medicine. She serves as director ofinpatient palliative care service, which offers pain relief, emotional and ethical support for patients diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and their families.
Gambhir, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research, is this year’s recipient of the Radiology Society of North America’s annual Outstanding Researcher Award. Recognized as a leader in the field of molecular imaging, Gambhir has more than 20 patents pending or granted, is the author of more than 325 peer-reviewed journal articles, is the co-editor of a best-selling book in the field of nuclear medicine and has trained more than 150 residents, fellows, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduates and high school students. He is currently working to advance the merger of in vitro and in vivo diagnostics using novel nanotechnology for earlier disease detection and individualized patient management. When he moved to Stanford in 2003 to direct the molecular imaging program and to lead nuclear medicine research, Gambhir brought more than 35 scientists with him from UCLA. He has since grown the program at Stanford to more than 150 scientists. The award will be presented on Nov. 20 at RSNA’s annual meeting in Chicago.
Swetter has been promoted to professor of dermatology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and at Stanford, as of Sept. 1. Her research interests include secondary prevention of melanoma, including enhanced skin cancer screening targeting high-risk groups, chemoprevention in individuals with atypical mole syndrome, and research focused on increasing professional and public education to improve melanoma awareness. Swetter has directed the Pigmented Lesion and Cutaneous Melanoma Clinic at Stanford and the VA since 1996 and is the co-director of the Stanford Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic.
Whittemore, professor of health research and policy, has been awarded the Saul Rosenberg Research Award from the Northern California Cancer Center. Her research focuses on population-based epidemiologic studies of the causes of prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. She served as the director of epidemiology from 1987 to 1999 at the center, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Rosenberg was one of the founders of the center and its first executive director. Whittemore will accept the award Nov. 4 in San Francisco.
Seung Kim, MD, PhD
Kim has been promoted to professor of developmental biology, and by courtesy, of medicine, as of Sept. 1. His lab focuses on the developmental biology of the pancreas, a vital organ with endocrine and exocrine functions in the vertebrate digestive tract. The goal of his research is to identify and understand the pathways that govern organogenesis of the pancreas, a vital organ with endocrine and exocrine functions. Kim also serves as director of the Stanford Medical Scientist Training Program.
Peter Hwang, MD
Hwang has been promoted to professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, as of Sept. 1. Much of his work focuses on rhinology and sinus surgery. Hwang also serves as director of the Stanford Sinus Center, which offers medical and surgical care for all types of problems involving the nose and paranasal sinuses.
September 2009
Robert Shafer, MD
Shafer, associate professor of infectious diseases, has been selected to serve as a member of the AIDS Discovery and Development of Therapeutics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review at the NIH. Members are selected on the basis of their competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of several research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other achievements and honors. Shafer's research focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of HIV evolution with an emphasis on HIV drug resistance.
Gary Glover, PhD
Glover, professor of radiology, is the recipient of the 2009 Outstanding Teacher Award presented by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. His talk at the 17th annual ISMRM meeting in Honolulu in April received the highest scores of any talk in those courses. Recipients of these awards are determined by the scores given by attendees. Glover's work is devoted to the advancement of imaging sciences for applications in diagnostic radiology.
Teddy Hsu, PhD
The School of Medicine was one of 10 local organizations to receive a grant from the Avon Foundation for Women. The grants, which totaled nearly $2.4 million, go toward breast cancer research. The medical school plans to use the grant for a research project led by Hsu,assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, to characterize a novel protein in breast cancer cells that are associated with poor survival. Characterizing this protein receptor will provide a class of possible targets for new treatments for the disease.
Philip Pizzo, MD
Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, is one of three leaders selected to join the University of Rochester’s Board of Trustees. He earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1970. Pizzo shares this honor with John Bruning, the retired president and CEO of Corning Tropel Corp., and Daniel Wegman, the CEO of the Rochester-based supermarket business Wegmans Food Markets Inc.
Christina Chao and Malavika Prabhu
Medical students Chao and Prabhu have been selected as scholars for the 2009-10 Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars program. Under the program, U.S. graduate students—mostly third-year medical, public health, dental and veterinary students—are paired with foreign counterparts to conduct clinical research abroad under the tutelage of NIH-funded universities or other research institutions working on infectious or chronic diseases. Chao will work in Lima, Peru, at Hospital de Niño, while Prabhu will work in Moshi, Tanzania, at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center.
Steven Lin
Lin, a fourth-year medical student, is the recipient of a 2009 Pisacano Scholarship presented by the board of directors of the Pisacano Leadership Foundation Inc. The scholarships, valued up to $28,000 each, are awarded to students attending U.S. medical schools who demonstrate a strong commitment to the specialty of family medicine. Lin has done extensive work with Stanford’s Asian Liver Center, as well as with the Department of Public Health and the California State Assembly, where he helped create public and provider awareness about the importance of routine hepatitis B testing and vaccination, and worked to ensure access to treatment for chronically infected individuals, especially for those who are unable to pay. The foundation was created in 1990 by the American Board of Family Medicine in tribute to the founder and first executive director of the ABFM, Nicholas J. Pisacano, MD.
August 2009
Kirkegaard, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, has been selected to serve as chair of the virology study section at the National Institutes of Health. Her laboratory studies the biochemistry, cell biology and genetics of RNA viral propagation.
Jason Bartos
Bartos, a fourth-year medical student, is one of 10 recipients of a “Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship” from the American Medical Association. The scholarships provide assistance to medical students based on academic achievement and financial need. Bartos has conducted research projects on diverse topics including chronic rejection of heart transplants, signaling mechanisms in neurons and the efficacy of CT-guided lung biopsies. He has designed and coordinated research projects at the Pacific Free Clinic in San Jose, while also providing patient care at the clinic.
Barth, professor and chief of radiology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, received the Outstanding Alumni Award in recognition of exceptional professional achievement from UCSF’s Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. Barth serves as associate chair of radiology at Stanford, and his contributions include initiating a program of intensive cross-training to promote a broader range of clinical expertise among the faculty and serving as a major force in establishing an electronic network to support the new digital electronic system that will replace X-ray films with computer images. He received the award in June.
Timothy Dawson, MD, and Ian Carroll, MD
Dawson and Carroll, both clinical instructors of anesthesia, are among the first physicians in the U.S. certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine, a new independent medical specialty board. The ABAM has begun to certify addiction medicine physicians from several specialties, including emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, preventive medicine, psychiatry, neurology and surgery.
Frandics Chan, MD, PhD
Chan has been promoted to associate professor of radiology, as of Aug. 1. He is interested in congenital heart disease and radiology, as well as diagnostic radiology.
Yasser El-Sayed, MD
El-Sayed has been promoted to professor of obstetrics and gynecology, as of Aug. 1. His research interests focus on high-risk obstetrics: preterm labor, pre-eclampsia, medical and surgical complications of pregnancy, and prenatal diagnosis and therapy. El-Sayed serves as associate chief of maternal-fetal medicine.
Paul Fisher, MD
Fisher has been promoted to professor of neurology and neurological sciences and of pediatrics, and, by courtesy, of neurosurgery, as of Aug. 1. His research explores the epidemiology, natural history and disease patterns of brain tumors in childhood, as well as prospective clinical trials for treating these neoplasms. Research interests also include neurologic effects of cancer and its therapies, and childhood headaches. Fisher is also chief of the division of child neurology.
Nicholas Giori, MD,
Giori has been promoted to associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, as of Aug. 1. He is interested in orthopaedic surgery, osteoarthritis and medical device development.
Madelyn Kahana, MD
Kahana has been appointed professor (teaching) of pediatrics and of anesthesia, effective Sept. 1. She is interested in critical care medicine.
Kristin Jensen, MD
Jensen, has been appointed assistant professor of pathology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University Medical Center, as of Aug. 1. She is interested in anatomic pathology, pathology and cytopathology. Jensen also serves as associate director of cytopathology at VAPAHCS.
Robert Merritt, MD
Merritt has been appointed assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery, as of July 1. He joins Stanford from Massachusetts General Hospital where he completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency. Merritt is interested in minimal-access surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease, VATS lobectomy for lung cancer and tracheal surgery. He also plans to conduct outcomes research in patients undergoing thoracic surgical procedures.
Darius Moshfeghi, MD
Moshfeghi has been promoted to associate professor of ophthalmology, as of Aug. 1. He leads the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity, which uses RetCam II cameras to provide remote screening of retinopathy of prematurity at outlying neonatal intensive care units.
Reteesh Pai, MD
Pai has been appointed assistant professor of pathology as of June 30. Pai’s research interests include cytopathology as well as pancreato-biliary and gastrointestinal pathology.
Manjula Tamura, MD, MPH
Tamura has been appointed assistant professor of medicine, as of Aug. 1. The focus of her research is the management and outcomes of chronic kidney disease in the elderly. Current studies are aimed at understanding how chronic kidney disease and dialysis affect functional outcomes in elderly patients, such as cognitive impairment and disability.
Hua Tang, PhD
Tang has been appointed associate professor of genetics, effective Sept. 1. She is interested in various aspects of human genetics and genomics, including statistical and population genetics, mapping of disease susceptibility loci and inference of the evolutionary histories of human populations.
Christoph Lee, MD
Lee, a radiology resident, has been named one of 29 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars for 2010-12, a highly prestigious and competitive two-year fellowship in health policy. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks to improve the health and health care of all Americans.
John Ronald, PhD
Ronald, a postdoctoral scholar in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship, for his proposal, "Multimodality cell trafficking imaging using optical bioluminescent imaging, positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging."
Relman to review anthrax case
David Relman, MD, professor of infectious diseases and geographic medicine and of microbiology and immunology, has been named vice chair of a group of 15 scientists chosen to conduct an in-depth, 18-month review of the scientific approaches used during the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s handling of the 2001 anthrax mailings.
In those incidents, the bacterial pathogen responsible for causing anthrax was sent through the mail to several individuals, killing five and sickening 17 others.
The first meeting of the FBI-sponsored, National Academies of Science committee was held July 30-31 in Washington, D.C. The experts will review how the FBI analyzed the anthrax in the letters, comparing it with thousands of samples obtained from different sources in the early stages of the investigation.
Skeptics have questioned the FBI’s findings in the case, which is, technically, still open. The primary suspect, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases scientist Bruce Ivins, PhD, committed suicide last year after agents had intensified their investigation into his activities.
The NAS committee will limit its study to assessing the accuracy, reliability and appropriateness of the scientific procedures used by the FBI and their conclusions, but will offer no assessment of Ivins’ guilt or innocence.
Hanlee Ji, MD
Hanlee Ji, MD, assistant professor of oncology, has been selected as one of 14 recipients of the 2009 Clinical Scientist Development Award presented by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for his proposed study, “Effects on post-reperfusion prognostic genetics of chromosome arm 18q aberrations in colorectal cancer.” The award provides start-up funding for physician-scientists establishing their own research teams and enables them to reserve 75 percent of their professional time for clinical research.
Alan Garber, MD, PhD
Alan Garber, MD, PhD, the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor, has been selected as the Rock Carling Fellow for 2009 by the Nuffield Trust, a British nonprofit organization that seeks to promote independent analysis and informed debate on health-care policy. As part of the fellowship, the trust has invited Garber, the founding director of both the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, to deliver a lecture, which will be the basis for its publishing a monograph. Garber plans to study incentives for care integration in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, drawing also on experience in the United States.
Clarence Braddock, MD, MPH
Clarence Braddock, MD, MPH, has been promoted to professor of medicine, as of July 1. His research interests include medical ethics education, as well as physician-patient communication and informed decision-making. He is also associate dean for medical education, medical director of quality for Stanford Hospital & Clinics and director of clinical ethics at the Center for Biomedical Ethics.
Rachel Manber, PhD
Rachel Manber, PhD, has been promoted to professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, as of July 1. She does research on comorbid insomnia and depression, the phenomenology and treatment of insomnia, the treatment of depression during pregnancy and post- partum and the effects of female gonadal hormones on sleep. She also directs the Insomnia & Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Stanford Sleep Center.
Richard Shaw, MD
Richard Shaw, MD, has been promoted to professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, as of July 1. His research interests include psychological issues in medically ill children, treatment adherence, transplant psychiatry, pediatric oncology and forensic psychiatry.
Chuong Hoang, MD
Chuong Hoang, MD, has been appointed assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, as of July 1. He is interested in cancer biology and plans to establish a thoracic oncology laboratory to continue his genomics research in lung cancer, aimed at identifying molecular mechanisms of metastasis.
July 2009
Humphreys to be drug policy advisor for Obama
Keith Humphreys, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, is embarking on a new role this month—that of senior policy advisor at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C.
Humphreys, who has been part of the Stanford faculty since 1996, has long augmented his research into interventions for substance abuse and psychiatric disorders with an interest in public policy. In 2001, he took a short sabbatical at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where he worked with congressional staffers and federal agencies to promote what he called "useful policies in and around addiction and mental illness." He has also spent the last five years traveling to the Middle East regularly, training psychiatrists and helping to rebuild Iraq's mental health-care system.
In his new position, Humphreys will provide scientific input to the Obama administration and work to keep addiction treatment at the forefront of the health-care reform debate. "It was very flattering that they asked me to join the team and valued my scientific work," Humphreys said.
Although he has been traveling back and forth between California and Washington for a month, Humphreys began full-time at his new appointment on July 6. He is taking a temporary leave of absence from Stanford for the duration of the job, and will soon be joined in Washington by his wife and twin 2-year-old sons, "who can both say Obama," he said.
Robbins briefs senators on cardiovascular advances
Robert Robbins, MD, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and professor of cardiothoracic surgery, spoke to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee July 9 about advances in cardiovascular science.
In a closed lunch meeting, Robbins briefed the senators on topics ranging from the treatment of coronary artery and heart diseases to the use of stem cells to treat congestive heart failure. He also took the opportunity to thank them for the boost in National Institutes of Health funding through the recent stimulus package, and urged them to continue providing resources for biomedical research.
"Most of the advances in cardiac care that I talked about would never have been possible without NIH funding," Robbins said.
The speech was part of a weekly series of briefings for the senators. Robbins was invited by North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, who chairs the committee. After the talk, Robbins was joined by his co-presenter, cardiologist Lori Mosca, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center. The two took questions from the 25 or so assembled senators, who included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Majority Whip Richard Durbin and California Sen. Barbara Boxer.
"They take their coats off, roll up their sleeves and they’re very relaxed and very interactive," Robbins said. "The experience was fantastic."
Alan Cheng, MD
Alan Cheng, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology (head and neck surgery), has been awarded a $40,000 research career development grant from the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, also known as the Triological Society. Cheng’s lab is working to identify signals that maintain the stem cell population and the stem cell niche in the mammalian inner ear.
Sandra Horning, MD
Sandra Horning, MD, professor of medicine (oncology and blood and marrow transplantation), received a distinguished alumni award from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, the highest honor the school bestows upon its graduates. Horning, who earned a bachelor’s and medical degree from UI, was honored for her advocacy for evidence-based cancer care and policies and practices, which have helped to reduce the burden of cancer on patients and their families. She has led investigations for pivotal clinical trials that validated current lymphoma treatment and helped establish the standards of care for patients with virtually all lymphoma subtypes.
Kwon-Sik Park, PhD
Kwon-Sik Park, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in pediatrics, was selected as a Parker B. Francis Fellow, sponsored by the Francis Family Foundation in Kansas City, Mo. He will receive $156,000 over a three-year time period.
Jacqueline Baras Shreibati
Jacqueline Baras Shreibati, a medical student, won the Student Poster Award for her poster, “MRI availability and low back pain care for Medicare patients” at the annual meeting in June of AcademyHealth, a professional society for health services researchers and health policy analysts. The study abstract was also named one of the four best abstracts submitted by students. Shreibati, who has also received a master’s degree from Stanford for health service research, is completing her final year of medical school and has worked closely with Laurence Baker, PhD, professor of health research and policy.
David Stevenson, MD
David Stevenson, MD, the Harold K. Faber Professor of Pediatrics, senior associate dean for academic affairs and vice dean, received the Alwin C. Rambar-James B.D. Mark Award for Excellence in Patient Care at the medical school’s June 13 commencement. The award, established in 1984, honors a Stanford physician who excels in patient care as exemplified by his or her ability to meld competence with compassion, and who also works productively with all members of the health-care team.
Krisa Van Meurs, MD
Krisa Van Meurs, MD, professor of pediatrics (neonatology) at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, has been appointed associate chair for clinical research in pediatrics. Her research interests include persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, hypoxic respiratory failure, inhaled nitric oxide therapy, ECMO, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, neonatal clinical trials and the use of aEEG and NIRS to detect brain injury.
Sherry Wren, MD
Sherry Wren, MD, professor of surgery and associate dean for academic affairs, has been selected as the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Alum of the Year for 2009 in recognition of her excellence in education and accomplishments as a community advocate and international humanitarian. Wren, who has spent her summers working with Doctors Without Borders in Africa, is also chief of surgery at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. The award will be presented at the reunion in September celebrating the school’s 100-year anniversary.
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