We are VOICES

VOICES Center for Health Policy is focused on improving the health of patients with musculoskeletal conditions. We use qualitative and quantitative methods to develop tools that improve the delivery of patient-centered care.

Robin Kamal, MD MBA MS- Hand and Upper Extremity Surgeon, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon

Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Stanford University Medical Center

Robin Kamal, MD's research focuses on

  1. Value-based healthcare
  2. Defining quality in orthopedic surgery
  3. Patient preference elicitation

Rob grew up in Missouri and received his BA and MD from the University of Missouri. He did his orthopaedic residency at Brown University and did fellowship training at Brown University and Duke University. He has a wife and two kids- together they spend their free time cooking, hiking, and exploring the Bay Area

Lauren Shapiro, MD MS - Hand and Upper Extremity Surgeon, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Francisco

Dr. Shapiro’s research interests span multiple disciplines with projects rooted in providing high-quality and patient-centered care. She conducts research on patient preferences, shared-decision making, and empowering patients to understand their treatment options. 

Lauren grew up in Arizona and received her BA and MD from Stanford University, for which she was a member of the varsity women’s soccer team. She completed her residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University, serving as a chief resident during her final year. She then completed a fellowship in Hand, Upper Extremity, and Microvascular Surgery at Duke University, at which she also completed a Master’s Degree in Health Analytics from the Duke Fuqua School of Business. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and watching sports. 

Sara Kemper MPH

VOICES Research Manager

Sara received her Bachelor's and Master's in Public Health from The Ohio State University. Her prior research covered a variety of topics, including health disparities, workplace wellness, childhood injury, endometriosis, and food insecurities. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, baking, and spending time with her dog.

Hubert Tuyishime

Medical Scholar

Hubert received his BA in Biology from Harvard College, where he studied latent HIV reservoirs to develop a therapeutic vaccine for HIV. After college, he worked at Partners In Health for three years, supporting oncology programs in Rwanda and Haiti. He is currently a medical student at Stanford. His research interests include global surgery, capacity building, health disparities, and quality improvement in orthopedic surgery. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, working out, watching sports, and catching up with family and friends.

Michelle Xiao

Medical Scholar

Michelle received her BS in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University and was on the women's soccer team. After spending a year working in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery as a clinical research coordinator, she is currently a medical student at Stanford. Her research interests include injury prevention, surgical outcomes, and healthcare utilization in orthopaedic surgery. In her free time, Michelle likes playing soccer, running, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

Nate Fogel, MD

Resident

Nate graduated from Stanford with his BA, MS, and MD. Nate is currently a resident at Stanford and plans on applying to hand surgery fellowships. His research interests include upper extremity trauma and outcome measures. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf and skiing.

Joseph Espiritu

Medical Scholar

Joseph received a BA in Biology from MIT in 2020, where he studied cardiac stem cell differentiation. After taking a gap year to teach, he is currently a second-year medical student at Stanford. He is interested in understanding how Orthopaedic Surgery faces many questions about equitable care, such as finding subgroups of patients who receive disparities in care. In the future, Joseph plans to commit to Orthopaedic Surgery. Outside of research, Joseph is into Powerlifting and is always in the premier of any Marvel movie.

Thompson Zhuang

Medical Scholar

Thompson received a BA in Chemistry from Princeton University in 2016, where he studied inorganic catalysis. After spending a post-graduate year at Princeton doing chemistry research, he is now a medical student at Stanford. Thompson is interested in understanding the vital roles that rising healthcare costs and health disparities play as socioeconomic determinants of health, so that targets for intervention can be identified to improve patient health and well-being. In the future, Thompson hopes to go into academic practice in orthopaedic surgery. Outside of his research interests, Thompson enjoys exploring the food scene of the Bay area and trying out new recipes. Fun fact: Thompson once accidentally spilled radioactive uranium on himself.

Emily Schultz

Research Assistant

Emily is a senior at Stanford University pursuing a BS in Human Biology with a concentration in Disease Mechanisms and Implications for Human Behavior. Her previous research focus was related to using virtual reality to track brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease. As a member of the Stanford softball team, she has an interest in sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery as she plans to apply to medical school in the coming years. Her current research interests include healthcare access, affordability, and quality measures. Outside of research, Emily enjoys exercising, baking, and visiting all of the local coffee shops.

Harsh Wadhwa

Medical Scholar

Harsh is currently a medical student at Stanford interested in quality outcomes and healthcare utilization associated with orthopaedic procedures. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, running, and spending time with family and friends.

Aritra Chakraborty

Clinical Research Coordinator Associate

As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Aritra graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a minor in Applied Data Science. His capstone project focused on the expression of a novel long non-coding RNA in relation to obesity risks in humans and has further interests in utilizing data science to optimize and personalize medical care for patients. During his time at Case Western, Aritra further grew an interest in medicine after volunteering in hospice care and advocating for his brothers as his fraternity’s president. Outside of medical interests, Aritra loves playing saxophone, performing in venues around the Bay Area and even as far as Las Vegas! He also loves watching and debating NFL topics with his friends as an avid 49ers fan

Chelsea Leversedge

Clinical Research Coordinator Associate

Chelsea graduated from the University of North Carolina with her Master’s in Public Health, concentrating in Global Health. Her cumulating capstone analyzed and developed programming for antenatal care provision in Syria. During her time at UNC, she participated in triage research and program implementation in Ghana, as well as interning with programs such as the Eschelman Healthcare Innovation Lab and NC Integrated Care for Kids. These research projects, and her master’s program, were prompted by her time as a pre-med student at Emory University majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology.  In her free time, she enjoys baking and exploring the Bay Area on runs.

Sammy Cohen

Medical Scholar

Sammy received his BS from the University of Southern California and is currently a medical student at Stanford. His research interests include patient-centered decision making, quality improvement, and understanding how health disparities impact access to orthopaedic procedures. In his free time, he enjoys running, hiking, and attending USC football games.

Samuel Castro Jr.

Medical Scholar

Samuel received his BS in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University. After spending a year working in the Mozambique researching HIV stigma through ICAP, he is currently a medical student at Stanford. His research interests include global health, surgical outcomes, and health disparities. Samuel likes to spend time lifting weights at the gym, cooking Mexican food and traveling (when possible!).

Bella Gomez

Medical Scholar

Bella received her BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Harvard University in 2017 where she was a member of the women’s heavyweight crew team. She then spent two years in drug discovery research for tuberculosis and is now a medical student at Stanford. Her research interests include quality improvement, surgical outcomes, and the impact of health disparities in orthopedic surgery. In her free time, she enjoys running, cycling, swimming, and backpacking.

Past Lab Members

Chelsea Leversedge- Research coordinator 2021-2023. Chelsea is now a medical student at Dartmouth University.

Jacie Lemos- Research Coordinator 2020-2022. Jacie is now a medical student at University of Michigan.

Jessica Welch- Research Assistant 2020-2021. Jessica is now a medical student at Duke University.

Jack Michaud- Medical Scholar 2020-2021. Jack is a current medical student at Stanford University

Allie Roe Mitchell - Orthopaedic resident 2016-2021at Stanford. Allie completed hand surgery fellowship at Duke University and is now an attending.

Meewon Park- Medical Scholar 2019-2020. Meewon is a plastic surgery resident at Stanford University. 

David Mariano- Research Assistant 2019-2020. David is attending UCSD Medical School. 

Sarah Lindsay- Medical Scholar 2017-2020. Sarah is an orthopaedic surgery resident at OHSU.

Kathy Ku- Medical Scholar 2017-2020. Kathy is currently the President of a water access non-prifit, SPOUTS. 

Romil Shah- Research Assistant 2018-2019. Romil is currently a resident at UT Austin. 

Kevin Mertz- Research Assistant 2017-2019. Kevin attended USC Medical School and is now a ortopaedic surgery resident at UCLA

Kevin Li- Medical Scholar 2017-2019. Kevin was an internal medicine resident and Stanford University and is currently a Senior Associate at Frazier Life Sciences. 

Clare Wise- Medical Scholar 2017-2019. Clare is currently an Orthopaedic Surgery Resident at Stanford University. 

Laura Lu- Medical Scholar 2015-2018. Laura is currently a medical student at Stanford University and will be completing her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). 

LinLin Gao- Fellow 2017-2018. Dr. Gao is currently a hand surgeon at Kaiser Permanente

Jacob Gire- Resident 2016-2018. Jacob is currently a hand surgery fellow at Stanford University

Steven Zhang- Medical Scholar 2016-2018. Steven is currently a medical student at Stanford University and will be completing his residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Thomas 2017-2018. - Medical Scholar. Kevin is currently an MD/PhD Candidate at Stanford University

Matthew Burn- Fellow 2017-2018. Dr. Burn is currently a hand surgeon at Houston Methodist.

Eric Pang- Resident 2014-2017. Eric is currently a Hand Surgeon at Orthopedic Physician Associates in Seattle. 

Jeremy Truntzer- Resident 2014-2017. Jeremy is an Orthopaedic Surgeon at VA Palo Alto Health Care specializing in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery.

 Aaron Alokozai- Research Assistant 2015-2017. Aaron is currently a medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine

Nicole Sheikholeslami-Research Assistant 2015-2017. Nicole is currently a medical student at Rosalind Franklin Medical School.

Lucas Suazo- Medical Scholar 2015-2017. Lucas is currently a medical student at Stanford University. 

Edward Wu- Resident 2016-2017. Ed is currently an orthopaedic resident at Stanford Univeristy.

Peter Kaveh Mansuripur- Fellow 2016-2017. Dr. Mansuripur is currently a hand surgeon at Kaiser Permanente.