Media advisory: Stanford offers experts on swine flu

STANFORD, Calif. - From flu vaccines to antiviral drugs and pandemic planning, Stanford Medicine has a multitude of experts available to respond to media queries related to the swine flu crisis. To arrange interviews, please contact one of our media representatives.

Experts who can respond to general questions:

• Cornelia Dekker, MD, professor of pediatric infectious diseases, is the medical director of the Stanford-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Vaccine Program. She conducts studies of new vaccines in children and adults, with an emphasis on seasonal influenza, avian influenza, malaria and smallpox vaccines. She is a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee.

• Yvonne Maldonado, MD, is a professor of pediatric infectious diseases, and is chief of infectious disease at Packard Children's Hospital. She is fluent in Spanish. A video of Maldonado with tips on hand washing is available at http://med.stanford.edu/local/.

• Nayer Khazeni, MD, instructor in medicine, is a specialist in pulmonary medicine. She recently developed a model of an avian flu pandemic and ways to mitigate it. She is also studying the efficacy and safety of long-term use of the antivirals Tamiflu and Relenza.

• David Lewis, MD, professor of pediatric immunology, does research on swine flu. (He is currently at a vaccine conference in France, but is available via e-mail).

• Jose Montoya, MD, associate professor of infectious diseases, is fluent in Spanish.

Experts who can respond to issues related to pandemics and disaster planning:

• Eric A. Weiss, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine, is medical director of disaster planning for the Stanford University Medical Center. He can address issues of disaster preparedness.

• Douglas Owens, MD, professor of medicine, is involved in work on the pandemic flu response.

• Michele Barry, MD, is the new senior associate dean for global health at the School of Medicine and director of International Health Programs at Stanford. She is an expert in emerging infectious diseases, globalization's impact on health in the developing world, tropical medicine and problems of underserved populations.

• Lucy Tompkins, MD, is a professor of infectious diseases and of microbiology and immunology.

Expert on how parents can talk to their kids about the swine flu outbreak:

• Sharon Williams, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is a psychiatrist specializing in children's issues.