PRISM Mentors

Live cell force dynamics during mitosis, and cellular mechanics during differentiation and development

Our overarching goal is to directly measure and broadly explore the mechanical aspects inside and around cells, e.g., forces and tensions that contribute to the biological interconnectivity and physiological operation of life but remain largely undetected by existing experimental approaches.

This effort is motivated by our current knowledge in cell biology, which is exceptionally rich in structural/biochemical/genomic aspects but starkly limited in the mechanical descriptions given that cells function as physical objects to exhibit life. Our research hence sits at the interface between molecular and cellular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and cutting-edge instrumentation/ tool developments.

We are a group of gap seekers and bridge builders dedicated to unraveling the mechanical dimension in biology. By innovating, integrating, and adapting methodology in high-resolution optical tweezers, fluorescence microscopy and various imaging techniques, we aim to probe live cell force dynamics in situ and study biomechanics across scales.

Dr. Huang's laboratory aims to understand the chemical and mechanical interactions between extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and pluripotent stem cells that regulate vascular and myogenic function. The fundamental insights of cell-matrix interactions are applied towards stem cell-based therapies with respect to improving cell survival and regenerative capacity, as well as engineered vascularized tissues for therapeutic transplantation. Current projects focus on various aspects of mechanical and physical factors on tissue regeneration. Examples include:

1) Cellular Biomechanics for in High Through Chemical Screening: To develop new technology for high-throughput quantitative assessment of vascular endothelial cell biomechanics for cardiovascular drug screening. We hypothesize that cellular biomechanics can be a predictive biomarker of endothelial health.

2) Engineered Matrix Microarrays to Enhance the Regenerative Potential of iPSC-Derived Endothelial Cells: We propose to develop a combinatorial family of engineered ECMs (eECMs) with independently tunable biochemical and biomechanical cues, including stiffness and stress relaxation rate for high-throughput, matrix array studies of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cell (iPSC-EC) survival and angiogenic potential. The optimally designed eECMs will then be coinjected with iPSC-EC for treatment of peripheral arterial disease in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia (Sponsor: NIH).

3) iPSC-Derived Smooth Muscle Progenitors for Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: We propose to deliver human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived smooth muscle progenitors to the site of abdominal aortic aneurysm will replenish smooth muscle cells, enhance elastin production, and abrogate wall dilatation in a murine model (Sponsor: CIRM).

4) Vascularized Cardiac Patch with Physiological Orientation for Myocardial Repair: The aims are to engineer a vascularized aligned iPSC-derived CM (cardiomyocyte) patch and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of ECM-mediated nitric oxide signaling in enhancing iPSC-CM survival and phenotype; and to determine the therapeutic effect of a vascularized aligned iPSC-derived CM patch for treatment of myocardial infarction (Sponsor: Dept of Veteran Affairs).

5) Other ongoing research areas: mRNA-based therapeutics, exosome biologics, microgravity effects on tissue regeneration and dysfunction, 3D bioprinting of engineered skeletal muscle, viscoelasticity effects on endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, electro-osmosis for treatment of lymphedema, tissue chips for stem cell manufacturing

Dr. Huang's laboratory research is funded by the National Institues of Health, Department of Defense, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The mission of the Corsello lab is to develop new therapeutic strategies for cancer, with an emphasis on unmet needs in solid tumor oncology. We operate at the intersection of chemical biology and functional genomics to discover novel anti-cancer mechanisms of small molecules. Our findings have resulted in multiple drug development projects.

The Goins Lab aims to understand how cells make decisions. Our research focuses on how young, immature blood stem cells, with the potential to become many different cell types, choose between these cell fates. Our research elucidates how blood stem cells make these fate decisions by studying the fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms that control the decision-making process during homeostasis and in response to stress. We are interested in how intracellular signaling pathways, asymmetric or symmetric cell division, gene regulation, cell cycle control, and stress response pathways are integrated together to influence cell fate choice. 

Control Systems and Optimization 

Applied Math and Statistics 

Energy Storage Devices

Energy Conversion Devices

The Black Academic Development Lab’s (BAD Lab) mission is to integrate linguistic research with educational praxis and create a model of scholarship for dissemination. ur goal is to create innovative, community-centered scholarly products. The Stanford BAD Lab is dedicated to centering the lives of Black academics and to the study of liberatory linguistics. We are invested in research that provides insight on factors that affect the academic and professional retention and the quality of life of Black people throughout the teaching and learning lifespan. Our current research projects focus on increasing racial diversity in the STEM fields, including the linguistic sciences; supporting teachers in building their knowledge of linguistic variation and its role in student outcomes across subject areas; and survivorship care of Black cancer patients.

In the S4 Lab, we invent sensor systems, which includes developing new methods of wireless communication, energy harvesting, sensing, and energy-efficient computing. Our research has applications in the domains of ubiquitous computing, robotics, and bioelectronics. Current research efforts include developing energy-efficient wireless sensing systems for environmental monitoring, new methods of low-power satellite connectivity, energy-efficient computing for resource constrained embedded systems, and wearables for human health.

Our lab studies how engineered and biological soft materials interact with and transport molecules, ions, and heat. We use this fundamental knowledge to co-engineer materials with systems and processes that use these materials. Our work is guided by technoeconomic analyses aiming to address important challenges in energy, water, and sustainability.   

The Horns Lab creates and uses new technologies to understand and manipulate cells. We aim to discover the fundamental principles governing how cells and tissues operate, and to harness these insights to improve human health. Our work unites molecular engineering, synthetic biology, and genomics to answer questions and solve problems in immunology, neuroscience, cancer, and aging.

The Magic Lab has three subgroups based on three branches of science: (a) physics; (b) chemistry; (c) mathematics.  The physics-based subgroup focuses on a wide spectrum of issues ranging from: (i) novel adaptations of aberration-corrected modern electron microscopy and spectroscopy (including PAMELA, vibrational spectroscopy and cryogenic-EM); (ii) investigations of novel materials and devices at the nanoscale.  The chemistry-based subgroup is exploring new and scalable solutions to: (i) atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane removal as well as mitigating methane emissions; (ii) new ways to dehumidify ambient air with ultra-low energy intensity; (iii) novel approaches to remove atmospheric particulate (e.g., PM2.5) pollution.  The math-based subgroup focuses on the use of deep learning and generative AI to address critical problems for the electric grid and broad energy systems.

We study the role of mobile genes in the community interactions of the intestinal microbiota.

The human microbiome is evolving rapidly (i.e. over our lifetimes) following changes in modern lifestyles, especially in industrialized countries. Our lab seeks to understand how horizontal gene transfer shapes interactions within the human intestinal microbiota and what the implications of this widespread phenomenon are for community properties relevant to human health (for example, the ability of the gut community to recover after antibiotic treatment). There is currently only a superficial understanding of the different cellular roles of most exchanged genes, the mechanisms governing their spread and their effect on community dynamics. The García-Bayona lab works on bridging the existing gap between the current systems-level observational studies and a mechanistic understanding through bacterial genetics and physiology. We take a bottom-up approach (from genes to communities), incorporating genetics, metagenomics, population analyses and experimental evolution in tractable bacterial consortia.

We are a diverse and dynamic group of researchers working to solve clinically important problems using AI. We integrate deep clinical domain expertise with machine learning to develop innovative, AI-driven tools for enhanced patient care. Our areas of focus include the development and validation of digital pathologic and multi-modal deep learning models for: (1) Greater diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, (2) Improved outcome prognostication and prediction of treatment response in cancer patient populations, and (3) Discovery of novel image-based biomarkers for precision medicine across various oncologic and non-oncologic diseases. 

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 focus of the lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders associated with fetal and neonatal brain injury with the long-term goal of translating the lab’s findings into therapeutics.

 The research team uses region-specific human brain organoids differentiated from induced pluripotent stem  cells (hiPSC), animal models and human brain tissue samples, and employs a multidisciplinary approach involving genetics, molecular and developmental neurobiology, multi-omics  and high -throughput screeening to ask questions about genetic and environmental brain injury during development.

My research group is currently focused on understanding brain function and inter-brain synchrony during naturalistic social interaction. We use ultra-portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to address specific scientific questions with an emphasis on multi-modal assessment (e.g., behavioral, physiological, environmental setting, and eye-tracking in addition to functional NIRS). This overall scientific apprach is called "interaction neuroscience:.

Our goal is to understand how social factors such as interpersonal trauma and cultural biases impact brain function and mental health outcomes. With this knowledge, we develop evidence-based interventions to elevate work productivity, team performance, and well-being. We are passionate about embracing authenticity and vulnerability, and leveraging adverse experiences towards self-growth and achieving one’s full potential.

We study stem cells in normal, dysfunctional, and malignant tissues. Our goal is to make basic science discoveries that can be translated to benefit patients. We investigate how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) regulate the immune system and develop strategies to rejuvenate dysfunctional immunity.

My research group is currently focused on understanding brain function and inter-brain synchrony during naturalistic social interaction. We use ultra-portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to address specific scientific questions with an emphasis on multi-modal assessment (e.g., behavioral, physiological, environmental setting, and eye-tracking in addition to functional NIRS). This overall scientific apprach is called "interaction neuroscience:.

Cepika Lab in the Department of Surgery, which opened in September 2025, is investigating the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in establishing tumor immune tolerance and preventing the response to cancer immunotherapy in human solid tumors. In addition, the laboratory will explore the role of intestinal epithelium in initiating the pathological immune response in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and collaborate on the development of IBD gene therapies.

In August 2024, I started a new lab as an Assistant Professor at Stanford University. My research focuses on differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into multiple cell types, including artery, vein, heart, bone, liver, and smooth muscle cells (e.g., Ang et al., 2022; Cell; Ang et al., 2018; Cell Reports; Loh & Ang et al., 2014; Cell Stem Cell). 

The investigative interests of my lab falls within the general themes of

1) Developing precision diagnostics for infectious diseases that integrates pathogen, host, and drug response information. This includes

• Developing high-content, near-patient, diagnostic system for rapid broad pathogen detection and characterization.
• Integrating multi-omics molecular and phenotypic data layers with novel computational approaches into advanced diagnostics and predictive analytics for acute infections.
• Developing personalized, rapid antimicrobial susceptibility analysis system based on early response kinetics in physiological conditions to inform antimicrobial choice, dosage, and duration.
• Exploring the clinical utility of serum bactericidal assay as a humoral immune functional assessment in the prediction of bloodstream infections. 

2) Understanding the functional roles of extracellular DNA in neutrophil extracellular traps and biofilm

• As a DNAzyme that drives bactericidal effects and immunopathologies. 

Multi-omics, multi-modal, multi-scale data fusion for precision medicine

Vast amounts of biomedical data are now routinely available for patients ranging from sequencing of tissues to liquid biopsies. In addition, new computational tools for quantitatively analyzing radiographic images are now available. Multi-scale data is now available for complex diseases at molecular, cellular and tissue scale to establish a more comprehensive view of key biological processes. Intra and inter individual heterogeneities are often quoted as the main challenge for studying complex diseases. These heterogeneities exist at all scales, from microscopic to macroscopic. We develop multi-scale modeling approach to counter heterogeneity and uncover potentially untapped synergies between different data modalities by integrating information across spatial scales. Multi-scale modeling involves linking information from molecules, cells, tissues, and organs all the way to the organism and the population. We propose to use high dimensional molecular data with tissue scale image data to develop a statistical multi-scale modeling approach in the context of multi-modal & multi-scale modeling. Such modeling can contribute toward predicting diagnosis and treatment by revealing synergies and previously unappreciated relationships. Multi-scale modeling also can contribute to a more fundamental understanding of disease development and can reveal novel insights in how data at different scales are linked to each other.

Our laboratory has been focusing on the mechanisms of fibrosis  elucidating the links between activation of redox pathways, cell death, stellate cell activation and transdifferentiation to myofibroblasts. We have been interested in the role of NADPH oxidases and their cell-specific roles in liver injury and repair.   We are  investigating  how changes in the mechanical properties  of the extracellular matrix and architecture  elicit changes in cellular behavior, and how these predispose to cancer invasion.   While matrix stiffness in advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis and its effects on cancer progression have been extensively studied, we demonstrated how changes in viscoelasticity, independent of stiffness, impact hepatocellular carcinoma growth. This is clinically very relevant as increasing viscoelasticity could be a new risk factor foretelling more invasive features of cancer in diabetic patients.

With the  type 2 diabetes and steatotic liver disease epidemics, the ultimate goal is to translate our findings and develop novel therapeutic approaches that  improve patient outcomes.

Amyloidosis, heart failure, transplantation

The mission of the Corsello lab is to develop new therapeutic strategies for cancer, with an emphasis on unmet needs in solid tumor oncology. We operate at the intersection of chemical biology and functional genomics to discover novel anti-cancer mechanisms of small molecules. Our findings have resulted in multiple drug development projects.

The Alsentzer Lab at Stanford is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to advance trustworthy, deployable AI methods for healthcare. 

The Alsentzer Lab is an interdisciplinary research group in the Department of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University. Our mission is to leverage machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to augment clinical decision-making and expand access to high-quality healthcare. Our lab develops new methods to improve model trustworthiness and leverages heterogeneous clinical data, such as electronic health records and genomic data, to provide actionable insights to clinicians, researchers, and patients. The lab bridges computer science and medicine through affiliations with Stanford’s Department of Computer Science and the Data Science team at Stanford Health Care.

Our research spans both core methodological advancements (e.g., developing novel ML architectures and evaluation metrics) and translational applications (e.g., deploying AI tools into clinical workflows). Candidates with experience in either—or both—are encouraged to apply. 

The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with Dr. Alsentzer to shape a research agenda that aligns with their interests while addressing critical challenges in AI for healthcare. Potential research directions include:

• How can we efficiently adapt foundation models to local clinical contexts?
• How can we design multimodal foundation models to better model and predict disease progression?
• How can we generate faithful and verifiable summaries of longitudinal EHR data?
• How can we better measure and mitigate the impact of biased training data for downstream clinical uses?
• Can we improve the factuality and reasoning of foundation models by integrating external biomedical knowledge? 
• Can we design models that leverage clinically useful information without relying on “shortcut” features that capture the processes of medicine? 
• How can we develop few-shot learning approaches for diagnosing and treating patients with rare diseases?
• Can we design clinically-useful metrics for evaluation and continuous monitoring after deployment?

This position is designed to equip postdocs with the skills and experience to lead interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI and healthcare. Fellows will have access to critical resources for interdisciplinary research in ML for Health, including HIPAA-compliant compute infrastructure with high memory GPUs and access to Stanford Healthcare data, which includes EHRs for over 5M patients and 100M clinical notes.  These resources will enable the development of impactful methods that can be translated into real-world clinical applications.

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 hematopoiesis which is the complex process of producing blood cells that are essential for maintaining our basic health and well being. Our mission is to learn how these individual cells change as people age and develop cancer. Blood cell production is driven by the hematopoietic stem cell which gives rise to an incredible diversity of cells throughout life. Our research focuses on how dysregulation of this process leads to cytopenias and hematologic malignancies. We have expertise that spans clinical medicine, functional hematology, molecular and cellular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, and machine learning. By integrating advanced experimental and computational methods, we are examining blood cell development and function at single-cell resolution to advance patient diagnostics and treatment.

Our group is diverse and interdisciplinary, and we maintain active colaborations with investigators in the Division of Hematology, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Stanford Cancer Institute.

The research group of Dr. Nathan Lo is based in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University. Our group studies the transmission of infectious diseases and impact of public health strategies with an ultimate goal of informing public health policy. Our current research focuses on tropical diseases, vaccine-preventable infections, and COVID-19.

We study hematopoiesis which is the complex process of producing blood cells that are essential for maintaining our basic health and well being. Our mission is to learn how these individual cells change as people age and develop cancer. Blood cell production is driven by the hematopoietic stem cell which gives rise to an incredible diversity of cells throughout life. Our research focuses on how dysregulation of this process leads to cytopenias and hematologic malignancies. We have expertise that spans clinical medicine, functional hematology, molecular and cellular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, and machine learning. By integrating advanced experimental and computational methods, we are examining blood cell development and function at single-cell resolution to advance patient diagnostics and treatment.

Our group is diverse and interdisciplinary, and we maintain active colaborations with investigators in the Division of Hematology, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Stanford Cancer Institute.

Dr. Prochaska’s research program leverages technology to study and treat tobacco, alcohol, and other risk behaviors in populations at high risk. Her research spans community-based epidemiologic studies, randomized controlled clinical trials, and health policy analysis. Dr. Prochaska has conducted and collaborated on over 25 randomized controlled behavioral intervention trials, targeting tobacco and other risk behaviors with adolescents and adults.

The Magic Lab has three subgroups based on three branches of science: (a) physics; (b) chemistry; (c) mathematics.  The physics-based subgroup focuses on a wide spectrum of issues ranging from: (i) novel adaptations of aberration-corrected modern electron microscopy and spectroscopy (including PAMELA, vibrational spectroscopy and cryogenic-EM); (ii) investigations of novel materials and devices at the nanoscale.  The chemistry-based subgroup is exploring new and scalable solutions to: (i) atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane removal as well as mitigating methane emissions; (ii) new ways to dehumidify ambient air with ultra-low energy intensity; (iii) novel approaches to remove atmospheric particulate (e.g., PM2.5) pollution.  The math-based subgroup focuses on the use of deep learning and generative AI to address critical problems for the electric grid and broad energy systems.

The mission of the Corsello lab is to develop new therapeutic strategies for cancer, with an emphasis on unmet needs in solid tumor oncology. We operate at the intersection of chemical biology and functional genomics to discover novel anti-cancer mechanisms of small molecules. Our findings have resulted in multiple drug development projects.

We study stem cells in normal, dysfunctional, and malignant tissues. Our goal is to make basic science discoveries that can be translated to benefit patients. We investigate how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) regulate the immune system and develop strategies to rejuvenate dysfunctional immunity.