Our Team Highlights
Inside Stanford Digestive Health - Summer/Fall 2024
Featured Faculty
Andrew Li, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Andrew Li recently joined the Stanford Faculty as a part of the advanced endoscopy and endoscopic surgery. He received his BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and his MD from the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. He completed his residency and his fellowship in gastroenterology (translational research track) at Stanford. He then completed an advanced endoscopy fellowship focused on pancreaticobiliary procedures and a separate year-long fellowship in endoscopic surgery focused on endoscopic surgery, both also at Stanford. He is dedicated to enhancing patient care by integrating cutting-edge research and innovations with compassionate, patient-centered clinical care.
Dr. Li’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/andrew-li
Clinical Expertise: Dr. Li’s clinical interest and expertise is in advanced endoscopy and endoscopic surgery, as well as the prevention of gastrointestinal cancers including gastric (stomach) and colon cancer. He performs advanced endoscopic procedures such as EUS, ERCP, enteroscopy, esophageal and gastric per-oral endoscopic myotomy (esophageal POEM and gastric POEM), endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Appointments with Dr. Li can be made by calling the Stanford Digestive Health Center at (650) 736-5555.
Scholarly Expertise: Dr. Li’s research interests include gastric cancer, innovation in advanced endoscopy and endoscopic surgery, and the application of artificial intelligence and other computational techniques to problems in gastroenterology.
Something About Me: In his free time, Dr. Li enjoys hiking, spending time with his wife and two dogs, sim racing, and making Neapolitan-style pizza and smoked meats.
Pradeep Siddappa, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr Pradeep Siddappa was born in Bangalore, India and completed his medical school in Bangalore. He did further training in Gastroenterology from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research from Chandigarh, India. He moved to the United States to pursue further training in Pancreatology at the Mayo clinic, Rochester, MN. He then completed residency at the University of Connecticut followed by a Gastroenterology Fellowship and advanced endoscopy fellowship from Stanford University. He will be joining us straight out of fellowship as our pancreas and advanced endoscopy specialist. Dr. Siddappa’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/pradeep-siddappa
Clinical expertise: Dr. Siddappa is trained in performing advanced endoscopy procedures like endoscopic ultrasound, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, endoscopic mucosal resection, luminal metal stent placements etc. His advanced endoscopy training complements his expertise in medical pancreatology in the management of inflammatory and neoplastic pancreatic diseases like acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cysts and malignancies. He plans to start a pancreatic tumor ablation program at Stanford university to use minimally invasive methods to treat patients with advanced tumors in the pancreas who are not surgical candidates. Appointments with Dr. Siddappa can be made by calling the Stanford Digestive Health Center at (650) 736-5555.
Scholarly expertise: Dr. Siddappa’s research focuses on development of biomarkers in pancreatic cyst fluid for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. He also has an interest in research related to endoscopic innovation.
Something about me: Dr. Siddappa loves to travel, reading about history, science & philosophy, photography and playing with his son.
Margaret Zhou, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Margaret Zhou was born and raised in San Diego. She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate studies and obtained her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. Although she enjoyed her brief time on the east coast as an Internal Medicine resident at New York Presbyterian-Columbia, she returned to Stanford for her fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology, where she served as a Chief Fellow and obtained formal training in research methodology through the Master’s program in Clinical Research and Epidemiology. Most recently, she completed an advanced fellowship in Therapeutic Endoscopy at Stanford. Dr. Zhou’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/margaret-zhou
Clinical expertise: Dr. Zhou’s clinical focus is in therapeutic endoscopy, with specific expertise in treating patients with Barrett’s esophagus as well as pancreas and bile duct disorders. She is particularly interested in endoscopic interventions for the management of cancers and precursor lesions of the digestive tract, including of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, and colon. Appointments with Dr. Zhou can be made by calling the Stanford Digestive Health Center at (650) 736-5555.
Scholarly expertise: Dr. Zhou’s research is aimed at improving prevention and outcomes of Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal cancer, and gastric cancer. In addition, she is interested in endoscopic innovation and machine learning applications in gastroenterology. Her current research is focused on improving screening uptake in Barrett’s esophagus and endoscopic quality related to Barrett’s care.
Something about me: Dr. Zhou enjoys cooking (and eating), going to the gym, and traveling. She plays the cello and loves attending concerts or the opera. She is always trying to read more and is currently enjoying Runaway, a book of short stories by Alice Munro.
Fellows' Corner
Congratulations to the Gastroenterology & Hepatology Fellowship Class of 2024!
Here is a brief look at where our recent graduates are headed:
Toby Bradford, MD
Toby completed one year of Hepatology fellowship training at Stanford and is now starting GI/Hepatology fellowship training at Hofstra-Northwell Health in NY.
Nakia Chung, MD, PhD
Nakia completed her 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford, and will be starting a Transplant Hepatology fellowship at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD starting July 2025. Prior to moving to MD, she will be staying in Northern CA doing per-diem GI work in the Kaiser system whilst focusing on family and the upcoming birth of baby #4 (due in August 2024).
Ofer Fass, MD, MS
Ofer completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship including Chief fellow year and a Master’s degree at Stanford, and will be starting a 1-year advanced fellowship in Esophageal Diseases at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. He is hoping to build upon his Master’s coursework to continue developing, implementing, and evaluating novel machine learning models in the clinical setting with particular focus in esophageal motility and physiology.
Spencer Frost, MD
Spencer completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford, and will be starting his new job this summer as a general Gastroenterologist at Sutter Health in Davis, CA.
Chiraag Kulkarni, MD
Chiraag completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship including Chief fellow year at Stanford, and will be staying on for a 1-year advanced fellowship training in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
Andrew Li, MD
Andrew completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship, subsequent 1-year Advanced Endoscopy fellowship, and then 1-year Endoscopic Surgery/Third Space Endoscopy fellowship at Stanford. He is staying on at Stanford GI as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Advanced Endoscopy.
Paul Shao, MD
Paul completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford, and will be joining the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center GI group this summer as a general Gastroenterologist at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose.
Pradeep Siddappa, MD
Pradeep completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship and a subsequent 1-year Advanced Endoscopy fellowship at Stanford. He is staying on at Stanford GI as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Advanced Endoscopy.
Noor Syed, MD
Noor completed one year of Neurogastroenterology fellowship training at Stanford, and is now starting GI/Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Michigan.
Margaret Zhou, MD, MS
Margaret completed her 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship including Chief fellow year, and a subsequent 1-year Advanced Endoscopy fellowship at Stanford. She is staying on at Stanford GI as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Advanced Endoscopy.
Staff Highlights
Allison Im
Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, Hwang Lab
As an ACRC in the Hwang Lab, Allison actively involved in the recruitment of participants for their research studies. This involves contacting patients, gaining consent, storing data and collected material.
Fun facts about Allison: She loves going out to find new, good food places around each area she visits. This is her first time living in the Bay area so she is very excited to explore the area and meet new people.
Renee Long
Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, Huang Lab
Renee is an assistant clinical research coordinator working under Dr. Robert Huang. She is currently assisting with studies investigating gastric intestinal metaplasia and gastric cancer.
Fun facts about Renee: In her free time, Renee enjoys playing tennis, running, and trying new restaurants and cafes. Before joining Stanford, she recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human biology from the University of California, San Diego. She previously interned at a pharmaceutical company to investigate gastrointestinal inflammation in mouse models and a neurosurgery clinic to gain clinical experience.
Charlotte Wong
Life Science Technician, Huang Lab
Charlotte recently joined the Huang Lab as a Life Science Technician, where she manages the processing of hundreds of biopsy samples from patients and collaborates with other labs.
Fun facts about Charlotte: She was born in Hong Kong two decades ago and moved to the US at the age of one, and she finally got the chance to go back for the first time this summer for her college graduation trip!
In This Issue
Summer/Fall 2024