Translational Research
OVERVIEW
The Stanford Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology has several world-renowned physician scientists conducting cutting-edge translational research in GI and liver diseases.
JOO HA HWANG
Professor
Dr. Hwang's research goals are to improve early detection of gastrointestinal malignancies. He is the Principal Investigator of the GAstric Precancerous conditions Study (GAPS), a prospective study of patients with gastric intestinal metaplasia and other precancerous conditions which combines comprehensive clinical and endoscopic data with a large bio-specimen repository. His lab is also involved in medical device innovation and are pursuing research related to treatment of pancreatic cancer with focused ultrasound.
MINDIE H. NGUYEN
Professor
Dr. Nguyen's research areas include epidemiology, clinical outcomes, translational studies of liver cancer/tumors and other chronic liver diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and liver transplant-related issues. She conducts therapeutic clinical trials for these diseases. Her research base includes single-center Stanford-based cohorts, multi-center Bay Area consortium, multi-center US consortia as well as collaborative international cohorts.
WALTER PARK
Associate Professor
Dr Park’s research focus is on translational biomarker discovery for chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer through development of bio-repositories with clinical databases. His lab investigates the natural history of chronic pancreatitis including predicting which patients will develop diabetes, developing and validating cyst-based biomarkers for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and developing novel approaches for the early detection of pancreatic cancer.
NIELSEN FERNANDEZ-BECKER
Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Fernandez-Becker's focus in on translational research to make new discoveries and improve the care of patients with Celiac Disease (CeD), eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and other immunological GI disorders including food allergies.
SIDHARTHA SINHA
Assistant Professor
Dr. Sinha's research is focused on better understanding the underlying causes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its impact on patients in order to offer patients improved treatment options. His lab develops and applies novel solutions to alleviate intestinal inflammatory conditions. Dr. Sinha's lab also applies novel approaches and technologies (including natural language processing, computer vision, and reinforcement learning) to identify and address unmet clinical needs.
MONIQUE BARAKAT
Assistant Professor
Dr. Barakat is a therapeutic endoscopist who performs complex endoscopic procedures (e.g. Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Ultrasound) for both children and adults. As a therapeutic endoscopist and physician scientist, her overall research goal is to conduct studies that have the potential to improve endoscopic care and management of pancreaticobiliary disorders for both children and adults. Dr. Barakat’s endoscopic research includes clinical epidemiology and prospective clinical outcomes approaches, as well as some collaborative translational research.
STEPHAN ROGALLA
Clinical Assistant Professor
The goal of Dr. Rogalla's research is to improve the diagnostics and treatment of chronic diseases using molecular imaging devices and to also use these tools to open new treatment options in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His lab is developing molecular imaging agents to target (pre)malignant lesions in the body that can be detected using a fluorescence or Raman endoscope.
ROBERT HUANG
Instructor
Dr. Huang's research is aimed at improving the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal malignancies though epidemiology, clinically-impactful biomarkers, and prevention trials. His research program to develop "PRECISE - a PErsonalized Risk Score for gastrIc CancEr" is currently supported by an NIH Mentored Career Development Award (K08CA252635).
ALLISON KWONG
Instructor
Dr. Kwong's research focuses on cirrhosis, portal hypertension, liver transplantation, transplant outcomes, organ allocation, population health, quality and systems improvement.
