Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB)
About Us
Stanford’s Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) surgeons have specialty-training and focused expertise in the care of tumors of the liver, pancreas, and bile duct, as well as non-cancerous conditions such as pancreatitis and complex gallbladder and bile duct disorders. The Stanford team has performed the highest number of liver and pancreas resections among California hospitals over the last decade! See CA Dept of Health Data website for info.
The team performs a high volume of minimally invasive HPB resections. Specifically, Drs. Visser, Dua, and Wren have the greatest experience with robotic (DaVinci) HPB operations in the Bay Area, including complex operations such as major liver resection (hepatectomy) and pancreatic resections (including robotic Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy). Tumors that are resected via traditional open surgery at other hospitals can be removed via these minimally invasive techniques by the Stanford HPB team, resulting in less discomfort and faster recovery. They have nationally and internationally recognized expertise in the field, and are thus leaders internationally in the training of surgeons to perform these highly technically demanding operations. The HPB surgeons at Stanford routinely are able to tackle tumors that have been deemed “unresectable” elsewhere, using innovative approaches and complex vascular and anatomic reconstruction to allow tumors to be removed while protecting vital anatomy and post-operative quality of life. As a result of their high volume and vast experience, the Stanford HPB team has outstanding outcomes when compared to similar academic centers. The Stanford HPB surgeons lead the specialized Hepatobiliary Tumor Board within the Stanford Cancer Institute, partnering with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists to map the individualized multidisciplinary treatment plans.
Additional Program Highlights
Robotic Whipple: Dr. Visser and Dr. Dua, operating at the Stanford University Hospital, are among the very small number of surgeons in California that offer the robotic Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreas head tumors. The robotic approach offers appropriately selected patients less pain and shorter recovery time compared to the traditional open approach. Dr. Visser and Dr. Wren performed their first robotic Whipple in 2012, and the Stanford HPB team has performed the highest volume of this operation in California over the last decade.
TPIAT: The HPB team, collaborating with gastroenterology, endocrinology, transplant surgery, and interventional radiology, offer Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Transplant (TPIAT) for chronic pancreatitis (https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-clinics/islet-cell-transplant-program.html). In this procedure, the diseased pancreas is completely removed and just the islet cells (the insulin producing cells) are re-homed in the liver! This program is just one of the treatment strategies offered in the Stanford Benign Pancreas Program for managing pancreatitis and pancreatic cysts.
Living Donor: The HPB team collaborates closely with the Stanford Solid Organ Transplant Program in the Liver Living Donor Program in which a portion of a healthy liver is removed surgically from a donor to be transplanted into a loved one. For adult recipients, the donated liver approaches 50% of the donor’s liver, while for a child recipient, a small portion of the liver can be removed robotically and transplanted from parent to their child! The remaining liver in the donor grows to match its initial size and functions normally after surgery.
Ex-vivo Surgery: The Stanford HPB team, again collaborating with the Transplant Program, performed the first ex-vivo liver resection in California. In order to treat a large central tumor that was unresectable by conventional techniques, the entire liver was removed from the patient, the tumor and a portion of the liver resected (extirpating the tumor), and the remaining healthy liver was restored to the patient.
Care for our Veterans: Dr. Wren is the Chief of General Surgery at the Palo Alto Veterans’ Affairs Hospital and has served our veterans for over 25 years. The Palo Alto VA is a tertiary care hospital within the VA system and offers the highest level of care. Dr. Wren treats all HPB and gastrointestinal tumors in our veteran population and was a pioneer in robotics. Dr. Dua also spends a portion of her clinical time at the Palo Alto VA, leading the liver tumor program there and performing complex open and minimally invasive liver operations.
Multidisciplinary Care for Metastatic Cancer: The Stanford HPB team is a leader in the multidisciplinary care for metastatic cancers to the liver.
Colorectal Cancer: For colorectal cancer that has metastasize to the liver, the HPB team offers advanced surgery, including minimally invasive liver surgery and ALPPS (associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy. ALPPS is one of the most technically complex liver operations for advanced tumors. This technique requires two operations separated by approximately a week and is reserved for multifocal tumors that cannot be removed by more conventional means (because tumors on both sides preclude finding an adequate size piece of liver that is tumor-free on one operation). In the first operation, tumors on one side of the liver are removed (the future liver), the liver is split in half, and the blood flow is redirected to the (newly) tumor-free side of the liver. At the second stage, after the small future liver remnant has demonstrated adequate growth to stand on its own and perform the functions of a whole liver, the other side of the liver (which still carried metastases) is removed to leave the patient cancer-free. The HPB team also works closely with medical oncology and the Adult Transplant Program and Stanford has recently performed the first liver transplant in California for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Neuroendocrine Tumors: For metastatic neuroendocrine cancers (NET) from the intestinal tract, the Stanford HPB team has extensive experience in aggressive cytoreductive surgery as a critical element of multidisciplinary care. The Stanford team offers the most complex pancreas and liver operation, including those that require removal and reconstruction of the major blood vessels to the abdominal organs. In addition, the Stanford team is leading a novel, Stanford-only study of combining PRRT (peptide receptor radionuclide therapy) with surgery for advanced NETs (study link) in an effort to give patients a longer duration of disease control than is presently offered by conventional approaches.
International Collaborations & Contributions: The Stanford HPB team members have an international reputation and are routinely collaborators and teachers worldwide. Dr. Wren has made tremendous contributions to Global and Humanitarian Surgery. She received the American College of Surgeons International Volunteerism Award for her work throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in education and humanitarian care in conflict zones. She offers an innovative, hands-on course at Stanford to teach skills to surgeons who plan to work in low-resource environments Humanitarian Surgical Skills Course. She is a recognized expert in surgical education and has made significant contributions to the rigor of surgical training and evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa as a member of the COSECSA Council (The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa). Dr. Visser is the Chair of the International HepatoPancreaticoBiliary Association (IHPBA) Committee on Training & Education and is leading an international program called HPBridge to link high-resource HPB teams to developing teams in low- and middle-income countries. He was recently recognized by the Americas HPB Association (AHPBA) for his work in Latin America with their Global Humanitarian Award (AHPBA award). Dr. Dua also teaches internationally, with recent trips to Panama and Japan. She is a strong advocate for women in HPB surgery, and regularly is invited to speak and support and inspire women surgeons in the field at national and international conference.
HPB Physicians



HPB Physician Assistants
Kristan Wheeler
Physician Assistant IV, GI Oncology
Kristan Wheeler is a physician assistant with over 25 years experience as a board certified physician assistant (PA). She has been at Stanford since 2011 with the surgical side of GI oncology. After teaching high school math and working in maternal health, Kristan went back to school to earn her Physician Assistant degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She began her career as a PA in rural family practice where she was a primary care provider for her own panel of patients. She moved to the west coast in 2002 and earned her Masters at Pacific University while working in GI surgery at OHSU. She returned to rural internal medicine in Washington state, before spending a year on a colorectal inpatient surgery service introducing the role of physician assistants in New Zealand. Kristan moved to California in 2011 to take a position at Stanford GI oncology, where she is delighted to be a part of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery at Stanford. Kristan has continued to teach and precept Physician Assistant students throughout her career and enjoys lecturing at Stanford PA/NP program and UC Davis PA program.
She grew up in South America and the US and is continually trying to improve her Spanish. She loves the outdoors, hiking, trail running, biking and swimming. When not at Stanford, she is likely to be found on some trail with her dog.
Taylor Aldridge
Physician Assistant IV, GI Oncology
Taylor Aldridge is a physician assistant with the Surgical Oncology and Hepatobiliary and Pancreas (HPB) Surgery teams at Stanford Healthcare. Taylor has over ten years of experience as a physician assistant and joined the Stanford team in 2018. Before that, she worked as a gastroenterology PA in the suburbs of Chicago, primarily specializing in diseases of the pancreas, biliary tract, and GERD. She has recently published research on the utilization of TPN following major GI surgery and a review of the clinical distinction between borderline resectable and locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
She is a board-certified physician assistant who completed her Master of Medical Science in 2012 at Midwestern University in Illinois.
In her free time, Taylor enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and dog, hiking, gardening, and playing soccer.
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Tel: (650) 498-6000
Stanford Cancer Center Palo Alto
875 Blake Wilbur Dr.Stanford, CA 94304