Our Team
Michelle James, PhD
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Neurology & Neurological Sciences
mljames@stanford.edu
Dr. James is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Neurology, within the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS). She received her BS in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry at the University of Sydney, where she also earned her PhD in radiochemistry/neuropharmacology and was awarded the prestigious University Medal. For nearly fifteen years, Dr. James’s research has focused on developing and evaluating novel molecular imaging agents to improve the way we diagnose, treat, and understand brain diseases. In particular, she is interested in designing new positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands for visualizing the neuroinflammatory component of Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke with the goal of learning about the in vivo role, spatiotemporal dynamics, and different functional phenotypes of specific innate and adaptive immune cells in the very early stages of these diseases and throughout their progression. Dr. James is also very interested in applying these tools to: track disease progression, guide therapeutic selection for individual patients, and serve as surrogate endpoints in clinical trials. Dr. James has multiple patented radioligands for imaging neurological diseases, three of which are currently being evaluated in humans.
Israt Alam, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
israt@stanford.edu
About Israt: Dr. Israt Alam is a Research Scientist in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University in Prof. Michelle James' lab. Her research focuses on studying lymphocyte activation with the motivation of developing non-invasive imaging tools, to monitor immune dynamics in response to immunotherapy and for diagnosis of immune driven diseases. Her work has supported the clinical translation of several nuclear imaging agents for early disease diagnosis and prediction of treatment response for improved patient management.
Isaac Jackson
Graduate Student
isaacmj3@stanford.edu
About Isaac: Isaac is working towards a dual MD/PhD in the medical scientist training program, and is a graduate student in the James lab. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in chemistry, where he also trained as a radiochemist for 4 years. Isaac is involved in multiple projects applying PET imaging of inflammatory biomarkers to various disease states, and for his PhD hopes to focus on the development of novel small molecule PET radiotracers for immune imaging within the CNS. Isaac aims to earn a PhD in chemistry and go on to specialize in pediatric radiation oncology: His life plan is to make good drugs, and make sick kids feel better. When he isn’t in lab or clinic, Isaac enjoys indoor rock climbing and spending time with his siblings.
Renesmee Kuo
Graduate Student
renesmee@stanford.edu
About Renesmee: Renesmee is an Electrical Engineering PhD student rotating in the James lab. She received her BS in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she spent more time in the Berkeley System Imaging Lab than in classes, working on optimizing CAR-T immunotherapies for solid tumors using Magnetic Particle Imaging. Renesmee works at the intersection of engineering and medicine. Her current research interests are in developing medical imaging tools for optimizing cancer treatments. Outside the lab, Renesmee spends 50% of her time baking and cooking. For the other 50%, you will find her exploring nature with her mom and playing the ukulele.
Sydney Nagy
Undergraduate Researcher
nagys@stanford.edu
About Sydney: Sydney will be working with Aisling to learn about image analysis and she is especially excited to learn how to visualize and track neurodegenerative diseases. She plans to study Human Biology with a concentration in neuroscience. In her spare time, Sydney practices aerial and contortion, loves cycling around this lovely area, repairing bikes, and working on environmental sustainability initiatives!
Audrey Luo
Undergraduate Researcher
asluo@ucdavis.edu
About Audrey: Audrey is excited to be working with Isaac to learn all about PET imaging and radiotracer design, especially within the CNS. She plans to study Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior with a minor in English at UC Davis. In her free time, Audrey can be found swimming, exploring cool places to film, or hanging out with her cat Momo!
Mackenzie Carlson
Graduate Student
mlc18@stanford.edu
About Mackenzie: Mackenzie is a bioengineering PhD student in the James and Zeineh labs. She's from the Land of 10,000 Lakes and 10,000,000 Mosquitoes, and she graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017 where she studied astrophysics and optical imaging. Between Dartmouth and Stanford, she worked in a hyperpolarized gas MRI lab. Her current research interests are in developing translational PET and MR imaging tools for neurodegenerative diseases. Mackenzie's primary hobbies are road running, trail running, and track running, but you may also spot her drinking Trader Joe's pumpkin spice coffee (year-round) or going to church.
Samantha Reyes
Graduate Student
levines@stanford.edu
About Samantha: Samantha Reyes graduated from UC Irvine in 2013 with bachelors' degrees in both biology and chemistry. She has studied the sigma-1 receptor (sciatica) and the GABA-A receptor (fragile x syndrome). Samantha specializes in in vivo imaging utilizing PET, CT and MRI, as well as performing pharmacokinetic PET studies. She also performs a variety of molecular biology techniques such as autoradiography, histology, western blots and PCR. She has a passion for molecular imaging and is interested in expanding her knowledge of neuroscience and pharmacology. In her spare time, Samantha loves to travel and experience new cultures, and express her creativity through cooking.
Mausam Kalita, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
mkalita@stanford.edu
About Mausam: Dr. Kalita grew up in India on a farm with about twenty family members. After completing a masters in Chemistry at Delhi University, Mausam took a long route to the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford via Kansas State University (PhD), University of Utah (PostDoc), and University of California-San Francisco (Assistant Researcher). He is passionate about chemical synthesis, radiochemistry, and molecular imaging. Mausam has more than 10 years of experience in the chemistry and biology of carbohydrates, nanomaterials, and infection imaging. He is convinced that seeing real-time evolution of pathologies through novel probes alleviates human suffering. In the James lab, Mausam is developing small molecule PET tracers to image innate and adaptive immune cells in the brain. When he's not in the lab, you will find Mausam trail running in the California rolling hills, backpacking, and cooking.
Samira Hayee
Postgraduate Researcher
samira.lamisa0610@gmail.com
About Samira: Samira is an International Medical Graduate from Bangladesh. After completing her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from Chittagong Medical College, Samira started pursuing her dream of becoming a clinician scientist. At the James lab, she focuses on understanding non-invasive imaging techniques to image immune cells during neuroinflammation. She is highly motivated to incorporate her research and clinical skills to develop better diagnostic tools and effective treatment options. When Samira is not working, you can find her either playing with her nephews or hiking trails.
Aadi Mehndiratta
Lab Manager and Research Assistant
aadim@stanford.edu
About Aadi: Aadi works as a Lab Manager and Research Assistant in the James Lab. He graduated from high school in June 2022, and will attend Brown University in the fall. At the lab, he works on autoradiography and administrative tasks. His other interests include the intersection of neuroscience and medicine with ethics, anthropology, and philosophy. Outside the lab, you can either find him at the local pickleball courts or surfing archive.org or Wikipedia.
Juniper
Post-dog-toral Fellow
About Juni: Juniper "Juni" James joined the James family and lab summer 2020. She is a miniature Dachshund and loves running outside and making mischief.
Lab Alumni
- Aisling Cheney, PhD, Instructor (2018 - 2022) - Faculty at Washington University in St. Louis
- Carmen Azevedo, Lab Manager & Research Assistant - Graduate Student at Washington University in St. Louis
- Isabelle Hack, Clinical research coordinator - Division of Infectious Diseases
- Irene Falk, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral scholar
- Lancelot, Post-dog-toral fellow (2018 - 2022)
- Katie Lucot, PhD, Postdoctoral scholar (2017 - 2020) - Postdoctoral scholar, Department of Pathology at Stanford
- Marc Stevens, PhD, Postdoctoral scholar & Wallenberg Fellow (2017 - 2020) - Pharmacist at Swedish Poisons Information Centre
- Poorva Jain, Research Assistant (2018 - 2020) - MD/PhD student at the University of Miami
- Anouskha Rao, high school intern (2019) - Stanford University undergraduate student
- Haley Cropper, Research Assistant + Lab Manager (2014 - 2019) - MD/PhD student at the University of Chicago
- Anjali Biswal, high school intern (2018) - undergraduate student at UC Berkeley
- Emily Johnson, Research Assistant (2015 - 2018) - Clinical Research Assistant in the Department of Anesthesiology at Stanford
- Niki K, intern (2017) - Neuroscience PhD at the University of Colorado
- Bethel Habte, intern (2014 - 2017) - Global Health Corps Fellow, Communications and Development Coordinator of the Boys & Girls Club of Newark
- Lauren Andrews, MD, Research Assistant (2011 - 2014) - Resident at the University of Pittsburgh
- Deepika Bodapati, Intern (2009 - 2010) - Founder of Athelas