PRISM Mentors

Her lab seeks to understand the unique biological mechanisms of human placentation. While the placenta itself is one of the key characteristics for defining mammals, the human placenta is different from most available animal models: it is one of the most invasive placentas, and results in the formation of an organ comprised of cells from both the fetus and the mother. In addition to this fascinating chimerism, fetal cells are deeply involved in the remodeling of the maternal vasculature in order to redirect large volumes of maternal blood to the placenta to support the developing fetus. As such, the investigation of this human organ covers a large array of biological processes, and deals not only with understanding its endocrine function, but the physiologic process of immune tolerance, vascular remodeling, and cellular invasion.

As a physician scientist, Dr. Winn’s ultimate goal is to see this knowledge translate to improved clinical care resulting in healthier mothers and babies. Her lab uses a combination of molecular, cellular, tissue and translational studies in their research.

We study the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate proliferation and differentiation in adult stem cell lineages, using the Drosophila male germ line as a model.  Our current work is focused on the switch from mitosis to meiosis and how the new gene expression program for cell type specific terminal differentiation is turned on.  One emerging surprise is the potential role of alternative processing of nascent mRNAs in setting up the dramatic change in cell state

The Winn laboratory seeks to understand the unique biological mechanisms of human placentation. Abnormalities in placental development and function account for many obstetric complications. The pregnancy complication of preclampsia is the primary diseease process that the lab studies ,which is a major couase of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. While the placenta itself is one of the key characteristics for defining mammals, placental development is not highly conserved across species and therefore human placental biology is different from most available animal models: it is one of the most invasive placentas, and results in the formation of an organ comprised of cells from both the fetus and the mother. In addition to this fascinating chimerism that requires maternal immune adaptations to avoid rejection of the allograph fetus, placental cells are deeply involved in the remodeling of the maternal vasculature, in order to redirect large volumes of maternal blood to the placenta to support the developing fetus. The molecular and cellular aspects of human placenta invasion are often copted by cancers.  The placenta is also a critical endorcrine organ which orchestrates the many physiologic and metabolic changes that occur in pregnancy. As such, the investigation of this human organ covers a broad array of human biological processes.  The lab is dedicated to undertake, the challenge of shedding understanding into the human placental process of immune tolerance, vascular remodeling,  cellular invasion and endocrine function.   The Winn Lab uses a combination of human samples, in vitro cellular and organoid model systems to dissect the molecular and cellular basis of placental function as well as investigates pregnancy cohort for translational studies to improve prediction, diagnosis and treatment of obstetrical complications.  The ultimate goal of the Winn Lab is to improve pregnancy health for the pregnant person and their offspring and train the next generation of reproductive and perinatal scientists. 

The Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab, directed by Dr. Nolan Williams at Stanford School of Medicine, is looking for postdoctoral researcher candidates for an open postdoctoral position leading clinical trials and driving forward novel therapeutic strategies. The Brain Stimulation Lab (BSL) utilizes novel brain stimulation techniques to probe and modulate the neural networks underlying neuropsychiatric diseases/disorders in an effort to develop new models and novel therapeutics. Our lab is culturally diverse and interdisciplinary, consisting of basic neuroscientists, clinical researchers, data scientists, psychologists, residents, psychiatrists, and neurologists.

Working in our lab will provide you experience in the most cutting-edge research with diverse clinical populations (e.g., Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Addiction/Substance Use Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder), as well as healthy participants. Some of the tools our lab utilizes to answer our research questions include structural and functional MRI, EEG, TMS, and simultaneous EEG/TMS. We are now pushing forward trials involving invasive EEG recordings and deep brain stimulation in psychiatric populations, including depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

For more information, visit our website here. Publications can be viewed here.

About the position.

We are currently looking for a postdoctoral researcher with proven experience in clinical trials in psychiatry to take a leading role in trials conducted at the lab, drive forward novel therapeutic strategies, and/or develop novel analytical strategies and methodologies. The candidate will work closely with, and receive guidance from, a faculty member assigned to the trial and will lead a team of clinical research coordinators. The BSL includes dedicated teams for patient recruitment, neuroimaging data collection, data analysis, treatment, and regulatory affairs, which will support the candidate in carrying out their duties. The position is a unique opportunity to further develop a career in clinical/translational neuroscience and psychiatric research.

Requirements:

1. PhD in Neuroscience or related field; or M.D with training in psychiatry.
2. Proven experience or familiarity with clinical trials in psychiatry;  or advanced methodological/analytic background and training
3. Leadership qualities (fosters teamwork, strong communication skills, interest in mentorship of junior lab members).
4. Strong references.

To apply please complete the following application form.

We are generally interested in the mechanisms that drive the proliferation of cells under physiological and pathological conditions. We work on a wide range on projects from fundamental cell cycle mechanisms related to the RB pathway to pre-clinical cancer studies. We leverage publicly-available cancer genomics data and generate our own set of genetic, epigenetic, and proteomic data sets to identify novel regulators of cancer growth. We also develop novel genetic approaches in mice to conclusively determine the function of these candidate genes and pathways in tumorigenesis in vivo. Finally, we team up with pharmaceutical companies and clinicians in academic centers to translate our discoveries into the clinic as rapidly as possible.

Stanford Solutions Science Lab.

The Stanford Solutions Science Lab designs solutions to improve health and well-being of children, families, and the planet.  Dr. Robinson originated the solution-oriented research paradigm. He is known for his pioneering obesity prevention and treatment research, including the concept of stealth interventions. His research applies social cognitive models of behavior change to behavioral, social, environmental and policy interventions for children and families in real world settings, making the results relevant for informing clinical and public health practice and policy. His research is largely experimental, conducting rigorous school-, family- and community-based randomized controlled trials. He studies obesity and disordered eating, nutrition, physical activity/inactivity and sedentary behavior, the effects of television and other screen time, adolescent smoking, aggressive behavior, consumerism, and behaviors to promote environmental sustainability. Rich longitudinal datasets of physical, physiological, psychological, behavioral, social, behavioral, and multi-omics measures are available from our many community-based obesity prevention and treatment trials in low-income and racial/ethnic minority populations of children and adolescents and their parents.

Stanford Screenomics Lab - Human Screenome Project.

People increasingly live their lives through smartphones. Our Stanford Screenomics app captures everything that people see and do on their smartphone screens – a record of digital life – by taking a screenshot every 5 seconds. The resulting sequence of screenshots, make up an individual’s screenome, an unique and dynamic sequence of exposures, thoughts, feelings, and actions. To date, we have collected more than 350 million screenshots from 6-12 months of phone use from national samples of about 500 hundred adults and adolescents and their parents. Opportunities available to study the screenome to understand digital media use and its impacts on health and behavior,  develop novel diagnostics and prognostics from the screenome, and deliver precision interventions to improve health and well being. An opportunity to help build this paradigm-disrupting new science.

Our focus is on the basic molecular mechanisms of stem cells and muscle and their application to aging, regenerative medicine, and disease. The Blau lab brings together biologists, bioinformatics experts, and bioengineers who are interested in everything from the basic mechanisms of disease, to technology development, to clinical translation. We capitalize on an interdisciplinary approach to science because 'Where we look and how we look determines what we see’. The laboratory collaborates extensively with other researchers. Our overall objective is to understand and apply biology to improve quality of life.

The research at Stanford's Health Policy Data Science Lab is centered on developing and integrating innovative statistical machine learning approaches to improve human health and health equity. This includes ethical algorithms in health care, risk adjustment, comparative effectiveness research, and health program evaluation.