MSTP Students

Every year, about 10 students from diverse and varied backgrounds join the Stanford MSTP. In the past 50 years our program has trained more than 340 physician-scientists who have become leaders in modern biomedical research (Click to view  Alumni). 

MSTP Student Advisory Council (SAC)

The SAC provides student feedback and suggestions for programmatic improvement, which have led to important and expeditious changes including creation of the Clinical Re-Entry Skills Preparation Program in 2018, the Diversity Working Group in 2020, and longitudinal student “families” in 2021. The SAC comprises two representatives from each class who solicit input from their classmates and report anonymized feedback to the MSTP Directorate at quarterly meetings. The SAC also assists with organizing Town Halls for feedback and discussions among MSTP students and faculty. 

Thesis Defenses

In the News

Current MD-PhD Students

Our students listed below are grouped by the year they entered the program. Under their name we have listed their undergraduate institution, their Stanford thesis laboratory, and the Stanford graduate program or department they have joined.

2023

  • Alyssa Amick
        Yale University
  • Maggie Chen
        Harvard University
  • Kerrigan Hall
        The Ohio State Univeristy
  • Jared Hysinger
        Stanford University
  • Ally Kim
        Wellesley College
  • Gabrielle Ndakwah
         Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Aidan Tousley
        University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Chibuike Uwakwe
        Harvard University
  • Helen Wang
         
    Harvard University
  • Evelyn Wong
        
    Harvard University
  • Harrison Zhang
        
    Columbia University

2022

  • Lauren Duan
        Johns Hopkins University
  • Trae Dunn
        Kennesaw State University
  • Elizabeth Ener
        University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  • Aditi Gnanasekar
        University of California, San Diego
  • Humza Khan
        University of California, Los Angeles
  • Stewart Kim
        Stanford University
  • Sharon Loa
        University of Montana, Missoula
  • Clara Poupault
        University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • Jingwei Jerry Song
         
    Johns Hopkins University
  • Steven Truong
        
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2021

  • Gina Duronio
        Northeastern University
          Lab of Julian Sage, PhD
            Department of Genetics
  • Freja Ekman
        University of California, Berkeley
          Lab of Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD
            Department of Genetics
  • Esther Elonga
        Harvard University
          Lab of Nathanael Gray, PhD
            Department of Chemical & Systems Biology
  • Kayla Kulhanek
        University of California, Berkeley
  • Chelsea Li
        University of Virginia
          Lab of Lisa Giocomo, PhD
            Program in Neurosciences
  • Christopher Lopez
        University of California, Davis
          Lab of Paul Khavari, MD, PhD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • David Lu
        Yale University
          Lab of Paul Khavari, MD, PhD
            Department of Chemical & Systems Biology
  • Joseph Noh
        Stanford University
          Labs of Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD & Christopher Barnes, PhD
            Program in Biophysics 
  • Kamsi Nwangwu
        Yale University
          Lab of Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, MD, PhD
            Program in Neurosciences
  • Sarah Rockwood
        
    University of California, Berkeley
  • Varun Shanker
        
    California Institute of Technology
          Lab of Peter Kim, PhD
            Program in Biophysics 

2020

  • Mahad Ahmed
        University of Washington
          Lab of Ivan Soltesz, PhD
            Program in Neurosciences
  • Kylie Burdsall
        University of Southern California
          Lab of Crystal Mackall, MD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Sarah Dilorio
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
          Lab of Michael Longaker, MD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Maïgane Diop
        University of Maryland, College Park
          Lab of Brice Gaudilliere, MD, PhD & Catherine Blish, MD, PhD
            Program in Immunology
  • Tania Fabo
        Harvard University
          Lab of Paul Khavari, MD, PhD
            Department of Genetics
  • Cesar Garcia
        Yale University
          Lab of Laura Prolo, MD, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Jayakrishnan Gopakumar
        Pomona College
          Lab of Siddhartha Jaiswal, MD, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Omair Khan
        Yale University
          Lab of Irving Weissman, MD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • John Lu
        Duke University
          Lab of Michael Longaker, MD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Sofia Luna
        Washington University, St. Louis
          Lab of Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Karen Malacon
        Harvard University
          Lab of Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, MD, PhD
            Program in Neurosciences
  • Shreya Malhotra
        University of Alabama, Birmingham
          Lab of Ivan Soltesz, PhD
            Program in Neurosciences
  • Abby Thurm
        
    University of California, Los Angeles
          Lab of Lacramioara Bintu, PhD
            Program in Biophysics 
  • Ashley Utz
        
    Stanford University
          Lab of Peter Kim, PhD
            Program in Biophysics 
  • Christine Yeh
        Stanford University
          Labs of Sylvia Plevritis, PhD & Livnat Jerby, PhD
            Program in Biomedical Informatics

2019

  • Kenneth Brinson
        United States Military Academy, West Point
          Lab of Guosong Hong, PhD
            Department of Materials Science & Engineering
  • Joshua Carter
        Montana State University-Bozeman
          Lab of Christopher Barnes, PhD
  • Henry Cousins
        Harvard University
          Lab of Russ Altman, MD, PhD
            Program in Biomedical Informatics
  • Ibtihal Elfaki
        Brown University
          Lab of Paul Khavari MD, PhD
            Department of Genetics
  • Brian Garcia Rodriguez
        Florida International University
          Lab of Brian Kobilka, MD
            Program in Biophysics
  • Matthew Grieshop
        University of Wisconsin-Madison
          Lab of Ami Bhatt, MD, PhD
            Department of Genetics
  • Leandra Jackson
        University of California, Irvine
          Lab of Paul Khavari MD, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Rayyan Jokhai
        Johns Hopkins University
          Lab of Kyle Loh, PhD
            Department of Developmental Biology
  • Aswini Krishnan
        University of California, San Diego
          Labs of Monther Abu-Remaileh, PhD & Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Richard Liang
        University of California, Los Angeles
          Lab of David Rehkopf, ScD, MPH & Gary Shaw, DrPH
            Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
  • Kwat Medetgul-Ernar
       
    University of California, San Diego
          Lab of Mark Davis, PhD
            Program in Biophysics
  • Kamal Obbad
         
    Harvard University
  • Santiago Sanchez
        University of Texas, Austin
          Lab of Steven Artandi, MD, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology
  • Samantha Scharenberg
        Stanford University
          Lab of Monther Abu-Remaileh, PhD
            Program in Biophysics
  • David Seong
        Harvard University
          Lab of Nima Aghaeepour, PhD
            Program in Immunology 
  • Courtney Smith
        Stanford University
          Lab of Jonathan Pritchard, PhD
            Program in Genetics
  • Emily Trimm
        University of Pennsylvania
          Lab of Kristy Red-Horse, PhD
            Program in Biophysics

2018

  • Gita Abhiraman
        Harvard University
          Lab of K. Christopher Garcia, PhD
             Program in Immunology
  • Lehi Acosta-Alvarez
        University of Utah
          Lab of Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, MD, PhD
             Program in Cancer Biology
  • Khristian Bauer-Rowe
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
          Lab of Michael Longaker, MD
             Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Harrison Besser
        Harvard University
          Lab of Chaitan Khosla, PhD
             Department of Chemistry
  • Preksha Bhagchandani
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
          Lab of Seung K. Kim, MD, PhD & Everett Meyer, MD, PhD
              Program in Immunology
  • Theodora Bruun
        University of Toronto
          Lab of Peter Kim, PhD
             Department of Biochemistry
  • Quenton Bubb
        Johns Hopkins University
          Lab of Agnieszka Czechowicz, MD, PhD & Crystal Mackall, MD
              Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Anthony Buzzanco
        University of California, Los Angelee
           Lab of Ted Jardetzky, PhD
              Program in Immunology
  • Tejas Dharmaraj
        Johns Hopkins University
          Lab of Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD
              Program in Immunology
  • Charlotte Herber
        Yale University
          Lab of Lisa Giocomo, PhD
             Program in Neurosciences
  • Karan Kathuria
        University of Texas, Austin
          Labs of Ash Alizadeh, MD, PhD & Mark Davis, PhD
             Program in Immunology
  • Daniel Liu
        Princeton University
          Lab of Irving Weissman, MD
             Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Tara Murty
        Harvard University
          Lab of Crystal Mackall, MD
             Program in Biophysics
  • Chelsea Nnebe
        Howard University
          Lab of Susan Tharin, MD, PhD & Julia Kaltschmidt, PhD
             Program in Neurosciences
  • Timothy Wu
        Stanford University
          Lab of Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD
             Department of Biochemistry
  • Olivia Zhou
        University of Pennyslvania
          Lab of Anne Brunet, PhD
             Program in Biophysics

2017

  • Shannon Choi
        University of California, Davis
          Lab of Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD
           Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Madeline Cooper
        Harvard University
          Lab of Brad Zuchero, PhD
           Program in Biophysics
  • Lori Dershowitz
        Harvard University
          Lab of Julia Kaltschmidt, PhD
           Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Joshua Guild
       University of California, Davis
          Lab of Tushar Desai, MD
            Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Isaac Jackson
        University of Michigan
          Lab of Michelle James, PhD
           Department of Chemistry
  • Samuel Kim
        Princeton University
          Lab of Gerald Crabtree, MD
           Program in Cancer Biology
  • Shamik Mascharak
        Stanford University
          Lab of Michael Longaker, MD
           Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Adi Mukund
        Duke University
          Lab of Lacramioara Bintu, PhD
           Program in Biophysics
  • William Shi
        Bowdoin College
          Lab of Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD
            Program in Cancer Biology

2016

  • Alvaro Amorin
        University of California, Berkeley
         Lab of Natalia Gomez Ospina, MD, PhD
          Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Timothy Chai
        University of California, Los Angeles
         Lab of Irving Weissman, MD
          Program in Cancer Biology
  • Anthony Cordova
        Stanford University
         Lab of Lingyin Li, PhD
          Program in Cancer Biology
  • Maria Filsinger Interrante
        Stanford University
         Lab of Peter Kim, PhD
          Program in Biophysics 
  • Andrea Garofalo
        University of Chicago
         Lab of Ash Alizadeh, MD, PhD
          Program in Cancer Biology
  • Margaret Guo
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
         Lab of Russ Altman, MD, PhD, & Paul Khavari MD, PhD
          Program in Biomedical Informatics
  • Ved Topkar
        Harvard University
         Lab of Rhiju Das, PhD
          Program in Biophysics
  • Vipul Vachharajani
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
         Lab of Alex Dunn, PhD
          Program in Biophysics
  • Shivam Verma
        Princeton University
          Lab of  Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD
            Department of Chemical & Systems Biology
  • Aaron Wilk
        Westmont College
         Lab of Catherine Blish, MD, PhD
          Program in Immunology
  • David Wang
        Princeton University
         Lab of Liqun Luo, PhD
          Department of Biology
  • Kathryn Wu
        Swarthmore College
         Lab of Brad Zuchero, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences
  • Angela Zhang
        Harvard University
         Lab of Joseph Wu MD, PhD
           Department of Genetics

2015

  • Heather Des Jardin-Park
        Harvard University
         Lab of Michael Longaker, MD
          Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Michelle Drews
        University of Washington
         Lab of Carla Shatz, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences
  • Sofia Essayan-Perez
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
         Lab of Thomas Südhof, MD, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences
  • Mollie Friedlander
        Bowdoin University
         Lab of Seung K. Kim, MD, PhD
          Department of Developmental Biology
  • Francisco Galdos
        Harvard University
         Lab of Sean Wu, MD, PhD
          Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Timothy Keyes
        Princeton University
         Lab of Kara Davis, DO
          Program in Cancer Biology
  • Kei Masuda
        Harvard University
         Lab of Lisa Giocomo, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences
  • Madeleine Scott
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
         Lab of Purvesh Khatri, PhD
          Program in Biophysics
  • Kevin Thomas
        Arizona State University
         Lab of Scott Delp, PhD
          Program in Biomedical Informatics
  • Jeffrey Wang
        Harvard University
         Lab of Raag Airan, MD, PhD
          Program in Biophysics
  • Adele Xu
        Stanford University
         Lab of Maria Barna, PhD
          Department of Genetics

2014

  • Jonathan Goodman
        University of Pennsylvania
         Lab of Gary Glover, PhD
          Program in Biophysics
  • Joy He
        Harvard University
         Lab of Irving Weissman, MD
          Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
  • Lorenzo Labitigan
        Yale University
         Lab of Julie Theriot, PhD
          Department of Biochemistry
  • Akshay Maheshwari
        University of California, San Diego
         Lab of Drew Endy, PhD
          Department of Bioengineering
  • Daniel Mokhtari
        Massachusetts Institute of Technology
         Lab of Daniel Herschlag, PhD
          Department of Biochemistry
  • Benjamin Ober-Reynolds
        Arizona State University
         Lab of William Greenleaf, PhD
          Department of Genetics
  • Ragini Phansalkar
        University of Connecticut
         Lab of Kristy Red-Horse, PhD
          Department of Genetics
  • Benjamin Smith
        Pomona College
         Lab of Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD
          Department of Chemical & Systems Biology
  • Avin Veerakumar
        University of Pennsylvania
         Lab of Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD
          Department of Bioengineering
  • Jessica Verhein
        University of California, Davis
         Lab of Krishna Shenoy, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences

2013

  • Sasidhar Madugula
        University of Illinois
         Lab of EJ Chichilnisky, PhD
          Program in Neurosciences
  • Paras Minhas
        University of Pittsburgh
         Lab of Katrin Andreasson, MD
          Program in Neurosciences

2012

  • Suchita Rastogi
        Washington University
         Lab of John Boothroyd, PhD
          Department of Microbiology and Immunology

2011

  • Luke Pennington
        Haverford College
         Lab of Ted Jardetzky, PhD
          Program in Immunology