Notable People 2017
November 2017
John Harris Jr., MD
Harris, professor of surgery, was elected president of the Western Vascular Society. He will serve a one-year term. His clinical interests include the collaborative role of vascular reconstruction during complex tumor resections.
Theodore Leng, MD
Leng was appointed associate professor of ophthalmology, effective July 1. His research interests include imaging informatics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, telemedicine, cell-based therapies and clinical trial design. He is the director of clinical and translational research and director of ophthalmic diagnostics for the Department of Ophthalmology.
Ronglih Liao, PhD
Liao was appointed professor of medicine, effective Dec. 1. Her research focuses on defining the mechanisms underlying amyloid heart disease. She will establish and lead basic and translational research at the Stanford Amyloid Center, which will integrate clinical, research and training efforts related to amyloidosis.
Jon-Paul Pepper, MD
Pepper was appointed assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective Aug. 1. He specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, particularly surgery for the treatment of facial paralysis as well as rhinoplasty, facial reconstruction following skin cancer, and facelift surgery.
Scott Soltys, MD
Soltys was promoted to associate professor of radiation oncology, effective Oct. 1. His work focuses on the development of new techniques involving stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy for the treatment of malignant and benign tumors of the brain and spine, as well as functional disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia.
Tulio Valdez, MD
Valdez was appointed associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective Oct. 1. He specializes in voice, breathing and swallowing problems in pediatric patients, including surgical management of dysphagia and approaches for managing chronic cough. His research focuses on developing imaging technology to improve diagnosis of middle ear conditions and swallowing dysfunction.
Leanne Williams, PhD
Williams, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has received a $3.8 million, four-year U01 grant from the National Institutes of Health Human Connectome Project. Her team plans to use advanced imaging to map human brain circuits with the goal of detecting brain circuit dysfunctions, allowing for a better understanding of emotional disorders.
Jamie Zeitzer, PhD
Zeitzer was appointed associate professor (research) of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective Nov. 1. He investigates the impact of light on circadian rhythms and is working to develop countermeasures to jet lag, shift work and altered sleep timing. He is also interested in the use of technology to track and improve sleep.
Elizabeth Egan, MD, PhD
Egan, assistant professor of pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology, will receive a 2018 Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Microbiology. The honor, which includes a travel stipend, recognizes early career scientists for research excellence and potential in the fields of microbiology and infectious disease. She is studying the role of the human erythrocyte in host susceptibility to malaria.
Shane Liddelow, PhD, and Anca Pasca, MD
Liddelow, a research scientist in neurobiology, and Pasca, a postdoctoral scholar in neonatology, were named 2017 STAT Wunderkinds by STAT News, an online biomedical news organization. Liddelow examines the role of astrocytes in central nervous system injury and neurodegenerative disease, with the goal of developing new therapies. Pasca has developed a model of a preterm brain to study neurodevelopmental problems in preterm babies.
Sergiu Pasca, MD, and Gregory Scherrer, PhD, PharmD
Pasca, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Scherrer, assistant professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine and of neurosurgery, were named 2017 New York Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Investigators. The awards, which include $1.5 million in seed funding for each recipient, recognize early career scientists whose innovative research has the potential to lead to improved therapies. Pasca, one of three stem cell investigators to receive the award, develops new approaches for studying human brain development and examining the mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. Scherrer, one of three neuroscience investigators getting the award, is working to eliminate the brain’s interpretation of pain as unpleasant and identify new ways to treat pain more efficiently and safely than currently done with opioids.
Courtney Pedersen, Margot Robinson and Hannah Wild
The three Stanford medical students were awarded 2017 Benjamin H. Kean Travel Fellowships in Tropical Medicine from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The fellowship provides airfare and $1,000 in living expenses for clinical training or a research project in an area affected by tropical diseases. Pedersen’s project examined the prevalence and impact of atopic diseases among children under the age of 5 and their families in rural Bangladesh. Robinson’s project evaluated pediatric tuberculosis screening strategies in a community with a high TB rate in South Africa. Wild traveled to Ethiopia’s remote Omo Valley to design and test methods for monitoring the health status of nomadic pastoralists.
John Ratliff, MD
Ratliff was promoted to professor of neurosurgery, effective July 1. His research focuses on quality improvement, decreasing complications in spine surgery and improving surgical treatment of intramedullary spinal cord tumors. He is the vice chair of neurosurgery and co-director of the Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery.
Maya Rossin-Slater, PhD
Rossin-Slater was appointed assistant professor of health research and policy, effective Sept. 1. Her research interests include maternal and child well-being, family structure and behavior, and policies targeting disadvantaged populations in the United States and other developed countries.
Eric Sibley, MD, PhD
Sibley, associate professor of pediatrics and assistant dean for academic advising, received the 2017 Distinguished Service Award from the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The award honors society members who have made major contributions to the field. He investigates the spatiotemporal regulation of genes expressed in the intestine and associated with nutrient assimilation.
Manjula Tamura, MD
Tamura was promoted to professor of medicine, effective Aug. 1. Her primary interest is in improving the quality of end-stage renal disease care among older adults. Her work aims to describe outcomes in older patients and to compare the effectiveness of different management strategies on these outcomes.
Capucine Van Rechem, PhD
Van Rechem was appointed assistant professor of pathology, effective Sept. 1. Her work focuses on understanding the effects of chromatin modifiers on cancer development and progression with the goal of developing therapies.
William Weis, PhD, and Georgios Skiniotis, PhD
Weis, the William M. Hume Professor, professor and chair of structural biology and professor of photon science and of molecular and cellular physiology, and Skiniotis, professor of molecular and cellular physiology and of structural biology, were named Innovation Fund Investigators by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This new program promotes collaborative research between alumni of the Pew scholars and fellows programs. Each partnership award provides $200,000 over two years. Weis and Skiniotis plan to determine the 3-D structure of a signaling complex in the Wnt pathway, which is involved in cellular development and cancer.
October 2017
Helen Blau, PhD
Blau, professor of microbiology and immunology, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Professor and director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, was appointed by Pope Francis as an academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The academy, founded in 1603 and comprised of 70 scientists from around the world who serve for life, both Catholics and non-Catholics, advises the pope on scientific issues. She will receive an insignia of her appointment in the fall of 2018.
David Camarillo, PhD, and Michael Yip, PhD
Camarillo, assistant professor of bioengineering, and Yip, PhD, a former postdoctoral scholar, co-authored “Model-less hybrid position/force control: A minimalist approach for continuum manipulators in unknown, constrained environments,” which was awarded the 2017 IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper award. In addition, the paper “In vivo evaluation of wearable head impact sensors,” of which Camarillo was senior author, won the Editor’s Choice Award from the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
Scott Ceresnak, MD
Ceresnak has been promoted to associate professor of pediatrics, effective Aug. 1. He works primarily in pediatric cardiology, with a subspecialty focus in pediatric electrophysiology and arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease. His research interests include signal analysis in the electrophysiology laboratory, arrhythmia syndromes in children, and arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease.
James Chang, MD
Chang, professor and chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery and the Johnson & Johnson Professor of Surgery, has been inducted as president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the largest hand surgery organization in the world. His interests include the use of tissue engineering and microsurgery to improve clinical care for hand trauma, tendon-bone injuries and congenital hand problems.
Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, and Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD
Deisseroth, professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Wyss-Coray, professor of neurology and neurological sciences, have been awarded NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Awards by the NOMIS Foundation, based in Switzerland. The awards, which include $2.5 million each, support exceptional scientists who are pursuing unconventional investigations. Deisseroth, who holds the D.H. Chen Professorship, plans to use the funding to employ CAPTURE, which combines optogenetics and a technique that renders tissue transparent, to record and control thousands of neurons across the brain, with the goal of understanding the relationship between neurodynamics and behavior. Wyss-Coray will use proteomic tools and genetic approaches in the short-lived African killifish to discover and evaluate circulatory factors with the potential to rejuvenate aged or degenerated brains.
Karuna Dewan, MD
Dewan was appointed assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective Aug. 1. She specializes in voice, breathing and swallowing problems in adult patients, including the surgical management of dysphagia and approaches for managing chronic cough. Her research focuses on quality of life, surgical outcomes and resident education.
Stephanie Harman, MD
Harman, clinical associate professor of medicine, was named a 2017 Sojourn Scholar by the Cambria Health Foundation. The professional development program was created to support emerging leaders in palliative care. The program provides $180,000 over two years to support a palliative-care project and leadership development. Her project will focus on the use of machine learning to improve palliative care access. Her research and clinical interests include bioethics in end-of-life care and communication in serious illness. She is the clinical section chief of palliative care.
K.C. Huang, PhD
Huang, associate professor of bioengineering and of microbiology and immunology, was named to the SN 10: Scientists to Watch list produced by Science News. Each scientist— age 40 or under — was nominated by a Nobel laureate or recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. Huang’s research focuses on understanding how bacteria address physical challenges.
Carlos Milla, MD
Milla was promoted to professor of pediatrics, effective Aug. 1. His interests include the inflammatory responses that lead to airway disease in cystic fibrosis and the metabolic factors that contribute to CF lung disease progression, as well as newborn screening to understand the development of lung disease in infants with CF. He directs the Stanford Cystic Fibrosis Center.
John Morton, MD
Morton, associate professor of surgery and chief of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery, has received the ASMBS Foundation’s Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the organization’s highest honor, which includes $5,000. The award recognizes an ASMBS member with a strong commitment to the organization who has made significant contributions to the field of metabolic and bariatric surgery.
Aaron Newman, PhD
Newman was appointed assistant professor of biomedical data science, effective Aug. 1. His research focuses on building data-science tools to understand the biology and clinical significance of neoplastic tissue composition.
Yair Blumenfeld, MD
Blumenfeld was promoted to associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, effective July 1. His work focuses on prenatal diagnosis, genetics and clinical obstetrics. He also serves as director of fetal therapy at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
Dimitre Hristov, PhD
Hristov was promoted to associate professor of radiation oncology, effective Aug. 1. His research interests include the development and integration of X-ray, MRI and ultrasound imaging technologies for radiation therapy guidance; improvement of radiation therapy delivery; and treatment-planning optimization and modeling.
Anna Lembke, MD
Lembke was promoted to associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective July 1. She is medical director of addiction medicine, program director for the Stanford University Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic.
Claude Nagamine, DVM, PhD
Nagamine was promoted to associate professor of comparative medicine, effective Oct. 1. His research focuses on using mouse models to study human infectious diseases, including dengue virus, Zika virus, coxsackievirus and anaplasma.
Heather Wakelee, MD
Wakelee was promoted to professor of medicine, effective Aug. 1. She specializes in the treatment of lung cancer, thymoma and mesothelioma. She also conducts clinical trials on compounds that target mutations in lung cancer and on immunotherapies for lung cancer. She is the faculty director of the Stanford Cancer Clinical Trials Office.
September 2017
Possu Huang, PhD
Huang was appointed assistant professor of bioengineering, effective Oct. 1, 2016. His research interests include computational and experimental protein engineering, with a focus on developing custom protein structures to address biomedical problems.
Daniel Jarosz, PhD
Jarosz, assistant professor of chemical and systems biology and of developmental biology, was named a 2017 Vallee Scholar by the Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee Foundation. The award honors outstanding early career scientists who are working to understand basic biological processes. It provides $250,000 over five years. His research examines the effects of protein folding and misfolding on disease and regular development, and how frequently mutating cells, such as cancer cells, survive and thrive.
Harold Pimentel, PhD
Pimentel, a postdoctoral scholar, has been named a Hanna H. Gray fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The program, which is intended to support young researchers as they transition from postdoctoral positions to principal investigators, provides up to $1.4 million over eight years, as well as mentoring. He develops computational and statistical methods to understand genomic data.
Manu Prakash, PhD
Prakash, assistant professor of bioengineering, was awarded the 2017 INDEX: Award in the play and learning category for developing the Paperfuge, a low-cost, hand-powered centrifuge. The prize includes 100,000 euros (about $119,000). He received the honor Sept. 1 in Denmark. His focus is on developing low-cost scientific tools, especially ones with clinical applications that could be used in low-resource regions.
Bali Pulendran, PhD
Pulendran was appointed professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology, effective June 15. His research interests focus on understanding how the immune system senses microbes and viruses and then programming immune responses against them to design vaccines.
Jeanne Shen, MD
Shen was appointed assistant professor of pathology, effective July 1. She specializes in gastrointestinal and pancreatobiliary pathology, with research interests in gastrointestinal and pancreatic neoplasia, inflammatory bowel disease, and the application of emerging technologies, such as digital image analysis and machine learning, to pathology.
Sara Singer, PhD
Singer was appointed professor of medicine, effective July 1. Her research examines challenges in health care delivery, including patient safety, the integration of fragmented services and the adoption of innovative practices. She also develops survey tools to measure patient and provider perspectives and interventions to improve teamwork and organizational culture.
Jeffrey Teuteberg, MD
Teuteberg was appointed associate professor of medicine, effective July 1. He is the section chief of heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. His research interests include new approaches to immunosuppression and the clinical outcomes of patients who have undergone surgery for a heart transplant or received mechanical heart support.
Sherry Wren, MD
Wren, professor of surgery and director of global surgery at the Center for Innovation in Global Health, has received an American College of Surgeons/Pfizer Surgical Volunteerism Award. The honor recognizes surgeons who are committed to giving back to society by making significant contributions to surgical care. Wren was recognized for her work developing a Stanford course to educate physicians in humanitarian surgery, her commitment to educational and research collaborations in Africa and for her work with Doctors Without Borders in conflict zones in Africa.
Michele Barry, MD
Barry, professor of medicine, senior associate dean of global health and director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health, will receive the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal from the American Medical Women’s Association in March. The association’s highest award, it recognizes a female physician who has made outstanding contributions to support women in medicine. In addition, Barry was appointed to a three-year term on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Board on Global Health. Barry was also elected to a two-year term, starting in 2020, as chair of the Consortium of Universities in Global Health, a coalition of 145 academic institutions and other organizations that address global health challenges.
Victoria Boggiano
Boggiano, a medical student, was named a 2017 Pisacano Scholar by the Pisacano Leadership Foundation. The award, which includes up to $28,000 in scholarship funds, is given to medical students committed to family medicine who demonstrate leadership, academic excellence, strong communication skills, integrity and a commitment to community service.
Michael Kapiloff, MD, PhD
Kapiloff was appointed associate professor of ophthalmology, effective July 10. His research examines the molecular and cellular responses of retinal ganglion cells and cardiac myocytes to disease. His translational efforts include the development of gene therapies for the treatment of retinal diseases and heart failure.
Arnold Milstein, MD
Milstein, professor of medicine, was appointed to the California Future Health Workforce Commission. The commission, comprised of leaders in health, education and workforce development, will develop a strategy to strengthen the health workforce with a focus on primary care, behavioral health and aging. He directs Stanford’s Clinical Excellence Research Center.
Anisha Patel, MD
Patel was appointed associate professor of pediatrics, effective July 1. Her clinical focus is in general pediatrics. Her research interests include developing and evaluating interventions and policies to prevent childhood obesity.
Erqi Pollom, MD
Pollom was appointed assistant professor of radiation oncology, effective July 1. Her research and clinical interests include stereotactic body radiation, breast cancer, brain tumors and radiosurgery.
Vivianne Tawfik, MD, PhD
Tawfik was appointed assistant professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine, effective July 1. Her clinical interests include the treatment of chronic pain, complex regional pain syndrome and peripheral nerve injury, and her research focuses on the interaction between the immune system and the nervous system following injury. She is the assistant director of the anesthesia residency research track.
august 2017
Raag Airan, MD, PhD
Airan, assistant professor of radiology, has been named the runner-up of the 2017 Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation. The prize recognizes outstanding research performed during the last three years that is described in an essay. His essay, “Neuromodulation with nanoparticles,” appeared in Science on Aug. 4.
Themistocles Assimes, MD, PhD
Assimes was promoted to associate professor of medicine, effective June 1. He is a cardiologist who conducts human molecular epidemiology studies of traits related to complex cardiovascular disease.
Samuel Cheshier, MD, PhD
Cheshier, assistant professor of neurosurgery, was awarded a $115,000 scholar extension grant for his Ty Louis Campbell Foundation award from St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which supports research on childhood cancers. He is working to block a signal expressed on cancer cells that protects them from the immune system, with the goal of targeting pediatric brain tumors.
Iris Gibbs, MD
Gibbs was promoted to professor of radiation oncology, effective June 1. She is the associate dean of MD admissions. She specializes in the treatment of central nervous system tumors and in the development of new radiotherapy techniques.
Carlos Gonzalez
Gonzalez, a graduate student in chemical and systems biology, was named a Gilliam Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The honor recognizes doctoral students with the potential to be leaders in their fields and the desire to support diversity in science. He will receive $46,000 a year for up to three years. In addition, his mentor, Joshua Elias, PhD, assistant professor of chemical and systems biology, will receive training in mentorship.
Anupama Narla, MD
Narla, assistant professor of pediatrics, has received a bridge grant from the American Society of Hematology. The grant provides $150,000 for one year to support blood disease research. Her research examines the pathophysiology of ribosomopathies, with the goal of developing new therapies.
Marlene Rabinovitch, MD
Rabinovitch, the Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and a professor of pediatrics, was named an American Heart Association Distinguished Science Lecturer for the AHA meeting in November. The honor recognizes scientists and clinicians who have advanced the understanding of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Her research focuses on supporting lung vascular development to ameliorate the effects of heart failure.
Georgios Skiniotis, PhD
Skiniotis was appointed professor of molecular and cellular physiology and of structural biology, effective June 1. His research focuses on the application of cryo-electron microscopy for the 3-D visualization of protein complexes, primarily signaling cell surface receptors, with the goal of understanding how they function.
Darrell Wilson, MD
Wilson, professor of pediatrics, in collaboration with David Seftel, MD, of Enable Biosciences, has been awarded a $700,000 grant from JDRF, an organization that funds Type 1 diabetes research. The team plans to develop an ultrasensitive auto-antibody panel for the early detection and treatment of the disease. Wilson’s research interests include pediatric endocrinology and the role of technology in the management of diabetes.
Caroline Yu
Yu. a medical student, has received a summer student fellowship from the Parkinson’s Foundation and the American Parkinson Disease Association. The $6,000 award will support her work on neuro-ophthalmic clinical markers for Parkinson’s disease with her mentor, Joyce Liao, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology and of neurology.
Valerie Baker, MD
Baker was promoted to professor of obstetrics and gynecology, effective June 1. She has served as medical director of the Stanford Fertility and Reproductive Health Center and chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Her research interests include pregnancy outcomes following infertility, assisted reproductive technology and primary ovarian insufficiency.
Ben Barres, MD, PhD
Barres, professor of neurobiology, of developmental biology and of neurology and neurological sciences, has received the Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer’s Research from the Alzheimer’s Association. The honor recognizes the senior author of the most impactful study published about Alzheimer’s research in the past two years. His work advanced the understanding of the role played by the apolipoprotein E gene in controlling the rate of synapse pruning by astrocytes in the brain.
Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD
Caswell-Jin, postdoctoral scholar in medical oncology, was awarded a 2017 Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The grant provides more than $100,000 a year for four years. She also received a three-year Susan G. Komen Postdoctoral Fellowship and a one-year American Society for Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award. Caswell-Jin plans to develop a model of HER2-positive breast cancer evolution that will help her examine how the cancer changes when treated with HER2-targeted therapy.
Heike Daldrup-Link, MD, PhD
Daldrup-Link was promoted to professor of radiology, effective June 1. She is the associate chair for diversity and director of the pediatric molecular imaging program in the Department of Radiology. She co-directs the cancer imaging and early detection program at the Stanford Cancer Institute.
Aaron Gitler, PhD
Gitler was promoted to professor of genetics, effective June 1. His research examines the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Victoria Hung, PhD, and Shaogeng (Steven) Tang, PhD
Hung, postdoctoral scholar in developmental biology and in genetics, and Tang, postdoctoral scholar in biochemistry, have been named Damon Runyon Fellows by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The fellowship provides $231,000 over four years to support basic and translational cancer research. Hung is examining how phosphorylation of ribosomal components leads to the specialization of ribosomes. Tang is developing small-molecule inhibitor drugs that target human immune checkpoint proteins. Tang was also selected as a Merck Fellow by the foundation.
Amy Krystosik, PhD
Krystosik, postdoctoral scholar in infectious diseases, was awarded the Robert E. Shope International Fellowship from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The fellowship provides $25,000 for a short-term arbovirology or infectious disease research experience in the tropics. Krystosik plans to conduct field tests of a miniaturized, automated, whole-blood cellular analysis system to test immunity to arboviruses in Kenya.
Winnie Kwofie
Kwofie, assistant director of facilities operations for the Office of Facilities Planning & Management, has received the 2017 Pacesetter Award from APPA, an educational facilities professional organization. The honor recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the educational facilities management profession and industry.
Jin Hyung Lee, PhD
Lee was promoted to associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences, of bioengineering and of neurosurgery, effective May 1. Her research focus is on analyzing and manipulating brain circuits to develop new therapies for neurological diseases.
David Myung, MD, PhD
Myung was appointed assistant professor of ophthalmology, effective June 1. He is the co-director of the Stanford Ophthalmic Innovation Program, a one-year, project-based fellowship. His research interests include regenerative medicine and drug delivery, as well as global health through telemedicine and emerging smartphone-based diagnostic platforms.
Kathleen Sakamoto, MD, PhD
Sakamoto, professor of pediatrics, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation to develop new small-molecule compounds to target CREB-dependent pathways for the treatment of relapsed acute leukemia. She holds the Shelagh Galligan Professorship in the School of Medicine.
Peter Santa Maria, MBBS, PhD
Santa Maria was appointed assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective June 1. His clinical focus is on adult and pediatric surgery for hearing, balance and facial nerve disorders. His research interests include tympanic membrane regeneration, biofilm treatment, oral wound healing and medical device development.
Debanti Sengupta, PhD
Sengupta, postdoctoral scholar in radiation oncology, was given the Alavi-Mandell Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging for being the lead author of “Single-cell characterization of 18F-FLT uptake with radioluminescence microscopy,” a paper published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine in July 2016. The award recognizes a trainee who is the lead author of an outstanding paper published in the journal.
Geoffrey Tabin, MD
Tabin was appointed professor of ophthalmology, effective June 1. He is a cornea and cataract specialist whose work focuses on reducing global blindness and developing systems of eye care in Asia and Africa. He is the co-founder of the Himalayan Cataract Project.
Kathryn Taylor, PhD
Taylor, postdoctoral scholar in neurology and neurological sciences, was awarded a Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellowship Award. The award provides $231,000 over four years to support research with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of pediatric cancer. Taylor is investigating the effect of neural activity on pediatric high-grade glioma invasion.
july 2017
Michaela Liedtke, MD
Liedtke was promoted to associate professor of medicine, effective May 1. She co-directs the Stanford Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program. Her clinical focus is on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, multiple myeloma and amyloidosis.
Vinit Mahajan, MD, PhD
Mahajan was appointed associate professor of ophthalmology, effective May 15. His research interests include the identification and understanding of genetic contributors to eye disease and blindness and of proteins associated with vitreoretinal disease, with the goal of developing personalized therapies.
Latha Palaniappan, MD
Palaniappan was appointed professor of medicine, effective May 1. Her research interests include diabetes, physical activity and health disparities. Her clinical focus is on the use of genetic and pharmacogenetics testing in primary care for precision health.
Ryan Ribeira, MD
Ribeira, a resident in emergency medicine, was elected as the resident-and-fellow representative to a two-year term on the board of the American Medical Association. His interests include health policy, quality improvement and health care operations.
Vanila Singh, MD
Singh, clinical associate professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine, has been appointed the chief medical officer to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She will advise the assistant secretary on public-health policy. Her interests include health policy, chronic pain, opioid use and misuse, ultrasound-guided procedures for regional anesthesia and early recognition of persistent pain in the post-operative period.
june 2017
Linda Boxer, MD, PhD
Boxer, professor of hematology, was appointed to the board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell agency. She is the vice dean of the School of Medicine and the Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor.
Scott Boyd, MD, PhD
Boyd was appointed associate professor of pathology, effective May 1. His research examines B-cell and T-cell antigen receptors and genotype-phenotype relationships in healthy immune systems and in those affected by disease.
Aida Habtezion, MD
Habtezion was promoted to associate professor of medicine, effective May 1. She is the Ballinger-Swindells Family Scholar. Her research focuses on leukocyte recruitment and immune responses in diseases of digestive organs.
Michael Z. Lin, MD, PhD
Lin was promoted to associate professor of neurobiology and of bioengineering, effective May 1. His research focuses on engineering proteins to visualize and control biochemical processes.
Holden Maecker, PhD
Maecker was promoted to professor (research) of microbiology and immunology, effective May 1. He directs the Human Immune Monitoring Center. His research is focused on T-cell responses to pathogens and cancer and on indicators of immune competence.
Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD
Steinberg, professor and chair of neurosurgery, was awarded the 2017 H. Richard Winn, MD, Prize by the Society of Neurological Surgeons. The international award recognizes a neurological surgeon who has made and continues to make substantial contributions to clinical or basic neuroscience. It is the society’s highest honor. Steinberg holds the Bernard and Ronni Lacroute-William Randolph Hearst Professorship in Neurosurgery and Neurosciences.
Matthew Strehlow, MD
Strehlow was appointed associate professor of emergency medicine, effective May 1. He directs Stanford Emergency Medicine International and its international emergency medicine fellowship. His interests include emergency medicine in developing countries, cardiology and critical care.
Ben Barres, MD, PhD
Barres, professor of neurobiology, of developmental biology and of neurology and neurological sciences, has received a 2017 President’s Award for Excellence Through Diversity from Stanford. The honor recognizes individuals and programs that have made exceptional contributions to enhance and support diversity on campus. Barres was honored “for blazing trails as a brilliant scholar and researcher, exceptional teacher, academic leader and as the first transgender man elected to the National Academy of Sciences.”
Catherine Blish, MD, PhD
Blish, assistant professor of medicine, was named a 2017 Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The program provides $500,000 over five years to investigate the interactions between microbes and humans. Blish will use her award to understand how natural killer cells fight HIV infection.
Anna Dapelo-Garcia
Dapelo-Garcia, administrative director of patient access services for Stanford Health Care, was named the 2017 Woman of the Year by Woman Health Care Executives of Northern California. The honor recognizes a woman whose leadership and contributions to the health care field are exceptional and deserving of recognition. She founded Lean In Latinas and is a regional program leader of Lean In, an organization that provides networking opportunities and career support for women.
Michael Fischbach, PhD
Fischbach was appointed associate professor of bioengineering, effective April 1. His research uses techniques from genomics and chemistry to analyze small molecules from the human microbiome.
Neil Gesundheit, MD
Gesundheit, professor of medicine and an associate dean for academic advising, was given the RISE Award by the Stanford Medicine Alumni Association. The honor recognizes an individual who represents the organization’s values to reach, inspire, serve and engage Stanford medical students, residents and alumni and who has demonstrated an exceptional dedication to nurturing Stanford Medicine and the alumni community.
Michael Gisondi, MD
Gisondi was appointed associate professor of emergency medicine, effective May 1. He is the vice chair of education for emergency medicine. His scholarly interests include medical education research and faculty development.
Keren Haroush, PhD
Haroush was appointed assistant professor of neurobiology, effective April 1. Her research focuses on the neuronal circuits that drive social interactions.
Kelley Harris
Harris, a postdoctoral scholar in genetics, received a 2016 Editors’ Choice Award in Population Genetics from the Genetics Society of America for the paper “The Genetic Cost of Neanderthal Introgression,” of which she was lead author. The paper appeared in June in the journal Genetics.
Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD
Majeti, associate professor of medicine, has been named the division chief of hematology in the Department of Medicine. His research focuses on the molecular and genomic characterization and targeting of leukemia stem cells.
Karim Sallam, MD
Sallam, clinical instructor of medicine, was awarded the William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award by the American College of Cardiology. The honor recognizes two outstanding papers published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by lead authors who are within five years of completing their training requirements for a specialty board certification or PhD. Sallam was recognized for “Patient-specific and genome-edited induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes elucidate single-cell phenotype of Brugada syndrome.”
David Schneider, PhD
Schneider was promoted to professor of microbiology and immunology, effective March 1. He is chair of the department. His research interests include innate immunity, microbial pathogenesis and the progress of and recovery from infections.
Leslee Subak, MD
Subak was appointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology, effective May 1. She is the chair of the department. She specializes in urogynecology and pelvic surgery and conducts research on urinary incontinence in women.
Thomas Südhof, MD
Südhof, professor of molecular and cellular physiology, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the independent scientific academy of the United Kingdom, which includes distinguished scientists from all areas of science, engineering and medicine. He is one of 10 foreign members selected this year. Südhof was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major cellular transport system. He holds the Avram Goldstein Professorship.
Mintu Turakhia, MD
Turakhia was promoted to associate professor of medicine, effective April 1. He is the director of cardiac electrophysiology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and senior director of the Stanford Center for Digital Health. His research focuses on improving the treatment of heart-rhythm disorders using methods that range from health-services research to multicenter clinical trials of technological interventions. Turakhia recently received a $200,000, two-year grant from the American Heart Association and Amazon Web Services to use artificial intelligence methods to improve clinical decision-making for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.
Paul Wang, MD
Wang, professor of medicine, was named the editor-in-chief of Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a journal published by the American Heart Association. Wang is the director of the hospital’s cardiac arrhythmia service, co-director of the Stanford Center for Arrhythmia Research and a faculty liaison for the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD
Wu, professor of medicine and of radiology, has been given a $1 million Merit Award from the American Heart Association. The award is intended to advance cardiovascular precision health. Wu plans to use patient- and disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to select optimal drugs for individual patients and to accelerate drug discovery using the concept of “clinical trial in a dish.” He is the director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor.
Fan Yang, PhD
Yang was promoted to associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and of bioengineering, effective June 1. In addition, she has received the Ellen Weaver Award for Outstanding Mentoring from the Association for Women in Science-Northern California Chapters. The award is given to a woman early in her career who has combined scientific achievement and mentoring, with demonstrated commitment to mentoring and support of other women in science. Yang’s research focuses on developing biomaterials and cell-based therapies for treating diseases including musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
may 2017
Steve Asch, MD
Asch, professor of medicine, was appointed as one of three editors-in-chief of the Journal for General Internal Medicine, which publishes research on primary care, health services, implementation science, medical education and the humanities. Asch specializes in improving and understanding care quality.
Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD
Bollyky, assistant professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, was named a 2017 Scholar-Innovator by the Harrington Discovery Institute. Bollyky receives at least $100,000, as well as assistance with drug development and project management to support breakthrough discoveries characterized by innovation, creativity and potential clinical impact. Bollyky was selected for his work on a new drug for Type 1 diabetes.
Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD
Deisseroth, professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has received the Distinguished Redelsheimer Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry. The $50,000 award recognizes a major breakthrough in the science of biological psychiatry. Deisseroth is being honored for his work in optogenetics, CLARITY, and for advancing the understanding of neuroscience. He holds the D.H. Chen Professorship.
Andrew Huberman, PhD
Huberman, associate professor of neurobiology and of ophthalmology, has received the Cogan Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. The award is given to a researcher younger than 45 who has made important contributions to ophthalmology research and who shows substantial promise. Huberman was honored for his work studying the development, function and repair of mammalian visual circuits. He is investigating how to regenerate the diseased and injured visual system.
Julia Kaltschmidt, PhD
Kaltschmidt was appointed associate professor of neurosurgery, effective April 1. Her research focuses on the mechanisms driving mammalian neuronal circuit formation.
Steven Lin, MD
Lin, clinical assistant professor of medicine, has received the President’s Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine for his work on its Faculty for Tomorrow Task Force, which focused on strategies to remedy the shortage of faculty members in family medicine. Lin was also appointed to the organization’s board of directors. He is the medical director of Stanford Family Medicine.
David A. Stevenson, MD
Stevenson was promoted to professor of pediatrics, effective April 1. He is the program director for the medical genetics residency and the combined pediatrics-medical genetics residency program. He also co-directs the genetics testing optimization service. His clinical focus is on RASopathies and vascular disorders. His research focuses on the impact of the Ras/MAPK pathway on musculoskeletal disorders.
Cornelia Weyand, MD
Weyand, professor of medicine, was selected as the 2017 David Trentham Visiting Professor in Rheumatology at Harvard University. As part of her visit, she gave a presentation on medium- and large-vessel vasculitis. Weyand is the chief of the division of immunology and rheumatology. Her interests include telomere biology and the role of genomic stress on autoimmunity and inflammation.
Becky Blankenburg, MD; Lauren Destino, MD, and Jennifer Everhart, MD
The three faculty members are part of a nationwide group that was awarded the 2016 John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. The honor, given by The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, recognizes national groundbreaking initiatives to improve patient safety and health care quality. Blankenburg, Destino and Everhart are part of the I-PASS Study Group, which won the award. The group works to improve patient safety by reducing communication failures during patient transitions between care providers. Blankenburg is a clinical associate professor of pediatrics, the director of the pediatric residency program and associate chair of education for the Department of Pediatrics; Destino is a clinical associate professor of pediatrics and the associate medical director of the pediatric hospital medicine division; and Everhart is a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics.
Waldo Concepcion, MD
Concepcion, professor of surgery and of pediatrics, has received the 2017 Excellence in Healthcare Award from the American Liver Foundation. He is the chief of clinical transplantation.
Utkan Demirci, PhD
Demirci was promoted to professor of radiology, effective April 1. He creates micro- and nanoscale platform technologies to diagnose and monitor diseases, and he develops microfluidic devices and biosensors for point-of-care diagnostics and for additive biomanufacturing.
William Greenleaf, PhD
Greenleaf was promoted to associate professor of genetics, effective April 1. His research focuses on developing methods to examine the structure and function of RNA and proteins and on the physical compaction and folding of the genome.
Kathleen Horst, MD
Horst was promoted to associate professor of radiation oncology, effective April 1. She is a clinical trialist whose interests include breast cancer and radiation therapy.
Carolyn Lee, MD, PhD
Lee, assistant professor of dermatology, was awarded a two-year, $200,000 grant from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation as part of its Kimmel Scholars Program. The program, which is in its final year, was created to jump-start the careers of promising, creative researchers investigating cancer. Lee’s focus is on the discovery and characterization of genetic contributors to skin cancer.
Jianghong Rao, PhD
Rao was promoted to professor of radiology, effective March 1. In his research, he aims to design, synthesize and evaluate molecular probes for imaging or to manipulate molecules, to develop biosensors and to improve drug screening and drug delivery.
Peter Tass, MD, PhD
Tass was appointed professor of neurosurgery, effective March 1. His research interests include computational neuroscience and therapeutic neurophysiology. He develops invasive and noninvasive stimulation techniques, including deep brain and sensory stimulation, for the treatment of brain disorders.
april 2017
Amin Aalipour
Aalipour, an MD-PhD student, was named a 2017 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. The fellowship of up to $90,000 is given to 30 immigrants or children of immigrants who are poised to make significant contributions to the nation through their work. A graduate of Stanford with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the School of Engineering, Aalipour is working in the lab of Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor and chair of radiology, to develop early-cancer-detection technologies and immunotherapies.
Maria Filsinger Interrante
Interrante, an MD-PhD student, is part of a team of Stanford students that has won the “Cure it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, which honors promising collegiate inventors in the United States. Her three-member team will share the $10,000 cash prize. The team engineered proteins that could help combat multi-drug-resistant bacteria.
Teri Klein, PhD
Klein was appointed professor (research) of biomedical data science and of medicine, effective March 1. Her research interests include pharmacogenetics, precision health, computational biology and bioinformatics.
William Newsome, PhD
Newsome, the Harman Family Provostial Professor, the Vincent V.C. Woo Director of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute and professor of neurobiology, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1780, the academy brings together leaders from the academic, business and governmental sectors to respond to challenges facing the nation and the world. Newsome is one of 228 new members, including 10 other Stanford faculty members, who will be inducted in October in Massachusetts. His research examines the neuronal processes that mediate visual perception and visually guided behavior.
Paul Nuyujukian, MD, PhD
Nuyujukian was appointed assistant professor of bioengineering and of neurosurgery, effective April 1. He directs the Brain Interfacing Laboratory. His research focuses on the use of brain-machine interfaces to study and treat a variety of brain-related medical conditions, such as stroke and epilepsy.
KT Park, MD
Park was promoted to associate professor of pediatrics, effective March 1. He is the co-director of the Stanford Children’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. His research uses big data, patient-reported outcomes and decision science to improve the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of diagnostic tools and therapies for gastrointestinal diseases.
Sergiu Pasca, MD
Pasca, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, was awarded a 2017 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grant in schizophrenia from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The grants, which provide $50,000 a year for up to two years, are given to 40 mid-career scientists to fund basic research, new technologies, diagnostic tools and therapies for mental illness. Pasca will use a human 3-D brain-culture system developed in his lab to study glial and neural abnormalities in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a genetic condition that confers a high risk of schizophrenia.
Daniel Chang, MD
Chang was promoted to professor of radiation oncology, effective March 1. His clinical focus is on gastrointestinal malignancies, and his research interests include developing stereotactic body radiotherapies for liver tumors and the use of functional imaging to gauge treatment response.
Chitra Dinakar, MD
Dinakar, clinical professor of medicine, will serve as an at-large representative on the board of directors of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Her term runs from 2017 to 2021. Her research and clinical interests include asthma, food allergies, therapy adherence, and health care disparities and outcomes.
Louanne Hudgins, MD
Hudgins, professor of pediatrics, was named president of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Her two-year term began April 1. Hudgins is also the medical director of Stanford’s master’s program in human genetics and genetic counseling, the director of perinatal genetics and the medical director of the clinical genomics service at Stanford Children’s Health.
Michelle James, PhD
James was appointed assistant professor of radiology and of neurology and neurological sciences, effective March 1. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating molecular imaging agents to improve the detection and treatment of brain diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease.
David Liang, MD, PhD
Liang was promoted to professor of medicine, effective March 1. His clinical focus is on Marfan syndrome and other aortic diseases. His research focuses on cardiac imaging, particularly image guidance of procedures.
Geoffrey Lighthall, MD, PhD
Lighthall was promoted to professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine, effective March 1. His interests include the evaluation and stabilization of critically ill patients outside of the ICU and the use of patient simulation as an educational and training tool.
Michael Longaker, MD
Longaker, the Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor and a professor of surgery, is part of a consortium that has received $12 million in funding over three years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to investigate dental, oral and craniofacial tissue regeneration. The funding will support a new California-based project called the Center for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Tissue and Organ Regeneration. C-DOCTOR will focus on facilitating tissue-regeneration clinical trials.
Sergiu Pasca, MD
Pasca, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has received the 2017 Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry. The honor recognizes a young investigator who has significantly contributed to the understanding of neurochemistry and has a high potential for future accomplishments. The award includes a $1,500 prize and was presented this month at the ASN meeting in Arkansas. Pasca’s focus is on generating 3-D brain models from stem cells to understand development and capture mechanisms of disease.
VJ Periyakoil, MD
Periyakoil was appointed associate professor of medicine, effective March 1. She directs Stanford Palliative Care Education Training and is the associate director of palliative care services at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. She is the founder of the Letter Project, an effort to promote advance-care planning.
Maria Polyakova, PhD
Polyakova, assistant professor of health research and policy, has received one of two 2017 Distinguished CESifo Affiliate Awards in applied microeconomics from the CESifo Group in Germany. The award is given to independent investigators within the first five years of their PhD. Polyakova was honored for her work on consumer choices in insurance markets.
James Priest, MD
Priest was appointed assistant professor of pediatrics, effective March 1. His focus is on understanding the genetics and pathogenesis of congenital heart disease using translational genomics, big data and vertebrate models of cardiac development.
Maria Grazia Roncarolo, MD
Roncarolo, professor of pediatrics and of medicine, chief of pediatric stem cell transplantation and regenerative medicine, and co-director of the Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, will receive the 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, the society’s highest honor. Roncarolo is being recognized for her contributions to the field of gene and cell therapy. She will accept the award in May in Washington, D.C., at the organization’s annual meeting.
Manish Saggar, PhD
Saggar was appointed assistant professor (research) of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective March 1. He is also a faculty member at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, or d.school. He is a computational neuroscientist who examines brain dynamics at rest and during learning.
Thomas Weiser, MD
Weiser was promoted to associate professor of surgery, effective March 1. He is a general and trauma surgeon and a surgical intensivist. Weiser’s research focuses on evaluating postoperative outcomes and barriers to surgical access in resource-poor settings and on developing interventions to improve safety and reliability of care.
March 2017
Renumathy Dhanasekaran, MD
Dhanasekaran, instructor of medicine, has received one of three 2017 Junior Faculty Development Awards from the American College of Gastroenterology. The award, which provides $100,000 a year for three years, supports junior investigators working toward independent careers in clinical research in gastroenterology or hepatology. Dhanasekaran’s project is “Plasma glycoproteomic biomarkers for invasive human hepatocellular carcinoma,” and her mentor is Dean Felsher, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and of pathology.
Alfredo Dubra, PhD
Dubra was appointed associate professor of ophthalmology, effective Oct. 1, 2016. His focus is on using ophthalmologic imaging technologies to reveal ocular, vascular, neurodegenerative and systemic diseases.
David Kingsley, PhD
Kingsley, professor of developmental biology, has received the 2017 Genetics Society of America Medal. The award honors outstanding contributions to the field of genetics in the past 15 years. Kingsley was recognized for his experimental work, beginning with different species of three-spine stickleback fish, which provided insights into how vertebrates evolve in natural environments. He has now expanded his inquiry into understanding human traits, including aspects of skin, skeletal and brain evolution.
Karim Sallam, MD
Sallam, clinical instructor of medicine, has received the American College of Cardiology’s William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award. The award recognizes two papers published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by authors early in their careers. Sallam’s paper, published Nov. 8, 2016, was “Patient-specific and genome-edited induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes elucidate single-cell phenotype of Brugada syndrome.” His mentor is Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and of radiology and director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.
Robson Capasso, MD
Capasso was appointed associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective Feb. 1. He is the chief of sleep surgery and an adviser for Stanford Biodesign. His interests include the use of smartphone applications for sleep-disordered breathing, biomarkers for obstructive sleep apnea, presurgical evaluation of sleep-apnea patients and post-surgery upper-airway changes in those patients, and the development and validation of new medical devices and digital health concepts.
Kara Davis, DO
Davis was appointed assistant professor of pediatrics, effective Jan. 1. Her research uses single-cell studies in primary patient samples to identify features of leukemia populations associated with patient outcomes.
Adam Frymoyer, MD
Frymoyer, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, was named an Early Career Investigator by Pediatric Research. His paper “High-dose erythropoietin population pharmacokinetics in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy receiving hypothermia” will appear in the May issue. His research focuses on understanding sources of variation in drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in children and applying this understanding to guide therapeutic decision-making.
David Gaba, MD
Gaba, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine, will receive the 2017 Dr. Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award from the American Medical Women’s Association. The honor, which will be presented at the association’s annual meeting in April, is given to a man who is a champion and supporter of women in medicine. In addition, Gaba received the Pioneer in Simulation Award from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in January. He was recognized for developing the technology for one of the first human patient simulators, for using simulation to support teamwork in health care and for serving as the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Simulation in Healthcare.
Aida Habtezion, MD, Sidhartha Sinha, MD, and Justin Sonnenburg, PhD
Habtezion, assistant professor of medicine; Sinha, instructor of medicine; and Sonnenburg, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, have received a $200,000 Synergy Award from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation for their project investigating how secondary bile acids modulate intestinal inflammation. The funding is given to support collaborative research projects on inflammatory bowel disease that have the potential to yield transformative discoveries and major insights.
Poonam Hosamani, MD
Hosamani, clinical assistant professor of medicine, has received the 2017 Clinician Educator Award from the California-Hawaii Region of the Society of General Internal Medicine. The award recognizes early- or mid-career clinicians who focus on medical education. Her interests include hospital medicine and undergraduate and graduate medical education.
Hadi Hosseini, PhD
Hosseini was appointed assistant professor (research) of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective Feb. 1. His research focuses on investigating structural and functional brain networks, known as connectomics, in several neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders using neuroimaging and graph theoretical and multivariate pattern analysis techniques. He is also developing neurofeedback interventions to enhance executive functions in children and older adults with neurocognitive deficits.
Yuhei Kobayashi, MD
Kobayashi, a postdoctoral scholar in cardiovascular medicine, has received a Young Author Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology. The honor recognizes the publication of outstanding research. Kobayashi’s paper “The influence of lesion location on the diagnostic accuracy of adenosine-free coronary pressure wire measurements” appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions. His mentor is William Fearon, MD, professor of medicine.
Scott Lambert, MD
Lambert, professor of ophthalmology, has been named the co-chief of pediatric ophthalmology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, effective Feb. 1. His clinical focus is treating children and adults with strabismus, and his research interests include improving care for children with congenital cataracts.
Natalie Lui, MD
Lui was appointed assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery, effective Feb. 1. She is a thoracic surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive thoracic and foregut operations, tracheal surgery and thoracic outlet syndrome. Her research focuses on thoracic oncology.
Koen Nieman, MD, PhD
Nieman was appointed associate professor of medicine and of radiology, effective April 1. His research focus is on cardiac imaging.
Kathleen Poston, MD
Poston was promoted to associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences, effective Feb. 1. Her research focuses on developing neuroimaging biomarkers to understand cognitive impairment and dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease.
Kristan Staudenmayer, MD
Staudenmayer was promoted to associate professor of surgery, effective Feb. 1. Her interests include trauma surgery, general surgery and determining the extent of injuries in older adults.
Kristen Yeom, MD
Yeom was promoted to associate professor of radiology, effective Jan. 1. Her research focuses on the development and validation of MRI-based techniques for the pediatric and neonatal brain, as well as clinical translation of MRI methods to improve the understanding of normal childhood brain development and neuropathology, including brain tumors, injury and the neurotoxic effects of some treatments.
February 2017
Beth Beadle, MD, PhD
Beadle was appointed associate professor of radiation oncology, effective Jan. 1. She specializes in radiation therapy for head and neck cancers. Her research interests include improving patient outcomes through technology and developing automated radiation treatment techniques for low- and middle-income countries.
Tina Cowan, PhD
Cowan was promoted to professor of pathology, effective Jan. 1. She’s a biochemical geneticist who is working to improve testing to diagnose and monitor patients with metabolic disorders.
Manisha Desai, PhD
Desai was promoted to professor of medicine and of biomedical data science, effective Feb. 1. She is the founder and director of the Quantitative Sciences Unit, which supports researchers by providing expertise in biostatistics and informatics. She is developing team-based approaches to collaborate with clinical and translational investigators. Her research interests include the treatment of missing data, the processing and analysis of accelerometer data and the analysis of longitudinal studies.
Diana Do, MD
Do was appointed professor of ophthalmology, effective Jan. 1. She is a retina surgeon, and her research interests include developing new treatments for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Anthony Doufas, MD, PhD
Doufas was promoted to professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine, effective Dec. 1. His research focuses on pain responses and clinical opioid pharmacology in surgical patients suffering from sleep-disordered breathing.
Michael Jeng, MD
Jeng was promoted to professor of pediatrics, effective Jan. 1. His research and clinical practice focus on pediatric hematology. He is currently investigating histiocytic disorders, including Langerhans cell histiocytosis, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and vascular anomalies.
Mark McGovern, MD
McGovern was appointed professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective Jan. 30. His research focuses on developing and implementing integrated behavioral health services for patients with psychiatric disorders or addiction disorders, or both, who present in general medical settings. He also conducts research on expanding access to addiction medications and improving outcomes for patients with opioid addictions.
Quan Dong Nguyen, MD
Nguyen was appointed professor of ophthalmology, effective Feb. 1. He is a retina surgeon who specializes in the management of uveitis, ocular inflammatory diseases and vitreoretinal disorders. He has conducted clinical trials on macular edema, neovascular age-related macular degeneration and ocular inflammatory and uveitic diseases, as well as contributed to the development of several pharmacotherapeutic agents.
Kavita Sarin, MD, PhD
Sarin was appointed assistant professor of dermatology, effective Jan. 1. Her research interests involve integrating genetic and clinical patient data to inform disease susceptibility prediction, stratify prognoses and direct treatments for dermatologic disease.
Jay Shah, MD
Shah was appointed associate professor of urology, effective Jan. 1. He will also serve as cancer-care program leader for genitourinary oncology. He is a urologic oncologist who focuses on bladder cancer and uses both robotic and open surgery to treat patients. He conducts outcomes research on patients undergoing bladder removal surgery.
Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD
Steinberg professor and chair of neurosurgery, was among the recipients of Stroke’s 2016 Progress and Innovation Award. He won third prize for the paper “Clinical outcomes of transplanted modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in stroke: a phase 1/2a study.” The prize includes a $1,000 and travel award to attend the 2017 International Stroke Conference. Steinberg is the Bernard and Ronni Lacroute-William Randolph Hearst Professor in Neurosurgery and Neurosciences.
Yang Sun, MD, PhD
Sun was appointed associate professor of ophthalmology, effective Feb. 1. His clinical work focuses on the medical and surgical management of glaucoma. His research interests include inositol metabolism and primary cilia signaling in eye development and disease.
Steven Frick, MD
Frick was appointed professor of orthopaedic surgery, effective Dec. 1. He is the chief of pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and vice chair for education for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. His clinical interests include clubfoot and disorders of the foot and ankle, complex fracture care, hip dysplasia, osteogenesis imperfecta and neuromuscular disorders.
Aaron Gitler, PhD
Gitler, associate professor of genetics, was awarded one of 30 new R35 Research Program Awards from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The grants, which are intended to promote creative research by providing stable funding, finance five years of research with a potential three-year extension. Gitler will use the funding to explore ways of innovating yeast and human genetic approaches to define mechanisms of neurodegenerative disease.
Susan Hiniker, MD
Hiniker was appointed assistant professor of radiation oncology, effective Oct. 1. Her research interests include pediatric cancer, brain and central nervous system tumors, and Hodgkin’s disease.
Arden Morris, MD
Morris was appointed professor of surgery, effective Sept. 1. Her clinical work includes surgeries of the colon and rectum, and she uses mixed-methods research to focus on the quality of and disparities in surgical care. She directs the new Stanford-Surgery Policy, Improvement Research and Education Center.
January 2017
Kay Chang, MD
Chang was promoted to professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, effective Nov. 1. He is a pediatric otologist with research interests in the prevention of ototoxicity, neonatal hearing screening, the genetics of hearing loss and pediatric cochlear implants.
Korey Hood, PhD
Hood was appointed professor of pediatrics and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, effective Nov. 1. His research and clinical efforts aim to improve the health and quality of life of people with diabetes and other chronic diseases.
John Leppert, MD
Leppert was promoted to associate professor of urology, effective Nov. 1. His research and clinical work focuses on kidney cancer surgery, kidney cancer detection and responses to cancer therapy.
S.V. Mahadevan, MD
Mahadevan was promoted to professor of emergency medicine, effective Dec. 1. He is the interim chair of emergency medicine. His research and clinical interests include emergency medicine education, trauma, emergency medical services and global health.
Elizabeth Mormino, PhD
Mormino was appointed assistant professor (research) of neurology and neurological sciences, effective Jan. 1. Her research interests include brain imaging with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and aging.
Heather Moss, MD, PhD
Moss was appointed assistant professor of ophthalmology, effective Nov. 1. Her research aims to identify and develop markers of impaired optic nerve structure and function that can guide management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension to prevent blindness. Her clinical focus is on neuro-ophthalmology, including the diagnosis and treatment of brain, nerve and muscle disorders that affect vision.
Jochen Profit, MD
Profit was promoted to associate professor of pediatrics, effective Dec. 1. His research focuses on improving the design of health care systems to improve outcomes for sick newborns.
Hua Tang, PhD
Tang was promoted to professor of genetics, effective Dec. 1. In her research, she develops statistical and computational approaches to delineate the evolutionary history of the human population and to examine the genetic architecture of complex traits and diseases in minority populations.
Wen-Kai Weng, MD, PhD
Weng was promoted to associate professor of medicine, effective Dec. 1. His clinical focus is blood and marrow transplantation, and his research focuses on lymphoma, including immunotherapy and efforts to understand its pathobiology.
Lacramioara Bintu, PhD
Bintu was appointed assistant professor of bioengineering, effective Jan. 1. Her research focuses on understanding the dynamics of gene and chromatin regulation to improve mammalian cell engineering.
Thomas Cherpes, DVM, MD
Cherpes was appointed assistant professor of comparative medicine, effective Dec. 1. His research interests include the effect of female hormones on immune responses to genital-tract pathogens, host responses to chlamydia infection and the development of cellular immunotherapies for cancer.
Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD
Diehn, assistant professor of radiation oncology, was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He was recognized for his work using sequencing to analyze circulating tumor DNA. The society includes more than 3,000 physician-scientists from all medical specialties who are selected for their significant research accomplishments.
Prasanna Jagannathan, MD
Jagannathan was appointed assistant professor of medicine, effective Jan. 1. His research focuses on the mechanisms of protective immunity in malaria and on immunogenic therapies and vaccines.
Thomas Robinson, MD
Robinson was awarded the 2016 Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health administered by McGill University. The prize, which includes a research award of 50,000 Canadian dollars (about $37,777), recognizes researchers who enhance the understanding of how physical activity, nutrition or psychosocial factors affect health. Robinson, the Irving Schulman, MD, Professor in Child Health and a professor of pediatrics and of medicine, was honored for his work combating childhood obesity.
Sui Wang, PhD
Wang was appointed assistant professor of ophthalmology, effective Jan. 1. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying retinal diseases and retinal development by investigating gene regulatory networks.
Katja Weinacht, MD, PhD
Weinacht was appointed assistant professor of pediatrics, effective Oct. 1. Her clinical work focuses on genetic immune diseases and immune dysregulation. Her research examines the relationship between mitochondrial bioenergetics and cell development and explores the use of stem cell therapy for patients with DiGeorge syndrome.
J. Bradley Zuchero, PhD
Zuchero was appointed assistant professor of neurosurgery, effective Jan. 1. His research interests include the developmental biology of glia and diseases of the nervous system.
