Bio
Dr. Steffes is a pediatric pulmonologist and Instructor in Pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Stanford University. She has completed an advanced fellowship in Pulmonary Vascular Disease at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. Her clinical expertise focuses on rare pediatric lung diseases, with particular specialization in heritable forms of pulmonary vascular disease and developmental lung disorders.
Dr. Steffes' research centers on understanding the cellular characteristics of occlusive neointimal lesions, the abnormal cells that obstruct pulmonary blood flow in pulmonary hypertension. Her work specifically examines the contribution of mesenchymal cell subsets to pediatric pulmonary vascular disease, delineating mechanisms within both pre- and post-capillary networks. By leveraging insights from developing human and diseased mouse lung, her research provides a mechanistic framework for understanding childhood-onset pulmonary vascular diseases with the ultimate goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets for pulmonary hypertension.
