PRISM Mentors

Our laboratory uses chemical and genetic approaches to study the signaling pathways that control mammalian energy homeostasis. We focus on blood-borne metabolic hormones and other hormone-like molecules. Ultimately, we seek to translate our discoveries into therapeutic opportunities that matter for obesity and other age-associated metabolic diseases.

We are looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in understanding the impact of rare variants on human diseases. Projects in the lab are either computational and experimental (or both!). We are particularly interested in establishing new research directions for using genomics data to interpret undiagnosed rare diseases. We are also interested in helping to improve the use of genetic data in diverse populations. Great opportunities for networking also as many of the projects in our lab are often part of major genomics research consortium like the UDN, Mendelian Genomics Research Centres, MoTrPAC, GTEx, TOPMED, ENCODE and more!

Please check out our website and our recent list of papers on Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=117h3CAAAAAJ&hl=en

The Schuele lab works on gene discovery and novel stem cell technologies to generate stem cell models from patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders to understand the underlying causes of neurodegeneration. Our projects range from clinical genetic family studies and human stem cell modeling of neurocircuits to translational pre-clinical gene therapy studies in Parkinson’s disease.

Chromatin regulators are highly altered in diseases. Of interest, these proteins are easily targetable by drugs. Furthermore, the plasticity of epigenetic events makes them a powerful target for new therapeutic strategies and reversion of disease phenotype. Histone and DNA modifications influence many processes including transcription, replication, genomic stability and cell division, which are altered in diseases. Therefore, understanding the molecular basis of chromatin modifiers in both normal and pathological cells could help us frame new potential biomarkers and targeted therapies. My long-term interest lies in understanding the impact chromatin modifiers have on disease development and progression so that more optimal therapeutic opportunities can be achieved. My laboratory explores the direct molecular impact of chromatin-modifying enzymes during cell cycle progression, and characterizes the unappreciated and unconventional roles that these chromatin factors have on cytoplasmic function such as protein synthesis. By gaining molecular understanding into the mechanism of action of chromatin modifiers in normal and pathological cells, we will improve our basic knowledge and provide needed insights into new potential targeted therapies in diseases.

Environmental microbiology (e.g. diatoms, algae) and synthetic biology

Topics: Nitrogen fixation, lipid biosynthesis and transprot, cellular endosymbiosis, nonmodel organisms

Application areas: Fertilizers, Biofuels

The Batsuli Lab focuses on elucidating mechanisms of the immune response to blood coagulation proteins deficient in patients with inherited bleeding disorders, specifically hemophilia. Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder caused by low or absent clotting proteins factor VIII or factor IX that affects an person's risk of bleeding. Our lab seeks to better understand the interaction of factor proteins with antigen presenting cells and the mechanisms of antibody development against factor replacement therapies in order to develop therapeutic strategies that evade these immune responses and promote tolerance. The Batsuli Lab supports a collaborative and supportive research environment that engages in team science.

Our lab has several major foci:

1. Using iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes to develop a better understanding of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congenital heart disease. 2. The role of alterations in mitochondrial structure and function in normal physiology and in diseases such as dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 3. Single cell analysis of mitochondrial function reveals significant heterogeneity.

Specific projects underway in our lab include:

1. Using CRISPR-edited iPSC-cardiomyocytes to understand the mechanisms of cardiomyopathies and to solve the genotype-phenotype conundrum in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

2. The role of altered metabolism and mitochondrial function in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

3. Alterations of mitochondrial structure and function, including processes of mitofusion, mitofission, autophagy and mitophagy, in normal physiology and disease.

4. Development of high-throughput single cell imaging technologies to measure single cell mitochondrial function, and to measure single mitochondrial function to determine the role of heterogeneity in cell life-death decision-making.

5. Development of micro-engineered platforms for assessment of biomechanics of single iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

We also are interested in clinical heart failure and cardiac transplantation in children, specifically:

1. Understanding alterations in immune system function in patients with after implantation of a left ventricular assist device, Immune system biomarkers that predict adverse outcomes after pediatric VAD implantation.

2. Understanding alterations in immune system function in children with heart failure before and after heart transplant.

3. Development of biomarkers for the detection and monitoring of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder in pediatric solid organ transplant patients.

Dr. Carmichael is a perinatal and nutritional epidemiologist and Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on finding ways to improve maternal and infant health. Exposure themes include nutrition, social context, care, environmental contaminants and genetics. Outcome themes include severe maternal morbidity, stillbirth, birth defects, and preterm delivery. She is particularly interested in understanding the intersectionality of these varied types of exposures and outcomes and how they interact to impact health and health disparities, for the mother-baby dyad, in domestic as well as global health settings. She currently (mid 2020) has an opening in her lab for a post-doc focused on maternal health.

The lab's current research is aimed primarily at understanding how hematopoietic stem cells interact with their microenvironment in order to subsequently modulate these interactions to ultimately improve bone marrow transplantation and unlock biological secrets that further enable regenerative medicine broadly. We are primarily focused on studying the cell surface receptors on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and bone marrow stromal cells, and are actively learning how manipulating these can alter cell state and cell fate.  

There are many exciting opportunities that stem from this work across a variety of disease states ranging from rare genetic diseases, autoimmune diseases, solid organ transplantation, microbiome and cancer. While we are primarily focused on blood and immune diseases, the expanded potential of this work is much broader and can be applied to other organ systems as well and we are very eager to develop collaborations across disease areas. The Czechowicz lab hopes to further add in the field of translation research.

Goals

• We aim to increase our understanding of the basic science principles that govern hematopoietic stem cells and then exploit these findings to develop improved therapies for patients
• We are particularly focused on pediatric non-malignant bone marrow transplantation with a strong interest in genetic blood/immune diseases and bone marrow failure, but do complementry work on solid tumors with marrow disease, solid organ tolerance induction, autoimmune diseases and gene therapy/gene editing.

The Davis laboratory is looking for post-doctoral scholars interested in the study of cancer. We use single-cell, high-dimensional approaches in primary patient materials to identify cells associated with poor clinical outcomes. We have a focus on childhood leukemia, neuroblastoma and Ewing sarcoma. Once identified, we can further interrogate mechanisms of resistance in candidate cell populations and develop new approaches for treatment. 

We are looking for motivated and talented computational biologists and cancer biologists with interest in joining our active group. In particular, opportunties for data scientists/computational biologists are available. 

My research focuses on the neurobiological basis of language, reading, and cognition in children.  Functional imaging studies demonstrate that language and reading skills require the integrated activity of a network of distributed brain regions.  Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) documents that variations in the properties of long-range white matter pathways connecting these brain regions within the cerebrum and between the cerebrum and cerebellum are associated with variations in language and reading skills.  These white matter pathways may be disturbed in childhood illnesses, such as brain tumors. We have been collecting dMRI scans on children born preterm and full term at different ages, including infancy.  We also have been collecting clinical scans on children with brain tumors in the cerebellum and posterior fossa. We seek students who want to learn techniques for analyzing dMRI and related imaging methods in children and to link the neurobiological findings to clinical outcomes.  Selected studies include: (1) analyzing white matter pathways in preterm infants at near term age in relation to medical and environmental variables; (2) applying spherical deconvolution to scans of children age 6 to 8 years who are learning to read; (3) evaluating longitudinal change in children with mutism after resection of a posterior fossa brain tumor.

We aim to understand the genetic basis of diabetes and related metabolic conditions and to use this to leverage a better understanding of what causes diabetes and how we can improve treatment options for patients. Our work is predominantly focused on understanding what causes pancreatic islets to release insufficient insulin to control blood glucose levels after a meal in patients with type 2 diabetes, but often extends to efforts to relate this to metabolic dysfunction in other relevant tissues such as fat and liver.

We are an inter-disciplinary team of basic and clinical scientists with shared interests in using molecular genetics as a tool to uncover novel biology. We use a variety of different approaches to address important challenges in the field, which range from studies that work genome wide to those which are focused on specific genes and even precise nucleotide changes to understand their impact on pancreatic islet biology.

We have developed a series of pipelines that use primary human islets and authentic beta-cell models which allow us to generate and then integrate complex genomic, transcriptomic and cellular datasets. We use state-of-the art genome engineering approaches combined with induced pluripotent stem-cells to study the impact of T2D-associated genetic variants on islet cell development and function. We are also funded to investigate the impact of T2D risk variants on pancreatic beta-cell function in vivo.

We are a highly collaborative team and work with multiple national and international consortia involved in efforts to understand the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (eg DIAGRAM, NIDDK Funded Accelerated Medicines Partnership) and related glycaemic traits (MAGIC). We are also part of several Innovative Medicines Initiatives (IMIs) efforts including STEMBANCC and RHAPSODY and Horizon 2020 initiatives (eg T2DSYSTEMS), which are working to develop tools and frameworks to capitalize on genetic and genomic data.

We are also part of the NIDDK funded Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) where we play a role in two of their initiatives. The Human Pancreas Atlas Program- T2 (HPAP-T2D) and the Integrated Islet Phenotype Program (IIPP). Our role is to support the genetic and genomic characterization of islets which are distributed for research and to support the genomic characterization of the pancreas’ phenotyped within the HPAP-T2D program.

Our work extends to playing a role in the interpretation of genetic variants identified in genes with known roles in monogenic forms of diabetes. We are part of the Clin Gen Expert Review Panel for Monogenic Diabetes where are expertise contributes to interpretation of coding alleles in glucokinase (GCK) and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1 alpha (HNF1A). We are a number of on-going projects which are supporting efforts to better understand how to use exome-sequencing data in a diagnostic setting.

Meghan Halley, PhD, MPH, (she/hers) is an Assistant Professor at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. A medical anthropoloigst by training, her group employees methods from a wide range of disciplines to undersamd ethical and social challenges in research and clinical care for patients with rare and undiagnosed genetic conditions.

We study the development and function of specialized sensory and secretory cells in the lung called pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs). We apply genetic single cell labeling studies in vivo as well as single RNA sequencing to identify the molecular basis of their developmental migration and functional specialization.  We recently identified dozens of neuropeptides expressed by individual neuroendocrine cells and aim to understand the functional consequences of the secreted products and their targets both within the lung. We have collaborations with the thoracic team at Stanford Medical Center to investigate a spectrum of lung neuroendocrine tumors as well as pediatric lung diseases associated with abnormal PNECs. We welcome new members to or research team who enjoy working in a multidisciplinary, diverse, and collaborative research environment.

The Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computation Lab  develops fundamental computational methods for the study of cardiovascular disease progression, surgical methods, treatment planning and medical devices.  We focus on patient-specific modeling in pediatric and congenital heart disease, as well as adult cardiovascular disease.  Our lab bridges engineering and medicine through the departments of Pediatrics, Bioengineering, and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. We develop the SimVascular open source project.

The laboratory of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch, Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology) is seeking a highly-motivated and accomplished postdoctoral scholar to join their team of investigators  in conjunction with the Basic Science and Engineering (BASE) Initiative  of the Children’s Heart Center at Stanford University.

A successful applicant will be immersed in cutting-edge molecular, sequencing, imaging and high throughput ‘omics’  technologies applied to human vascular and immune cells  and in their application  to mouse and rat models of  human vascular disease with a focus on pulmonary arterial hypertension.  Our research interests relate to the impact of metabolic reprogramming on gene regulation and RNA translation, the impact of changes in shear stress and DNA damage on the epigenome, bioengineering blood vessels, immune and vascular cell interactions .  We incorporate transgenic models of disease, iPSC generated vascular and immune cells, gene editing, high-throughput drug testing, single cell RNA Sequencing and high dimensional single cell mapping of tissues.  Please consult our website for more details.

All our projects offer opportunities for co-mentoring in Basic, Engineering and Cardiovascular Science.

Current Research and Scholarly Interests My laboratory's overall goal is to (i) understand the mechanisms of right heart failure in children and adults with congenital heart disease and (ii) to develop biomarkers as a plasma signature of myocardial events to better understand the mechanisms of heart failure, improve monitoring of disease progression, early detection of heart failure and risk-stratification.

We have focused on tetralogy of Fallot population and single ventricle heart disease. As the survival continues to improve, so also has the incidence of heart failure. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms of heart failure are poorly understood as a result of which no targeted therapy is available. Since it is not possible to obtain heart muscle biopsies routinely on patients, we have taken a novel strategy of using Multi-Omics to better understand disease mechanisms and to follow patients over time comparing their Omics signature to themselves thereby personalizing their care. The goal is to create a targeted biomarker panel for clinical utility to be used in conjunction with imaging data to improve overall prediction of risk. Based on our work to date, we are also interested in understanding myocardial mitochondrial and vascular dysfunction as these have the potential to serve as novel therapeutic targets.

The Sakamoto lab studies normal and aberrant blood cell development. Her research team is interested in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic leukemia, including acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia. The overall goal of her research is to understand the signaling pathways that lead to leukemia or bone marrow failure. She is also interested in developing new drugs to treat these diseases. Her group experience works with mammalian cells and mouse models of cancer and bone marrow failure syndromes, such as Diamond Blackfan Anemia. There are opportunities to work with physicians, translational researchers, medicinal chemists, and advisors from drug companies with experience in drug development.

Experiments utilize leukemia cell lines, primary mouse and human hematopoietic cells, and mouse models will be used.   Technologies in the lab include standard biochemical techniques (Western blot analysis, real-time PCR, immunoprecipitations), FACs/sorting, colony assays, lentiviral and retroviral transductions, transplantation experiments, xenograft models and bioluminescence, CyTOF, RNA-seq ,ChIP-seq, small molecule and  shRNA/CRISPR library screening. Knowledge in bioinformatics would be helpful for single cell RNA-seq experiments. The intent of these early translational studies is to develop small molecules or peptides into drugs to treat acute leukemia.  Assays to assess toxicity, metabolism, optimization, and mechanism of action of compounds are performed.

Dr. Sakamoto is committed to diversity and has trained many underrepresented high school, undergraduate, medical, graduate students and postdoctoral/MD fellows. She has served on the American Society of Hematology Minority Medical Student Program and was Chair of the Diversity Special Interest Group. She is currently working with SMASH Rising to recruit underrepresented high school graduates and community college students to Stanford to study clinical, translational, and basic hematology. 

Mission: Our mission is to both use neuroscience as a tool for improving education, and use education as a tool for furthering our understanding of the brain. On the one hand, advances in non-invasive, quantitative brain imaging technologies are opening a new window into the mechanisms that underlie learning. For children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, we hope to develop personalized intervention programs that are tailored to a child’s unique pattern of brain maturation. On the other hand, interventions provide a powerful tool for understanding how environmental factors shape brain development. Combining neuroimaging with educational interventions we hope to further our understanding of plasticity in the human brain.

The Lab: The Brain Development & Education Lab is located in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and represents a collaboration between the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics within the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Education and the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute (we recently moved from The University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences). The focus of the lab is understanding the interplay between brain maturation and cognitive development.  The lab is interdisciplinary, drawing on the fields of neuroscience, psychology, education, pediatrics and engineering to answer basic scientific and applied questions.  Current projects focus on understanding how the brain’s reading circuitry develops in response to education and how targeted behavioral interventions prompt changes in the brain’s of children with dyslexia. A major component of this work is the development of software to measure properties of human brain tissue, localize differences and quantify changes over development.

Tom's current research focuses on studying the formation and evolution of galaxies with new numerical techniques, however, he enjoys all areas of non-linear physics which can be addressed using supercomputer calculations! His research interests span dark matter dynamics, the physics of collisionless shocks, investigating the role that cosmic rays and magnetic fields play in the formation and evolution of galaxies, modeling the formation of stars and black holes as well as turbulence, and applications of numerical general relativity.

Steve is interested in the physics of the most massive objects in the Universe and how we can use them to probe how the Universe evolved. Steve and his group are currently focused on understanding the astrophysics of galaxies and of galaxy clusters using multi-wavelength observations, and on using large, statistical samples of these objects to probe the natures of dark matter, dark energy and fundamental physics. More information regarding ongoing research and a list of Steve's current group members can be found here.

Pat and her research group are currently working hard as part of the exciting Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Dark Energy Science Collaboration in the general area of gravitational lensing. Her group is using analytic calculations, simulations and existing astronomical images to thoroughly understand potential systematic biases and challenges in extracting accurate and precise measurements of cosmic shear from gravitational lensing with current and future surveys. Current projects include the study of chromatic effects and blended objects.

Susan is broadly interested in astrophysical magnetism and the physics of the interstellar medium (ISM), from diffuse gas to dense, star-forming regions. Susan’s research tackles open questions like the structure of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, the nature of interstellar turbulence and the multi-phase ISM, and the role of magnetism in star formation. These big questions demand multiwavelength observations and new data analysis techniques. Susan and her group decipher the magnetic ISM using a combination of theory and observation. Data-wise, the group uses a wide range of tracers including gas line emission and absorption, polarized dust and synchrotron emission, starlight polarization, Zeeman splitting, and Faraday rotation. Susan is involved in a number of current and future telescope projects, and leads several efforts focused on Galactic science with sensitive measurements of millimeter-wavelength emission made by cosmic microwave background experiments like the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the Simons Observatory (SO).

Chao-Lin’s group use the most ancient light, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, emitted when the universe was in its infancy to shed light on the question of how the universe began. Currently Chao-Lin's group are involved in a number of experiments such as BICEP/BICEP2/Keck Array and have been working hard on detecting primordial B-mode polarization. His group are involved in both he design and construction of instruments as well as the data analysis and theoretical interpretation.

Our group works with  adaptive optics - optical systems that correct for aberrations using mirrors that change their shape thousands of times per second. This can allow telescopes located on the Earth to correct for atmospheric turbulence and produce diffraction-limited images, which we use to study giant extrasolar planets through direct imaging with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) instrument. Direct imaging of extrasolar planets separates the light of the (faint) planet and (bright) star, allowing us to measure the spectrum of young self-luminous giant exoplanets. We are currently planning an upgrade to GPI, adding a faster adaptive optics system using predictive control, and more accurate wavefront sensors.    We are studying this technology for more powerful instruments on the ground and space. We are also exploring applications in biology - microscopes that can look into tissues.