ILD Program Faculty
“Our role in the care of patients with ILDs is to put together the pieces of a puzzle. Patients often come to us with an incomplete picture or perhaps pieces missing. Our team helps find those missing pieces within a patients' family history, from additional testing or subtle clinical examination findings which allows us to bring patients to an accurate diagnosis. This step is what helps guide treatment of their disease, longitudinal follow up and, most importantly, helps patients and their families better understand their disease.”
- Kaissa de Boer, MD
Patients with interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis are often first seen and evaluated by our pulmonary physicians specializing primarily in interstitial lung diseases. These patients may then be referred to be seen by other specialist team members as needed.
Rishi Raj, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Rish Raj MD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and directs the Interstitial Lung Disease program at Stanford. Dr. Raj's clinical interest and focus of clinical research are idiopathic interstitial lung diseases and interstitial lung diseases related to other causes. Dr. Raj is the principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple clinical trials evaluating new therapies for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary fibrosis/interstitial lung disease from other etiologies.
Tushar Desai, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Tushar Desai, MD specializes in the treatment of general pulmonary and Interstitial Lung Diseases like Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). He has a particular interest in understanding the development and progression of diseases like IPF, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and lung adenocarcinoma, as well as in understanding how native lung stem cells function to repair the lung gas exchange surface after injury. Dr. Desai runs an active laboratory research program studying human lung tissue and using stem cell organoid cultures to identify the causes of these fatal lung diseases in order to develop new treatment approaches.
Kaïssa de Boer, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University
Kaïssa de Boer, MD is a board certified pulmonologist who specializes in the care of patients with interstitial lung disease. She completed her Internal Medicine and Pulmonary training at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. Subsequently she completed a fellowship in Interstitial Lung Disease at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. de Boer has a special interest in patients with connective tissue disease associated lung disease and those with drug induced pneumonitis. Her academic interests include education and development of ILD curricula.
Joshua Mooney, MD, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine
Joshua Mooney, MD, MS, is a board certified pulmonologist and critical care physician who specializes in the care of interstitial lung disease and lung transplant patients. He performs health services and outcomes research focused on understanding and improving the lives and care of patients with advanced lung disease and is actively involved in clinical trials to improve outcomes in interstitial lung disease. He is the Associate Medical Director for Lung and Heart/Lung Transplantation at Stanford and director of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Care Center at Stanford.
Nicholas Juul, MD
Instructor of Medicine
Nicholas Juul, MD is a board-certified pulmonologist who specializes in the care of patients with interstitial lung diseases. He completed medical school at Columbia University prior to Internal Medicine residency at the University of Southern California (USC+LAC). He completed his Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Stanford, where he had a clinical concentration in interstitial lung diseases. His research is focused on lung stem cell and cancer biology.
Matthew McCarra, MD
Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Manoj Maddali, MD
Clinical Scholar of Medicine
Manoj Maddali, MD is a board certified pulmonologist who specializes in the care of patients with interstitial lung diseases. He completed medical school at Johns Hopkins University prior to Internal Medicine residency at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He completed his Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Stanford, where he is also concurrently pursuing a Masters in Bioinformatics. His research interests include precision medicine in pulmonary diseases, biomedical big data, and clinical decision support.
Shaun Pienkos, MD
Clinical Scholar of Medicine
Shaun Pienkos, MD specializes in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine with a clinical focus on Interstitial Lung Disease. He completed his clinical training at Stanford University and currently works in the Blish Laboratory at Stanford, where he is pursuing research on respiratory viral pathogens at the single cell level, and particularly interested in the initiation/acceleration of fibrosis after infection.
Kevin Lee, PA-C, MHS
Physician Assistant
Kevin graduated from the Drexel University Physician Assistant Program with a degree in Master of Health Science, and he received his post baccalaureate training at the Stanford University COMET Program while serving as a Chief Medical Scribe for multiple Stanford Primary Care Clinics. Additionally, he has authored multiple scholarly works that were presented at national conferences. His area of clinical practice is general pulmonary specializing in COPD, asthma and other pulmonary diseases. He also works collaboratively with the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at Stanford that requires a multidisciplinary approach serving alongside infectious disease specialists, endocrinologists, social workers, psychiatry, nutritionists and pharmacists.
Jonathan Cheong, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Jonathan received his Bachelor of Sciences in Physiological Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master of Sciences in Physician Assistant studies at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. He joined the Interstitial Lung Disease program at Stanford as a Physician Assistant in December 2019. His role on the team is to work alongside the other providers to diagnose and treat patients with interstitial lung disease. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys watching and playing basketball, drinking good coffee, and eating delicious food.
Teddy Simpson, RN
ILD Nurse Coordinator
Teddy Simpson received her Associate Degree in Nursing at De Anza College, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from San Jose State University. Her background is in primary care, having worked at a community college serving as Triage Nurse, Health Educator and providing Nursing Advice for students and staff. She has also worked with a Community Health Center and served as Triage Nurse and Clinic Manager. Teddy joined the ILD program at Stanford as a Nurse Coordinator in September 2018. She works closely with the ILD team to provide coordination of care for the patient and their providers, ensuring high quality patient care and continuity of care. Her interests are traveling, cooking and spending time with her family.
Christine A. Slaton, RN
ILD Nurse Coordinator
Christine received her Bachelor of Arts and Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Samuel Merritt University. Her nursing background is in Primary Care where she worked at a Community Health Center and served as Triage Nurse, Manager of Nursing Services, and Clinic Manager. In April 2018, she joined the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Stanford as a Nurse Coordinator. She works in collaboration with our health care team to provide patient education and ensure continuity of care.
Iman Mojadidi, RN
ILD Nurse Coordinator
Iman Mojadidi received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from San Jose State University. Iman has worked as a Medical Assistant at specialty Neurology as well as Cardiovascular Clinics. She previously was a Whole Person Care (WPC) Nurse for the Santa Clara County coordinating and evaluating health, behavioral, and social services as applicable for the county patient population with the goal of improving overall health and wellbeing through more efficient and effective use of public resources. Iman joined the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Stanford as a Nurse Coordinator in November 2020. She works closely with the ILD team to provide coordination of care for the patient and their providers, ensuring high quality patient care and continuity of care. In her free time Iman enjoys hiking, trying new foods, and spending as much time with her loved ones.
Kate Yablonsky, LCSW
ILD Social Worker
Kate received her undergraduate degree from New York University and her Masters of Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Prior to joining the ILD team in September of 2018, Kate worked for over a decade next door at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in the oncology and stem cell transplant departments. She is now working with the patients and families at Stanford in both the interstitial lung disease and cystic fibrosis clinics, providing support and guidance around the “life” issues that come along with managing a chronic illness (family, work, mental health, advanced care planning, community supports, etc.). She is originally from Pittsburgh, PA.
Dulce Moreno
Patient Care Coordinator, Stanford ILD Clinic
Dulce M. Moreno has been part of the Stanford Chest Clinic for the past 10 years. For the first four years she was at the Front Desk greeting and checking in patients for their appointments. In 2012, she joined the Center for Advanced Lung Disease working with ILD and CF patients as the Advanced Lung Disease Coordinator. She schedules both new and return patients and all the testing that is required. Dulce is the main point of contact for all new patients and referring physicians. She also requests all records for the RNs and MDs to review. Dulce’s favorite things to do are reading, being with her family, and traveling.
Michael Sousa
Patient Care Coordinator, Stanford ILD Clinic
Michael Sousa has been a part of the Stanford Chest Clinic for the past 6 years. He started as a Medical Assistant/Clinical Assistant for the first 5 years. In November of 2019, he took a position as a Patient Care Coordinator with the Center of AdvancedLung Disease working to schedule newand returning patients. Michael also obtains all of the outside records necessary to ensure the nurses and physicians have what they need to complete a meaningful visit with the patient. Michael’s outside interests include being with his family, traveling, cycling, and playing soccer.
Joan Sugatan
Patient Care Coordinator, Stanford ILD Clinic
Joan G. Sugatan started working for Stanford as a Temp, floating to all sub-specialty departments of Chest Clinic. She assisted with all the referrals, scheduling appointments and requesting medical records for incoming patients. After working for almost 2 years, Stanford hired her as one of the Advanced Lung Disease Patient Care Coordinators. She helps scheduling both new and returns patients together with all the testing that is required and requesting medical records for review. Joan loves to eat out with the whole family, she enjoys reading books and watching movies as well.
Susan Jacobs, RN, MS
Research Nurse Manager
Susan Jacobs received her BSN from CSU Chico, and her graduate degree in Pulmonary Nursing from UCSF. With extensive experience as a Critical Care Nurse Educator, NIH Project Director for a Dyspnea and Exercise protocol, and Coordinator of a local Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, she is now the Research Nurse Manager and Nurse Coordinator in the PACCM division at Stanford University Medical Center. She has been with the ILD Program at Stanford since its inception in 2004, where she coordinates the ILD Support Group, ILD clinic patient education, and the division's clinical research program. Her publications include results from a national patient survey describing oxygen problems experienced by patients, the official American Thoracic Society (ATS) Workshop report "Optimizing Home Oxygen Therapy", and "Clinician Strategies to Improve the Care of Patients Using Supplemental Oxygen”.
Mohamed Moussa Abdelnabi
Clinical Research Manager
Mohamed Abdelnabi received his M.D. from Ain Shams University in Egypt and completed a postgraduate research program in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics at Harvard Medical School. His professional experience includes roles as a Clinical Research Coordinator in Infectious Diseases at the University of Louisville, where he worked on vaccine-preventable diseases, and as a Clinical Trial Manager at the University of Michigan, overseeing trials from start-up to publication. Currently, he is a Clinical Research Manager in the Division of PACCM at Stanford University Medical Center, where he supervises clinical research teams and contributes to advancing pulmonary medicine and patient care.
Jeanette Smith, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator Associate
Jeanette Smith received a Certificate in Clinical Trial Design and Management from SFSU, as well as a Certificate in Graphic Design and Production from UCSC Extension, and a BA in Earth Science and Environmental Studies from UCSC. After working in biotechnology on the industry side of clinical development and volunteering at Stanford Health Care, Jeanette joined Stanford's PACCM Division in 2020 as a CRCA. Her many personal and professional pursuits include field geology and cartography for the US Geological Survey, creative director for a boutique graphic design studio, teaching Adobe Creative Suite for UCSC, and leading whitewater rafting trips in the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Africa, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Jannet Estrada, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator Associate
Jannet Estrada received her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology and Bioinformatics from UCSC. Jannet has previously worked as a Medical Assistant at an urgent care facility and contributed as a Bioinformatics Researcher at UCSC. She has also volunteered her time providing respite care in hospice settings with Kaiser Permanente, offering support to both patients and their caregivers, and managed veterinary needs at an animal shelter for rescue dogs in San Diego during COVID. Since October 2022, Jannet has been with Stanford University's Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Program, where she has been actively involved in coordinating clinical trials for patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and other ILDs.
Karima Ouadahi Belhocine
Clinical Research Coordinator Associate
Karima Ouadahi Belhocine graduated from dental school with a DDS degree in her native country, Algeria. She earned a Certificate in Clinical Trial Design and Management from the UCSC Extension. Karima worked for a couple of years as a CRA for Brainlab Inc. and Jan Medical, a medical device start-up. She also completed internships in various departments at Stanford. In early 2020, she started working in Dermatology and later joined the PACCM division at Stanford in 2024 as a CRCA. Karima has served as a board member for her community, dedicating her time to assisting and supporting others. She is fluent in French and Arabic and enjoys teaching both languages to children.
Angela Kwon
Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator
Angela earned her undergraduate degree in social welfare and a minor in global poverty & practice from UC Berkeley. Before joining the ILD team as an assistant clinical research coordinator, she worked as a medical assistant in the Gastrointestinal Oncology department at Stanford Healthcare and as a clinical research coordinator at Stanford Department of General Surgery. Her experience working with diverse patient populations across clinical, research, and nonprofit environments helps her to appreciate a comprehensive understanding of patient care. She plans on furthering her education to become a Physician Assistant. Outside of work, Angela enjoys spending quality time with loved ones, exploring new restaurants or cafes, and weightlifting/CrossFit.
