Lab Team

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We are actively recruiting talented postdocs, graduate students, medical students, and undergraduates. Contact us for more information.

Katherine Arnow, MS Biostatistician 3, S-SPIRE

Biostatistician

karnow@stanford.edu

Bio

Kate is a biostatistician with the Stanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research & Education Center (S-SPIRE). She has a Masters of Science degree in epidemiology and has worked in both academic and public health settings. She has particular experience working with Medicaid claims data and analyzing patient reported health outcomes. Kate collaborates with Department of Surgery researchers on study design, data analysis, and reporting.

Linda Diem Tran, PhD Health Economist, HERC at the VA Palo Alto

Health Economist

diemtran@stanford.edu

Bio

Diem Tran holds a master's degree in Public Policy and a PhD in Health Policy and Management from UCLA. Her research centers on the social production of health inequities and disparities in health care stemming from public policies and inefficiencies in delivery systems. Diem is currently a Veterans Affairs investigator with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Stanford University.

Todd Wagner, PhD Professor (Research) of Surgery and, by courtesy, of Health Policy

Professor of Surgery

twagner@stanford.edu

Bio

Todd Wagner is a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. He studies health information, efficiency and value, and health care access. He is particularly interested in developing learning health care systems that provide high value care. In addition to his role at Stanford, he directs the Health Economics Resource Center at the Palo Alto VA, where he is a VA Research Career Scientist and he co-directs the VA/NCI Big Data Fellowship.

Arden Morris, MD, MPH, FACS Robert L. and Mary Ellenberg Professor of Surgery and Professor, by courtesy, of Health Policy

Professor of Surgery

ammsurg@stanford.edu

Bio

Arden M. Morris, MD, MPH is Professor of Surgery and Vice-Chair for Research in the Stanford Department of Surgery. She is Director of the S-SPIRE Center ( https://med.stanford.edu/s-spire.html ), a health services research collaborative to study patient-centered care, clinical optimization, and health care economics. Dr. Morris uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to study disparities in the quality of cancer care and patient-provider communication.

Kristen Davis-Lopez, MPH, CAPM S-SPIRE Project Manager

Research Project Manager

kdavis3@stanford.edu

Bio

Kristen Davis-Lopez, MPH, CAPM is the Research Project Manager at the S-SPIRE Center. She has a background in biology as well as public health. She supports multiple principal investigators with their current funded projects as project manager. Kristen also assists with the grant submission process within the Department of Surgery acting as a liaison with the Research Management Group.

Zaria Cosby, MPH Social Social Research Professional 2, S-SPIRE

Social Science Researcher

zcosby@stanford.edu

Bio

Zaria Cosby, MPH, is a Social Science Research Professional at the S-SPIRE Center. She completed her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, as well as her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, at the University of Southern California. At S-SPIRE, she supports qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and interpretation. No matter the position or project, Zaria’s overarching goal is to help people become their healthiest selves through research and education.

Ana Carolina Boncompagni MD Student at Stanford University School of Medicine

MD Candidate

anabon@stanford.edu

Bio

Ana Carolina Boncompagni is currently pursuing her Doctor of Medicine degree at Stanford University School of Medicine with a concentration on Community Health and Surgery. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Basis of Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania May 2018. Ana was awarded the Stanford MedScholars Grant to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Emergency Medicaid Programs that provide vulnerable uninsured patients with healthcare coverage.

Tom Handley, MA, MBBS, MRCS Knight-Hennesey Scholar, S-SPIRE Center Post-Doc

Stanford Knight-Hennesey Scholar

thandley@stanford.edu

Bio

Tom Handley, from London, England, recently completed a Master's degree in Health Policy at Stanford School of Medicine and a Master's in Public Policy at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. He graduated from Oxford University with a bachelor's degree in medical science, and earned an MD at Imperial College London. After two years of medical practice, he completed an academic foundation training program in general surgery with research in novel transplant technologies. Tom aspires to find policy solutions for challenges facing transplant systems, to widen access to transplant surgery, and improve the delivery of surgical care worldwide. Dr. Handley is currently a General Surgery resident at UC San Diego.

Sue Fu, MD, MSc General Surgery Resident

General Surgery Resident

sfu87@stanford.edu

Bio

Sue is currently an abdominal transplantation fellow at Stanford. She completed her general surgery residency at Stanford as well. During her professional development, she obtained her Masters of Science in Health Research and Policy and collaborated closely with Dr. Knowlton and her lab, working as a post-doctoral fellow for two years. She received two grants, including the Stanford General Surgery Professional Development Faculty Award and the Veteran's Affairs Health Services Research and Development Advanced Fellowship. Her work focuses on financial burden and its effects on access to care, as well as clinical outcomes of transplant surgery.

Lakshika Tennakoon, MD Clinical Epidemiologist, Division of General Surgery

Clinical Epidemiologist

lakshika@stanford.edu

Bio

Lakshika Tennakoon is a clinical epidemiologist working in the Department of Surgery, Section of Trauma & Critical Care. Her work focuses on improving trauma systems and clinical outcomes for injured patients and she has collaborated with Dr. Knowlton on a number of projects related to access to care, clinical outcomes and intimate partner violence. Prior to joining the Department of Surgery, she worked within the Departments of Psychiatry and Bioinformatics at Stanford. Before moving to the United States, she was a senior research scientist at Kings College in University of London, UK and the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Peiqi Chen Social Science Research Professional 1, S-SPIRE

Peiqi Chen

Social Science Research Professional 1

Bio

Peiqi Chen, M.A., B.A., is a Social Science Research Professional at the S-SPIRE Center. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa with a background in Sociology and Psychology. She also gained a certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management & Philanthropy. Currently she is still in her MA program in Social Science at the University of Chicago and writing a thesis about family planning policy evaluation on women’s maternity rights. At S-SPIRE, she assists with clinical researchers on qualitative data gathering and analysis. Before attending Stanford, she completed two internships at nonprofit organizations. She conducted research on social stigma toward COVID19 patient and front-line health workers during the pandemic. Her research interests lie in between sexual health, policy outcomes evaluation, and social welfare improvement for underrepresented population.

Hannah Bae Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

hbae@ucsd.edu

Bio

Hannah is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. She is an applied microeconomist whose research lies at the intersection of health economics and public finance. Her research interests include understanding how governments allocate scarce health resources as well as the impact of government regulation on family health insurance. She received her PhD in Economics from UC San Diego in 2024.

Simeng Wang Clinical Instructor, Surgery - General Surgery Masters Student in Health Policy, admitted Autumn 2024

Postdoctoral Scholar

simeng@stanford.edu

Bio

Simeng Wang, MD is a clinical instructor in the Section of Acute Care Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degrees in biological sciences and economics at the University of Rochester, followed by medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed general surgery residency at NYU and surgical critical care fellowship at Stanford. Dr. Wang became interested in trauma surgery and health policy during residency working at Bellevue Hospital, the safety-net hospital of New York City. He is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Health Policy at Stanford and a research fellowship advised by Dr. Knowlton on improving access, quality, and delivery of surgical care for vulnerable populations.

Yann Sakref Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

ysakref@stanford.edu

Bio

Yann Sakref is a Postdoctoral Scholar in General Surgery at Stanford University, working within the Knowlton Lab. He holds a PhD in Physics from École Normale Supérieure (ENS) Paris, and Master's degrees in Mathematics from Sorbonne University and Biology from ENS Lyon. With a passion for interdisciplinary sciences and advancing medical biotechnology and patient care, Yann is developing clinical and AI solutions as part of an ARPA-H-funded project under Dr. Knowlton's supervision. His work focuses on creating computer vision models for surgical assistance and contributing to the collaborative development of innovative tools by working closely with clinical, engineering, and AI teams. He also works closely with collaborators at the S-SPIRE Center.

Alumni

Alexander Gibson

Former Summer Research Assistant

Bio

Alexander Gibson is an undergraduate student pursuing a Biophysics (BS) degree at BYU. He recently took part in a Summer Premedical Research Internship, working on a project conducting patient interviews and exploring patients' experiences in obtaining insurance and how it influences their healthcare journey. Additionally, he supported a big-data collaboration with Transplant Surgery aimed at understanding disparities in access to solid-organ transplantation.

Wesley Hendricks

Former Summer Research Assistant

Bio

Wesley Hendricks is currently an undergraduate student at BYU, where he is pursuing a major in Molecular Biology. Wesley also serves as a medical interpreter at Utah's Hope Clinic, aiding uninsured, underserved patients. His dedication to medicine and community service is evident in his pursuits to become a physician.

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Lab Team

Biostatistician

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Health Economist

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Professor of Surgery

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Professor of Surgery

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Research Project Manager

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Social Science Researcher

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MD Candidate

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Stanford Knight-Hennesey Scholar

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General Surgery Resident

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Clinical Epidemiologist

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Peiqi Chen

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Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

Alexander Gibson

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Wesley Hendricks

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