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. 

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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. 

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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 eight 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.

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Jenny Lee, PhD, PMP

Senior 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.


Diana Sanchez

Discovery Stage Project Manager

Diana Sanchez is a Cell and Gene Therapy Discovery Stage Project Manager in the Division of the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine within the Department of Pediatrics. With extensive experience in research and project management within the biotech industry, Diana has cultivated a robust career focused on innovative solutions in the therapeutic landscape. In addition to her project management expertise, Diana possesses substantial knowledge and experience in regulatory affairs, ensuring that all projects align with industry standards and regulatory requirements. Her understanding of the regulatory landscape enhances her ability to navigate the complexities of bringing novel therapies to market.

Diana holds a Bachelor's degree in Genomic Biotechnology from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and a Master’s in Business and Science from the Keck Graduate Institute. Her educational background combines scientific knowledge with strategic business insights, enabling her to effectively lead projects that bridge the gap between research and application.


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.


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.

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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.