Physician Scientist Bridge to K Program
Overview
The Department of Pediatrics Physician-Scientist Bridge to K Program (B2K) is designed to provide talented, passionate physician scientists essential financial support and career development mentorship to bridge the years between fellowship training and an academic faculty position. This competitive program will provide funding for selected early career physician scientists to complete up to three years as an Instructor with 75% protected time for research. It is expected that participants in the program will submit an application for an NIH Career Development (K) Award or equivalent.
Eligibility Criteria
- Must possess an MD, DO, or MD/PhD degree
- Must meet one of the following criteria:
- be a fellow in their terminal year of fellowship
- be a Postdoctoral Scholar + Clinical Scholar pursuing one additional year of postdoctoral training after fellowship
- be an Instructor within the first year of their appointment after fellowship
Details of Support
Financial Support
Instructors in the Physician Scientist Bridge to K Program will receive Departmental support to protect 75% of their salary for up to three years.
Instructors on institutional or individual K awards are also eligible for additional financial support through the MCHRI Instructor K Award Support Program. This program provides a 1:1 match of department commitments up to $25,000, providing total combined support of up to $50,000 per year for up to two years.
Career Development
Participants are expected to attend the monthly B2K meetings. These meetings provide an opportunity for participants to present their research in a number of formats (e.g., chalk talks, job talks, formal research seminars) to a supportive environment for advice and scientific feedback. On alternate months, informative “Hot Topic” issues are discussed among the group with invited faculty. Examples of recent “Hot Topics” include:
- How to give an effective chalk talk
- Start-up packages and negotiation
- How to run a sustainable research program
Peer Support
Resilience is a key determinant of success as a physician scientist. Peer support serves as a valuable source of encouragement, advice, and camaraderie. As the physician-scientist path has become less common, many young trainees and junior faculty may find it difficult to find physician scientist role models and colleagues within their own division. The B2K monthly meetings allow junior physician scientists from diverse specialties and research backgrounds the opportunity to connect with one another within their own community.
General Timeline
It is expected that all participants submit their first application for a K award (or equivalent) no later than October of their second year in the program to allow time for the submission of a revised application prior to the end of the three-year Instructor period. Please click here to download a copy of the proposed 3-year timeline for Instructors with key benchmarks.
Questions
For questions, please contact:
Berekete Haileselassie, MD, MHS
Director, Physician Scientist Bridge to K Program
Assistant Professor, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Stephen Bechtel Endowed Faculty Scholar in Pediatric Translational
Associate Program Director - Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship
Stanford University School of Medicine
bhailes3@stanford.edu
Application Steps
All applicants must discuss their career goals with their Division Chief prior to applying.
A single PDF containing the five components listed below should be submitted via the Application Webform. Applications are due by 11:59pm on Friday, August, 15, 2025.
- 1. Applicant’s Career Development Plan (3 pages)
- A personal statement developed with the Mentor and Division Chief describing:
- Candidate’s background:
- Summary of research experience to date, including publications, manuscripts in preparation, and prior grant submissions and awards. Include an overview of fellowship research and include information regarding progress to date and any significant obstacles or challenges.
- Career goals and objectives:
- Describe your short and long-term career goals.
- Justify the need for the award by describing how this award will enable you to develop or expand your research career.
- Describe your short and long-term career goals.
- Career development plan:
- Explicitly state the training objectives and describe the detailed training plan to achieve each objective, including coursework, conference attendance, provide a three-year timeline corresponding to the stated training objectives. Include planned grant applications with the estimated timeline for submission and the salary support provided by the grant(s).
- Candidate’s background:
- A personal statement developed with the Mentor and Division Chief describing:
- 2. Applicant Biosketch (No page limit)
- For reference; please use the non-fellowship biosketch format: NIH Biosketch Instructions
- 3. Research Strategy (4 pages, excluding references)
- Description of a 3-year proposed scientific project that includes:
- Specific Aims (0.5-1 page)
- Background
- Experimental Approach
- Plans for developing an NIH K grant or equivalent Career Development Award, including planned dates of submission
- Specific Aims (0.5-1 page)
- Description of a 3-year proposed scientific project that includes:
- 4. Nomination Letter from the Division Chief
- The nomination letter should include the following components:
- Provide the chief's assessment of the candidate's research accomplishments to date, strength and impact of the proposed study, and potential for developing a career as an independent investigator.
- Describe what role the division will play in providing the candidate with appropriate mentorship, training opportunities, and research facilities and resources, to carry out the proposed career development and research plans.
- The nomination letter should confirm:
- Candidate will receive 75% protected time from clinical duties to devote to research or research career development.
- Candidate will commit to attending all B2K monthly meetings when not on clinical service and attend the joint Stanford/UCSF Physician Scientists Retreat
- Commitment to meet with the candidate at least twice per year, including one joint meeting with Dr. Leonard, B2K director, and the candidate's primary research mentor.
- Commitment to attend the annual joint Stanford/UCSF Physician Scientists Retreat .
- For divisions where the salary support for the candidate will be either provided by the division or shared with the Department (e.g., Cardiology, Neonatal & Developmental Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation), please confirm a commitment to provide the candidate with this financial support for up to 3 years, provided that the candidate continues to demonstrate sufficient research progress and achieve the benchmarks established during the bi-annual meetings.
- 5. Mentor Information (required for each proposed mentor)
- NIH Biosketch (5 pages)
- Letter of Support: (3 pages)
- The Mentor letter should describe:
- Mentor’s research qualifications and previous experience as a research supervisor;
- Mentoring plan that describes the current mentoring relationship, meeting cadence with the candidate, and a plan for monitoring the candidate’s research, publications, and development of career development grants;
- Available resources, such as laboratory space, equipment, and other resources and facilities (including access to clinical and/or other research populations, if necessary) to carry out the proposed research.
- Commitment to meet annually with Dr. Mary Leonard (Dept Chair), Division Chief, B2K Director, and the candidate.
- Commitment to attend the annual joint Stanford/UCSF Physician Scientists Retreat .
- The Mentor letter should describe:
- 6. Appendix (no page limit): Please submit as an appendix any abstracts related to your proposed project or any completed manuscripts that have not yet been published.
Selection Criteria & Timeline
Timeline
- Application Deadline: October 1, 2024
- Notification of Decision: November 2024
Evaluation Criteria
- Application evaluation:
- Applications will be reviewed by all members of the B2K Review Committee.
- Interviews:
- Each applicant will be interviewed by two members of the review committee.
- The study section will meet after completion of the interviews to determine final ranking of applicants based on composite scores from the application review and interview.
B2K Review Committee
- Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE, Department Chair
- Berekete Haileselassie, MD, MHS, Director of the Physician Scientist Bridge to K Program
- Crystal Botham, PhD, Director of the Office of Pediatric Research Development
- Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, MPH, Associate Chair for Clinical Research
- David Cornfield, MD, Division Chief and Professor
- Sushma Reddy, MD, Associate Professor
- Christopher Russell, MD, MS, Associate Professor
Ruben Colman, MD, PhD
Dr. Ruben Colman is a pediatric gastroenterologist and physician-scientist with an overarching goal to better the lives of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through the improvement of treatment paradigms using noninvasive pharmacodynamic microbial markers and noninvasive monitoring via intestinal ultrasound. Dr. Colman completed his MD and PhD at the University of Amsterdam with a thesis focused on ‘Precision Dosing and Personalized Medicine for children with inflammatory bowel disease”. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at SBH Health System and both a fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology and an Advanced fellowship in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s. At Stanford, Dr. Colman is building an interdisciplinary precision therapeutics program funded through the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Team Science and Translational Medicine Faculty Development Program. He is mentored by Michael Rosen, MD, MSCI as well as co-mentors and advisors who have additional expertise in clinical pharmacology, microbiology, metabolomics and machine-learning. Dr. Colman is also externally funded with awards from the Thrasher Research Fund and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Foundation.
Research Mentor: Michael J. Rosen, MD, MSCI
Fellowship: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship, OH
Residency: St. Barnabas Health Pediatrics Residency Program, NY
Mindy Lee, MD, PhD
Dr. Mindy Lee is a pediatric endocrinologist physician scientist focused on clinical research and quality improvement. Dr. Lee obtained her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from University of Pennsylvania and received her MD and PhD studying molecular mechanisms of autophagy from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She trained in pediatric residency and pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Stanford University, where she participated in the Teamwork, Targets, Technology, and Tight Control in Newly Diagnosed Pediatric T1D (4T Study) and Continuous Glucose Monitoring Time in Range Program at Stanford (CGM TIPS), two pragmatic clinical trials aimed at improving health outcomes for youth with type 1 diabetes using CGM and remote patient monitoring technologies. Additionally, she led multidisplinary teams to develop and implement hospital policies to support the use of CGM and automated insulin delivery systems across Stanford’s adult and pediatric hospitals and studied the barriers and facilitators of implementation. Her current research interests are using technology to deliver high quality and high value care for patients with diabetes, with specific focus on bridging the gap between evidence base and clinical practice.
Research mentors: David Maahs, MD, PhD, Priya Prahalad, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K12 DiabDocs
Fellowship: Pediatric Endocrinology
Residency: Stanford Children's Health / Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Siva Kasinathan, MD, PhD
Siva Kasinathan, MD, PhD is a pediatric rheumatologist whose research is focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of immune dysregulation. As a physician scientist, he envisions translating this knowledge to improve the care and outcomes of children living with rheumatic diseases. Siva completed MD-PhD training at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, where his research included the innovation of several genome-scale technologies for chromatin profiling and generated new insights into chromosome biology and evolution. During his clinical training in pediatrics and rheumatology at Stanford, Siva developed tools for simultaneously analyzing genetic and epigenomic variation on single chromatin fibers in clinical samples and assembled a longitudinal pediatric and adult immune dysregulation cohort. Siva’s current research with Dr. Ansuman Satpathy spans basic and translational rheumatology and is focused on genetics and epigenomics of autoimmunity.
Research Mentor: Ansuman Satpathy, MD, PhD
Fellowship: Pediatric Rheumatology
Residency: Stanford Children’s Health / Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Jennifer Sequoia, MD, PhD
Dr. Jennifer Sequoia is a neonatologist working at the interface of immunology and perinatal biology. She completed her bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in chemistry at University of California, San Diego, where she worked with Dr. Seth Cohen to develop metalloenzyme inhibitors and fluorescent dyes. She then joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at The University of Chicago, where she obtained a PhD in immunology studying the epigenetic regulation of early lymphocyte development in the lab of Dr. Barbara Kee. She then moved to Stanford to complete her residency in Pediatrics in the Integrated Research Pathway followed by fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal medicine. At Stanford, she has been working with Dr. Virginia Winn to understand the biologic underpinnings of preeclampsia using multi-omics analyses of clinical samples from patients with this disease. Dr. Sequoia is currently developing a research program in endocannabinoid biology, where she is working to understand how these endogenous lipids impact the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and other perinatal diseases with the goal to translate these findings into new therapies for mothers and babies.
Research Mentors: Virginia Winn, MD, PhD (Stanford); Judith Hellman, MD (UCSF)
Fellowship: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Residency: Stanford Children's Health / Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Ben Solomon, MD, PhD
Dr. Ben Solomon is a pediatric immunologist focused on exploring the role of antigen-specificity in immune pathogenesis. He completed his medical training at Washington University where he also obtained his PhD in immunology for work with Dr. Chyi Hsieh to identify the developmental origin of novel regulatory T cell subsets in the intestinal mucosa. Dr. Solomon then completed his pediatric residency and allergy-immunology fellowship training at Stanford University. Supported by the Stanford-NIH R38 StARR program and Pediatric Scientist Development Program, Dr. Solomon has worked with Dr. Purvesh Khatri on HLA genotyping from single-cell transcriptomic data and the use of artificial intelligence language models to evaluate the precision of diagnostic criteria. As an instructor in the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at Stanford, Dr. Solomon continues to work with Dr. Khatri as part of the Bridge-K-Program, focusing on developing methods to derive signatures of adaptive immune responses from the T-cell antigen receptor repertoire to better predict an individual’s response to infection and immunization.
Research Mentor: Purvesh Khati, PhD
Career Development Award: Pediatrics Scientist Development Program
Fellowship: Allergy and Immunology
Residency: Stanford Children’s Health / Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Xavier Gaeta, MD, PhD
Xavier Gaeta received his MD and PhD degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his Pediatrics residency at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, then joined the Pediatric Nephrology fellowship at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. His research interests center on applying developmental programs to regenerative medicine. During graduate school this meant learning how genetic maturation circuits act during ectodermal differentiation from stem cells. Now as a nephrologist this means understanding and recapitulating kidney development and disease in organoids. He is supported by the AMSPDC Pediatric Scientist Development Program K-12, and the LAUNCH U2C/TL1 post-doctoral fellowship.
Research Mentor: Calvin J. Kuo, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: Pediatrics Scientist Development Program
Fellowship: Pediatric Nephrology
Residency: UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
Alireza Raissadati, MD, PhD
Dr. Alireza Raissadati is a pediatric cardiologist focused on developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for heart transplant rejection. He completed his medical training and dual PhDs at the University of Helsinki, where he studied immune mechanisms in heart transplantation and conducted nationwide outcomes research in congenital heart surgery. He completed his pediatrics residency at Boston Children's Hospital through the Accelerated Research Pathway, before joining Stanford University for his pediatric cardiology fellowship. Now working with Dr. Sean Wu, he is using murine models and computational methods to develop novel non-invasive tools for profiling tissue damage in heart transplant recipients. His research aims to transform post-transplant care by replacing invasive biopsies with blood-based diagnostics that can provide real-time insights into graft health.
Research Mentor: Sean Wu, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: Pediatrics Scientist Development Program
Fellowship: Pediatric Cardiology
Residency: Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Crystal Wang, MD
Dr. Crystal Wang obtained her Bachelor's degree in General Biology with a double minor in French and International Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, and received her medical degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Wang completed her pediatrics residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and she came to Stanford in 2020 to complete her training in pediatric hematology/oncology. She is now pursuing research with Dr. Melanie Gephart and Dr. Kara Davis, where she is studying the pathogenesis of central nervous system leukemia.
Research Mentor: Kara Davis, DO, Melanie Hayden Gephart, MD
Fellowship: Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation & Regenerative Medicine
Residency: St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
Neha Joshi, MD, MS
Neha Joshi, MD completed her medical education at the University of California, San Francisco prior to residency in pediatrics at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital / Stanford University. She additionally completed fellowship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital / Stanford University. She works clinically as a pediatric and neonatal hospitalist. Dr. Joshi’s research aims to identify and develop high value care practices that prioritize late preterm and term infants receiving care within a mother-infant dyad whenever safely possible. She was previously involved in the implementation of a clinical examination based approach to identify well-appearing infants at risk for early onset sepsis; this approach has greatly reduced the number of infants undergoing empiric antibiotic treatment and NICU admission, and allowed them to remain safely with their mothers in couplet care. Dr. Joshi’s current work seeks to identify evidence-based criteria for late preterm admission to well newborn care.
Research Mentor: Henry Lee, MD
Career Development Award: NIH K23 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Residency: Stanford Children's Health / Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Adrienne Long, MD, PhD
Dr. Adrienne Long is a pediatric oncologist dedicated to developing novel cancer immunotherapies for children with cancer. She completed her Bachelors’ degree in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, prior to matriculating to their medical school through the Honors Program in Medical Education. During medical school, she also obtained a PhD in cancer immunology through an NIH-Northwestern partnership, where she worked with Dr. Crystal Mackall studying CAR T cell therapies. Dr. Long went on to complete her pediatrics residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. There, she participated in their Integrated Research Pathway, where she worked with Dr. Nicholas Haining on cancer antigen presentation. She arrived at Stanford in 2019 to complete her training in pediatric hematology/oncology, and is now pursuing her post-doctoral research with Dr. Mark Davis, where she is studying how thymic selection, designed to prevent autoimmunity, may contribute to poor antitumor immunity in children.
Research Mentor: Mark Davis, PhD
Career Development Award: Hyundai Hope on Wheels Scholar Hope Grants & Alex's Lemonade Stand Young Investigator Grants
Fellowship: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Residency: Boston Children's Hospital
Jonathan Reiss, MD
Jonathan Reiss is interested in the intersection of metabolomics, multi-omics, machine learning and precision medicine as applied to 1) fetuses susceptible to maternal conditions that impact that intrauterine environment, and 2) neonates vulnerable to acquired disease of prematurity. I work closely with various mentors including Gary Shaw, David K. Stevenson, Nima Aghaeepour, Karl Sylvester and Michael Snyder who each have expertise in these areas. Dr. Reiss’s ultimate goal is to develop novel screening, diagnostic and therapeutic measures for the care of premature newborns.
Research Mentor: Gary Shaw, DrPH
Fellowship: Neonatal & Developmental Medicine
Residency: University of California San Diego
Rebecca Dang, MD
Rebecca Dang is an MD/MSCE who received her bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and medical degree from Georgetown School of Medicine. She first became interested in clinical research during her residency training at Kaiser Oakland, but it was not until Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellowship that her passion for research truly flourished. With the support of her fellowship directors Drs. Srinivas, Rassbach, and Wang as well as her primary research mentors Drs. Schroeder, Patel, and Wang, Rebecca has learned how to code in STATA, use large databases, and explore contemporary pediatric temperature values and the frequency and impact of temperature measurement at well-child visits. This work was supported by the Maternal Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Clinical Trainee (MD) Award and The Gerber Foundation Novice Researcher Award. Rebecca was also awarded the MCHRI Master’s Tuition Program, which funded her Master’s of Science degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Stanford. Combining her long-term goal of promoting value-based health care, particularly surrounding temperature measurement and temperature values, with her clinical specialty of hospital medicine, Rebecca has pivoted to the newborn nursery to describe normal newborn temperature percentiles and evaluate patient characteristics and clinical outcomes of neonatal hypothermia in late preterm and term infants. For this research, Rebecca is supported by the Physician Scientist Bridge to K program and The Gerber Foundation.
Research Mentor: Alan Schroeder, MD, Anisha Patel, MD, MSPH, MSHS, Adam Frymoyer, MD
Career Development Award: PedSnet Scholars Program
Fellowship: Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Residency: Kaiser Permanente Oakland
David Staudt, MD
Dr. David Staudt completed his MD/PhD training at the University of California, San Francisco, where he worked with Dr. Didier Stainier where he used 3D video microscopy of zebrafish embryos to study ventricular trabeculation, an early step in cardiac morphogenesis. He then moved down the Peninsula to Stanford for his Pediatric residency and Pediatric Cardiology fellowship. At Stanford he works in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Mercola using human induced pluripotent stem cell models and high-throughput, high-speed imaging of cardiomyocyte physiology to understand how inherited mutations lead to cardiomyopathy. He is particularly interested in understanding the pathogenesis of and identifying therapeutic targets for diastolic heart failure, where stiff ventricular walls lead to impaired filling of the heart.
Research Mentor: Mark Mercola, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Cardiology
Residency: Stanford Children's Health / Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Lea Steffes, MD
Dr. Lea Steffes completed medical school and pediatric residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She then moved to the Bay Area and completed her clinical fellowship in pediatric pulmonary medicine at Stanford University in 2020. Dr. Steffes received further post-doctoral training in the laboratories of Dr. Maya Kumar and Dr. David Cornfield, studying the cellular and molecular mechanism driving pulmonary vascular disease. In addition to her role as an Instructor in Pediatrics in the division of Pulmonary Medicine, Dr. Steffes is also completing an advanced clinical fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Her research is focused on the vascular changes seen in pulmonary hypertension, more specifically understanding the cellular characteristics of occlusive neointimal lesions, the abnormal cells that block pulmonary blood flow in pulmonary hypertension. In her most recent work, Dr. Steffes identified a subset of healthy vascular smooth muscle cells that are the cell of origin for the pathologic neointimal cells and a specific signaling pathway, that when blocked, inhibits the formation of neointimal lesions.
Dr. Steffes is currently employing advanced single cell sequencing technologies to further understand neointimal cells with the ultimate goal identifying new therapies for pulmonary hypertension, a fatal disease with no known cure.
Research Mentor: David Cornfield, MD & Maya Kumar, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Pulmonary
Residency: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Ananta Addala, DO, MPH
I am an early career physician scientist committed to becoming an independent investigator addressing disparities in type 1 diabetes management and outcomes. My longstanding research and clinical interests are to promote equitable care for youth with type 1 diabetes informed by the biological, social, psychological, and systemic determinants of health. As a physician with a background in pediatric endocrinology, epidemiology, and behavioral health, I am uniquely qualified to understand and address the medical, social, and economic inequities of diverse youth with type 1 diabetes. I am supported by the division of endocrinology’s K12 grant which provides me with the additional mentor supported time required to further my statistical, communication, and leadership skills foundational to my early career grant application and my future as an independent physician scientist.
Research Mentor: Korey Hood, PhD
Career Development Award: Institutional K12 Career Development Program & & NIH K23 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Endocrinology
Residency: University of Southern California-Los Angeles County Hospital
Sarah Dubner, MD
Dr. Sarah Dubner is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. The goal of her research is to design interventions that promote healthy development in children at risk for developmental disorders, based on an understanding about how early-life biological and social experiences affect the developing brain.
Dr. Dubner completed her undergraduate degree at Tufts University, where she majored in Physics, her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and pediatric residency at the University of Washington. Following residency, Dr. Dubner practiced as a general pediatrician in the Stanford Divisions of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, before completing subspecialty training in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Stanford in 2020. During fellowship, she conducted clinical research focused on diffusion MRI tractography measures of brain white matter microstructure and language and cognitive outcomes in children born preterm, under the mentorship of Dr. Heidi Feldman.
She applies a multimodal approach to understanding modifiable social and biological influences on early human development in at-risk children in order to design and implement innovative, scalable, and effective interventions to promote child development. Her two main lines of inquiry supported by the Bridge to K program are 1) Integrating advanced neuroimaging with modern social network analysis to adapt existing evidence-based language health interventions for network-level intervention; and 2) Applying neuroimaging modalities to elucidate relations between neonatal conditions and treatments associated with systemic inflammation, brain, and cognitive and language development.
Research Mentor: Heidi Feldman, MD, PhD
Fellowship: Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Residency: Seattle Children's/University of Washington, Pediatrics
Gregory Goldstein, MD
Gregory Goldstein’s research interest is in prematurity prevention and improving outcomes from complications related to prematurity. As a trained epidemiologist, he is specifically interested in studying between-hospital variability in preterm birth to better understand the causes of preterm birth. He is also interested in the epidemiology of necrotizing enterocolitis, with the long-term goal of improving prevention, diagnosis and developing new therapies for this devastating disease.
Research Mentor: Gary Shaw, DrPH
Fellowship: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Residency: Hasbro Children's/Brown University, Pediatrics
William Goodyer, MD, PhD
William Goodyer is an MD/PhD who graduated from McGill University with a BS with Honors in Biology prior to completing his medical and graduate studies at Stanford University in the Medical Scientist Training Program. His undergraduate research focused on the molecular regulators involved in C. elegans meiosis, while his PhD centered on the molecular mechanisms governing pancreatic beta-cell maturation and proliferation in vertebrates. He next pursued accelerated research tracks for both Pediatric Residency (Boston Children’s Hospital) and Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship (Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital), where he developed a passion for Electrophysiology. As such, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sean Wu laboratory at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, focusing on the discovery of novel regulators underlying the development of the cardiac conduction system (CCS). To overcome the inherent hurdles of studying the CCS (small cell numbers, cell type heterogeneity, etc), he developed a comprehensive transcriptional profile of the entire CCS at single-cell resolution, providing a gene atlas for facilitating future efforts in conduction cell identification, isolation, and characterization in the context of development and disease. He has recently completed his Pediatric Electrophysiology Fellowship and is staying on at LPCH as an Instructor, pursuing both clinical Pediatric Electrophysiology and basic science research focused on CCS development and disease in order to stimulate future translational opportunities aimed at the prevention and treatment of rhythm disorders.
Research Mentor: Sean Wu, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Cardiology & Pediatric Advanced Cardiology - Electrophysiology
Residency: Boston Children's/Harvard University, Pediatrics (Accelerated Research Pathway)
Jen Iklé, MD, PhD
Dr. Jen Iklé completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of New Mexico, prior to earning her MD and PhD through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical campus. While earning her PhD, she worked in the lab of Dr. David Clouthier studying genetics and transcriptional regulatory networks, with an emphasis on craniofacial development in the embryo. After completion of her MD, Jen completed both Pediatrics Residency and Fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. During her fellowship, Jen worked in the lab of Dr. Colin Nichols where she developed a passion for regulation of insulin secretion from the beta cells of the pancreas. She has a specific interest in the role of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels. Genetic disruption of these channels leads to neonatal diabetes (in KATP gain of function mutations) or congenital hyperinsulinism (in KATP loss of function mutations). Jen also has a clinical interest in diabetes and hyperinsulinism.
Jen is interested in the genetic factors that lead to abnormal beta-cell function and insulin secretion, causing disorders such as hyperinsulinism and neonatal diabetes. Jen’s current research focus is the use of zebrafish models, combined with genetics and genomics, to understand cellular and molecular mechanisms of glucose metabolism and elucidate previously unknown players involved in the regulation of insulin secretion.
Research Mentor: Anna Gloyn, DPhil
Career Development Award: Institutional K12 Career Development Program & & NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Washington University in St. Louis/St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Residency: Washington University in St. Louis/St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics
Yair Bannett, MD
Yair Bannett is interested in improving health care delivery in community-based primary care for children with developmental-behavioral disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder. As an instructor in the Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP), he is engaged in innovative health services research that leverages recent advances in machine learning and natural language processing technology to mine electronic health record data. Dr. Bannett's ultimate goal is to develop novel quality measures that can be used to implement clinician- and systems-level interventions in primary care aimed at improving health care delivery for children with developmental-behavioral disorders.
Research Mentor: Heidi Feldman, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K23 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Residency: Kogan Pediatrics Hospital/Assaf Harofe Medical Center, Pediatrics
Sharon Paige, MD, PhD
Sharon L. Paige, MD, PhD completed her undergraduate training at the University of Rochester, earning bachelor's degrees in both Cell/Developmental Biology and Political Science. She then completed her combined MD and PhD training at the University of Washington. There, she completed her graduate thesis in the laboratory of Dr. Charles E. Murry with a focus on the role of Wnt signaling and chromatin dynamics during cardiac differentiation from human embryonic stem cells. Dr. Paige came to Stanford in 2013 as a Pediatrics resident and continued as a Pediatric Cardiology Fellow through the Accelerated Research Pathway.
As a clinical fellow, she became motivated by the overall lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind congenital heart disease. Funded by the Training in Myocardial Biology T32, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Sean M. Wu, where she began using patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to explore cardiac developmental perturbations associated with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This research led to the discovery of cardiomyocyte-intrinsic impaired contractility associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in HLHS, representing a novel therapeutic target for disease prevention. Co-mentored by Dr. Wu and Dr. Euan Ashley, Dr. Paige received an NHLBI K08 career development award and will expand her research to include other forms of single ventricle heart disease. In July 2019, she was appointed as an Instructor in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, at Stanford as part of the Bridge to K Program. Clinically, Dr. Paige is an attending with the Cardiovascular Connective Tissue Disorders and Cardiogenomics programs
Research Mentor: Sean Wu, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Cardiology
Residency: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital/Stanford, Pediatrics (Accelerated Research Pathway)
Ken Sutha, MD, PhD
Ken Sutha obtained his MD and PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology before completing pediatrics residency at University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital and pediatric nephrology fellowship at Stanford University/Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He is now pursuing postdoctoral training in the lab of Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD. Dr. Sutha’s research is focused on developing new ways of growing and studying kidney tissue from patients as kidney organoids, to better understand processes in the kidney, kidney diseases, and potential treatments. In addition to the Stanford Department of Pediatrics Bridge to K Instructor Program, Dr. Sutha is currently supported by KidneyCure – American Society of Nephrology Research Foundation through their Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship Program as a Jared J. Grantham Research Fellow.
Research Mentor: Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD; Vivek Bhalla, MD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Nephrology
Residency: Seattle Children's/University of Washington, Pediatrics
Elizabeth Burgener, MD
Dr. Burgener completed her undergraduate at Stanford in 2005 followed by graduation from medical school at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio in 2011. She then returned to Stanford University for internship and residency in pediatrics, chief resident year in pediatrics and clinical fellowship in pediatric pulmonary medicine, which she completed in 2018. Additionally, Dr. Burgener has obtained further post-doctoral training in the laboratories of Dr. Paul Bollyky and Dr. Carlos Milla. During her fellowship she participated in the Translational Research and Applied Medicine program at Stanford and also received support from an MCHRI Trainee Award and the Program in Pulmonary Biology T32 grant. As a physician-scientist her clinical work consists of taking care of patients with pediatric pulmonary disease such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and other systemic illnesses that affect pulmonary health. In her research she has identified that Pf bacteriophage, a virus which infects Pseudomonas, has effect on clinical outcomes in patients with cystic fibrosis. Patients who have this virus, which makes biofilms more adherent and viscous, in their sputum are more likely to have chronic Pseudomonas infection and have higher levels of antibiotic resistance. Dr. Burgener is currently supported by the Parker B Francis Fellowship, and Harry Swhachman Clinical Investigator Award through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and has received the Cystic Fibrosis Research Innovation Award through Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Burgener is currently growing her research program with a focus on infection and inflammation with the goal of bringing new therapies and improving the lives of patients with cystic fibrosis.
Research Mentor: Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K23 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Pulmonary
Residency: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital/Stanford University, Pediatrics
Zachary Sellers, MD, PhD
As a pediatric gastroenterologist and ion channel physiologist, Dr. Sellers' work in academia and pharma over the last 20 years has focused on improving the lives of individuals with complex and rare diseases through providing cutting-edge clinical care and advancing research and drug development. Dr. Sellers researches epithelial ion transport and acid-base regulation using a variety of human and animal models. He is a firm believer in the exponential impact of team science and is adept at working in multi-disciplinary and cross-functional teams.
Research Mentor: Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Gastroenterology
Residency: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital/Stanford University, Pediatrics (Integrated Research Pathway)
Bereketeab Haileselassie, MD
Dr. Haileselassie’s research focuses on understanding the cellular mechanisms that mediate end-organ failure in various inflammatory disorders. In particular, Dr. Haileselassie is determining how alterations in mitochondrial dynamics impact cellular metabolism and function during critical illness. Dr. Haileselassie currently runs an NIH-funded translational research program aimed at understanding the role of alterations in mitochondrial dynamics in sepsis induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Other research projects are defining the mechanisms that conditioning regiments, which are necessary for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), mediate impairments in mitochondrial dynamics resulting in accumulation and release of dysfunctional mitochondria and exacerbation of graft-versus-host disease post transplantation.
Research Mentor: Daria Mochley-Rosen, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award
Fellowship: Johns Hopkins, Pedatric Critical Care Medicine
Residency: Seattle Children's/University of Washington, Pediatrics
Natalia Gomez-Ospina, MD, PhD
During Dr. Gomez-Ospina’s post-doctoral research with Dr. Matthew Porteus in Pediatric Stem Cell transplantation, was where she began to develop genome editing-based strategies in stem cells as a therapies for metabolic diseases. For her clinical practice she sees patients with suspected genetic disorders, and is also in charge of the enzyme replacement service for lysosomal storage disorders at Lucile Packard Children’s hospital. She has been the lead author in research studies in The New England Journal of Medicine, Cell, Nature Communications, and American Journal of Medical Genetics.
Research Mentor: Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Residency: Medical Genetics & Genomics
Trung Pham, MD, PhD
Dr. Pham completed M.D./Ph.D. training in the Medical Scientist Training Program at UCSF. He developed a broad background in immunology with a focus on cellular immunity, leukocyte trafficking, and lymphoid tissue cellular dynamics. Subsequently Dr. Pham completed clinical training in pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford University and developed expertise in bacterial pathogenesis through postdoctoral research with Dr. Denise Monack. Dr. Pham is fascinated with the complex interplays between host immune responses and pathogens that impact infection outcomes. Leveraging clinical experience to identify knowledge gaps and unmet medical needs, Dr. Pham’s research focuses on understanding mechanisms of persistent intracellular bacterial infection and regulations of macrophage diversity and biological functions. Using persistent Salmonella infection in 129x1/SvJ mice, Dr. Pham developed a novel intracellular bacterial granuloma model and innovative approaches to dissect the mechanisms of macrophage heterogeneity, tissue immune responses, and pathogen persistence in intracellular bacteria-infected tissues.
Research Mentor: Denise Monack, PhD
Career Development Award: NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Residency: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital/Stanford University, Pediatrics
Daniel Tawfik, MD
Dr. Tawfik studies the use of electronic health record metadata in identifying structures and processes that promote high quality healthcare. Dr Tawfik has a particular interest in leveraging existing data and novel data sources to develop low-cost, objective measurements of the functioning of the health care environment — and the well-being of health care providers — in order to facilitate targeted improvements of provider well-being and quality of care. Projects apply advanced analytical methods to large databases of primarily structured electronic health record data and EHR usage metadata.
Research Mentor: Jochen Profit, MD, MPH
Career Development Award: AHRQ K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
Fellowship: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Residency: Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital/University of Utah, Pediatrics
Who is eligible to apply?
- The following individuals are eligible to apply:
- Subspecialty fellows in their 3rd year of training
- Subspecialty fellows in two-year programs who remain at Stanford for an extra year in a training role as a Postdoctoral Scholar + Clinical Scholar
- Fellows one year post-fellowship, appointed as either a Postdoctoral Scholar or Instructor
- Clinical Assistant Professors are eligible to apply if they are able to devote 75% effort to research and willing to move from rank of Clinical Assistant Professor to Instructor
- Subspecialty fellows in their 3rd year of training
Who covers the cost beyond what the Bridge to K Program provides?
- An Instructor appointment has a 75% research commitment and 25% clinical commitment. The Department pays for the 75% research time and the remainder is paid through the individual's clinical work.
- Note: for the divisions of Neonatal & Developmental Medicine and Cardiology, the department and division split the cost of the research time.
What support will the trainee get in the Bridge to K Program to help them successfully receive a K award?
- The individual will receive 75% salary support, as outlined above. Instructors who successfully obtain an institutional or individual K award are eligible to apply for additional financial support of their project through the MCHRI Instructor K Award Support Program. The Bridge to K program does not provide any funds for research expenses and it is expected the trainee's mentor provides adequate funds and space for the individual to complete their research. Awardees also have access to the Bridge to K curriculum and peer support network to help them successfully pursue a career development award.
What if a trainee wants to apply for a different career development award?
- Although NIH K Awards represent the most common form of Career Development Award, there are many other Career Development Awards that provide similar levels of support to facilitate a transition to independence. All participants in the program will be expected to broadly apply for all Career Development Awards in their area of scholarship.
How long can a trainee be on the Bridge to K program?
- Trainees can be part of the Bridge to K Program for up to 3 years and must show sufficient progress towards attaining a career development award. Sufficient progress will be evaluated by the Director of the Bridge to K Program (Berekete Haileselassie, MD, MHS) based on the established timeline.
What if the trainee doesn't receive a career development award after 3 years?
- The goal of the Bridge to K program is to provide junior pediatric physician-scientists with the support, resources, and protected time to sufficiently build their research career in order to obtain their first academic faculty position as Assistant Professor. The attainment of a Career Development Award is an important benchmark that will increase the Instructor’s competitiveness for top academic jobs. It is anticipated that all participants will begin interviewing for faculty positions in the beginning of their third year in the program so that they have secured a faculty position by the end of their third year in the Bridge to K program.
Are Bridge to K awardees considered faculty?
- The rank of Instructor is intended for those primarily engaged in mentored research and scholarly activities that advance clinical medicine, and may have secondary roles in teaching and clinical care. Instructors are not considered part of the Stanford University professoriate. Instructors are generally in transition from training towards a career as a full-time faculty member at an academic institution. However, there is no expectation of a Stanford professoriate appointment following an Instructor appointment. Please see additional information in the Stanford School of Medicine Faculty Handbook.
If the trainee receives a Career Development Award, what happens next? Do they automatically become faculty?
- As noted above, the goal of the program is to provide support to allow the transition of the Instructors to their first full-time faculty appointment at an academic institution. The attainment of a Career Development Award is one important benchmark that will increase the applicant’s competitiveness. There is no expectation of a Stanford professoriate appointment following completion of the Bridge to K program. Stanford School of Medicine faculty appointments can be attained if the applicant successfully competes in a national search for an open position.
Who will provide the trainee with space and other research resources?
- It is expected that the trainee’s research mentor and Division Chief will provide adequate funds and space to support for the trainee to complete their research project as proposed in the application. It is crucial that the Mentor letter and the Division Chief letter detail this commitment of support.
I don’t need salary support at this time because I have other funding (i.e., K Award or division funding), should I still apply to the Bridge to K Program?
- Yes! Starting in 2021, all instructors that are interested in joining the monthly Physician Scientist Bridge to K meetings must apply. As a B2K awardee you will also have access to specialized career development mentorship.
Resources for Identifying Funding Opportunities
- Stanford Funding Opportunity Listserv
- Database of Grant Opportunities
- Database of Fellowship Opportunities
- Pivot Funding Opportunity Database
Resources for Writing & Publishing
- Stanford Pediatrics Tackling Your K Club
- Stanford Grant Writing Academy
- Stanford Pediatrics Research Website
- APS SPR Career Development Grants: Finding Your Path to Success (Feb 28, 2022) with Dr. Cristina Alvira and others
- The K Award Guidebook: Your guide to launching your independent research career (written and edited by Dr. Crystal Botham)
Physican Scientist Bridge to K Program Resources
NICHD Clinician-Scientist Investigator (CSI) Curriculum
Career Development Papers
- Expanding the Pipeline for Pediatric Physician-Scientists
- Maintaining a Robust Pipeline of Future Physician-Scientists
- NIH Career Development Awards: Conversion to Research Grants and Regional Distribution
- Publish houses of brick, not mansions of straw
- Reflections on Leadership: Seizing and Embracing Opportunities-Holding up Half the Sky
- Strategies for Supporting Physician–Scientists in Faculty Roles: A Narrative Review With Key Informant Consultations
- The Impact of Individual Mentored Career Development (K) Awards on the Research Trajectories of Early-Career Scientists
- Training the Physician-Scientist: Views from Program Directors and Aspiring Young Investigators
- U.S. Physician-Scientist Workforce in the 21st Century: Recommendations to Attract and Sustain the Pipeline