Advancing the Next Generation of Infectious Disease Researchers

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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Sue Merigan Scholars, faculty mentors, and colleagues gather to celebrate advancing infectious disease research at Stanford.

Advancing the Next Generation of Infectious Disease Researchers

Thomas C. Merigan, MD, Professor Emeritus of Infectious Diseases, is a leading virologist whose work has led to treatments for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, and herpes viruses. Merigan and his wife, Sue, established the Sue Merigan Student Scholarship Awards to support undergraduates, medical students, postdocs, and other trainees pursuing careers in infectious diseases research. Candidates are nominated by faculty mentors and selected by a committee of ID faculty. Awardees receive up to $45,000 in research support.

12 Scholars funded to date

12 applications received yearly

Undergraduate, medical student, and postdoc trainees

July 1-June 30 Program Duration

What Kinds of Research Have Past Scholars Pursued?

  • Infectious complications in heart transplant recipients
  • Phage therapy projects
  • Waste management in Makassar, Indonesia
  • Natural killer (NK) cell responses to Zika virus
  • Biomarkers and therapeutics for Long COVID

What Do Scholars Go on to Do After the Program?

Most scholars continue their work in infectious diseases—either in medical school or in a research setting.

Where Do Scholars Come From?

Scholars have come from a wide range of backgrounds and institutions around the world. 

What Have Past Scholars Achieved?

Each scholar has completed an infectious disease research project and gone on to further their studies.

 

Learn more about Thomas & Sue Merigan’s story. For more information on the program, contact: infectiousdiseases@stanford.edu

Together, Thomas C. Merigan, MD, and his wife, Sue, created the Sue Merigan Student Scholarship Awards to support the next generation of infectious disease researcher.

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Stanford’s SMART-HM Program Empowers Junior Faculty to Become Tomorrow’s Leaders in Medicine

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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Stanford’s SMART-HM Program Empowers Junior Faculty to Become Tomorrow’s Leaders in Medicine

Early in his career, Andre Kumar, MD, clinical associate professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine, felt adrift. His interests were evolving, but he didn’t know whom to turn to or which paths to follow.

“I had the drive, but no direction – and no one to turn to,” Kumar says.

So, when division leadership approached him in October 2024 to create a professional development program, he saw the chance to build what he once needed: mentorship, professional development, and a connected community. That became SMART-HM – Stanford Mentorship and Advancement in Research and Training for Hospital Medicine.

How It Works

Launched in January, SMART-HM is a required five-year program for all new clinical assistant professors in the division. It begins with foundational training in academic writing, mentorship engagement, professional identity, and scholarly skills. By year two, each faculty member selects a niche – such as medical education, research, or quality improvement – and begins working with targeted mentors to develop that focus. The second half of the program shifts toward launching independent projects and building a regional or national reputation. 

Andre Kumar, MD, knows mentorship alone isn’t enough. SMART-HM equips new hospital medicine faculty with the structure, skills, and cross-campus community to grow as educators, researchers, and clinical leaders.

Why It Matters

Stanford’s Division of Hospital Medicine has grown more than 200% in the last several years, from 40 to 140 faculty – spanning multiple sites across the Bay Area. Many new faculty arrived during the height of the pandemic, clinically overwhelmed and unsure how to enter academic life. Mentorship was inconsistent. Networking, when it happened, rarely extended beyond their immediate circles. Forty new faculty will be onboarded this year, many without Stanford training or a clear sense of its systems.

SMART-HM changes that. From day one, faculty plug into a community – attending mixers, joining cross-disciplinary projects, and gaining the support and guidance to navigate Stanford’s ins and outs while developing their niche and research beyond clinical work.

“We don’t know what the clinical environment for a hospitalist is going to be in 30 years, but we can definitely give them the tools to succeed as an academic hospitalist in the future.” – Andre Kumar, MD

The Impact

The inaugural 22-person cohort is already producing results. One faculty member is pursuing a master’s in poetry and using SMART-HM to launch a Center for Poetry and Medicine. Another created a bedside coaching model for more effective real-time feedback during clinical rounds. A third is leading a cross-specialty research project to improve care coordination.

“My job is to serve as a connector and a muse,” Kumar says. “I want them to work with mentors and do something new and meaningful.”

The inaugural cohort described feeling grateful that leadership was investing in their long-term careers. They felt supported in a system that acknowledged how uncertain the future of hospital medicine may be but still made space for their growth. 

As Kumar puts it, “We don’t know what the clinical environment for a hospitalist is going to be in 30 years, but we can definitely give them the tools to succeed as an academic hospitalist in the future.”

From poetry in medicine to bedside coaching, SMART-HM provides these new faculty members with the support and resources to reshape the future of hospital medicine.

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Targeted Hope

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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At Stanford, Gabe Mannis, MD, combines compassionate care with groundbreaking science — bringing clinical trial opportunities, like menin inhibitors, directly to his patients

Targeted Hope

The Next Era of AML Care Begins at Stanford

When Gabriel Mannis, MD, associate professor of medicine, joined the hematology faculty at Stanford in 2019, he brought with him not only a deep commitment to his patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but also a vision: to build a thriving clinical trials program capable of bringing the latest scientific discoveries to the bedside. Just a few years later, that vision has helped usher in a major breakthrough – FDA approval of a new class of drugs known as menin inhibitors.

“My vision was actually pretty simple: I wanted to eventually have a trial option for every AML patient that came to see me, and I wanted Stanford’s AML program to be one of the premier AML programs in the world,” Mannis says.

These new oral medications target specific genetic changes in leukemia cells and offer new hope to patients whose cancers have returned or resisted all other treatments. For many with AML that has relapsed or become drug-resistant, treatment options have been limited. Now, for a meaningful subset of patients, there is finally something new, and it’s not chemotherapy.

What Are Menin Inhibitors – and Why Do They Matter?

To understand menin inhibitors, you don’t need a PhD in molecular biology, but you do need to know this: Not all leukemia is the same. AML, for instance, is an aggressive blood cancer that arises when bone marrow makes too many abnormal white blood cells. But among AML cases, genetic mutations vary widely, which is why treatments that work for one patient may be ineffective for another.

Menin inhibitors are part of a new generation of targeted therapies – drugs designed to interrupt the specific genetic pathways that allow leukemia cells to grow unchecked.

Mannis examines a patient as part of Stanford’s menin inhibitor clinical trial program, which has helped usher in a new era of targeted leukemia therapy

“Menin inhibition is a really neat, new strategy to treat certain types of leukemia,” Mannis explains. “What makes menin inhibition so unique is that instead of killing cancer cells directly like most treatments, it switches off faulty gene signals that are blocking the cells from maturing. This allows the leukemia cells to develop into more normal, healthy blood cells – a process called differentiation, which we can actually watch unfold under the microscope in real time.”

It’s a highly precise intervention – and it’s taken over 20 years to get here.

The research that led to this discovery began in pediatric oncology, where scientists were desperate for new treatments for infants with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. Over the years, as the biology became clearer, so did the potential: This was not just a treatment for rare childhood cases. It might benefit adults, too.

“This was truly a bench-to-bedside evolution that began in an academic lab,” Mannis reflects. “I vividly remember discussing one of the preclinical papers several years ago in my colleague Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD’s lab meeting and thinking to myself, ‘This looks like really, really good science – I need to be a part of this drug development.’”

“My vision was actually pretty simple: I wanted to eventually have a trial option for every AML patient that came to see me, and I wanted Stanford’s AML program to be one of the premier AML programs in the world.” – Gabriel Mannis, MD

Who Might Benefit?

Not every patient with leukemia will be eligible for a menin inhibitor, but for those who are, the impact could be profound. Specifically, the therapy shows promise in two genetic subtypes of acute leukemia:

  • NPM1 mutations – seen in about 30% of AML cases, often in younger patients.
  • KMT2A rearrangements – less common, but often more aggressive; seen in some adult AML cases and in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“Taken together, roughly 40% of patients with acute leukemia could potentially benefit from this class of therapy,” Mannis says.

Inside the Trials: What the Data Shows

Mannis served as the Stanford principal investigator on the multicenter trials that helped lead to FDA approval. One of the most promising agents to emerge is revumenib, now officially greenlit by the FDA. Other menin inhibitors – ziftomenib, bleximenib, and enzomenib – are still in development and showing strong early results:

  • Response rates are around 60%.
  • Complete remissions occur in roughly a quarter of patients.
  • Many patients are able to proceed to stem cell transplant, which may offer longer-term remission.

Some combinations, such as ziftomenib with standard chemotherapy, have shown complete remission rates as high as 91% in early trials.

“Without trial oversight and input from skilled clinical investigators, it’s possible that effective drugs might never successfully make their way to patients,” Mannis says. “For me, it’s like being one of the first people in the world to work with a new iPhone prototype, except instead of just testing more realistic Memojis, I get to offer my patients potentially life-saving drugs.”

Known for his warmth, Mannis brings a smile to both patients and colleagues — an approach that sustains compassion in the face of challenging work

A Stanford-Led Push Toward Progress

Targeted cancer therapies have been reshaping the oncology landscape for years – think HER2 inhibitors in breast cancer or EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer. 

The approval of revumenib marks the beginning of a similar new chapter in leukemia treatment, particularly for patients at Stanford and across the country who have few other options. That progress is due in no small part to physician-scientists like Mannis, who not only treat patients but help design and lead the clinical trials that bring new options into the world. And at Stanford, where clinical research is tightly woven into patient care, this approval feels personal.

“Despite the significant advances in AML treatment over the past few years, the reality remains challenging – most patients still die from their leukemia,” Mannis says. “Early in my career, the emotional weight of this work would often follow me home. With experience, I’ve learned that finding moments of lightness and humor is essential for providing sustainable, compassionate care. By embracing these moments and not taking myself too seriously, I can stay present and focused on what matters most: supporting my patients through both the challenges and the victories.”

A memorable victory, he says, came in the form of a video text he received after the clinical trial.

“One of the stories I often tell is that of a woman whose leukemia relapsed shortly after a bone marrow transplant,” Mannis recalls. “She went into remission during the trial, got a second bone marrow transplant more than two years ago, and is now likely cured. A year or so after the second transplant, she texted me a video of her and her daughter dancing at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour – and as a fellow hardcore Swiftie, this really hit home.”

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Endocrine Tumor Program Brings Unparalleled Clinical and Research Expertise Under One Roof

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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Justin P. Annes, MD, PhD, specializes in rare neuroendocrine tumors called pheo paras.

Endocrine Tumor Program Brings Unparalleled Clinical and Research Expertise Under One Roof

Oh, that’s a very rare disease! sounds like good news, until you’re diagnosed with one. Getting expert care for a rare condition can be difficult indeed. To help ease that burden, Stanford’s Endocrine Tumor program offers one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary care for adults and children with pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (pheo paras), rare tumors affecting the adrenal glands and surrounding areas that may or may not be cancerous but either way can cause life-altering symptoms. This care comprises diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of both patients and their families.

The pheo-para program is a standout example of what can be accomplished when highly skilled and knowledgeable people who are deeply dedicated to an oft-overlooked problem come together with a mission. Co-directed by Justin P. Annes, MD, PhD, associate professor of endocrinology at Stanford, and surgeon Electron Kebebew, MD, the program was recently designated a Pheo Para Research & Clinical Center of Excellence by the Pheo Para Alliance (PPA).

A Lonely and Isolating Diagnosis

“When you’re diagnosed with a rare condition, there’s not only an overwhelming sense of I don’t know what to do but also My physicians don’t know what this is, and they don’t know how to treat it,” says Annes. “It’s really isolating for patients to receive a rare diagnosis, and that’s assuming that the diagnosis can even be made, because oftentimes, particularly for pheo paras, the delay in diagnosis is estimated to be around five years.” This delay is due to the rarity of the condition, a lack of knowledge among nonspecialists, and the fact that symptoms mimic much more common diseases, such as hypertension or anxiety. Such delays mean patients go years without appropriate treatment while the tumors grow, some of which are cancerous.

“The most important thing is to have a center of expertise, where patients have a home where they feel that someone understands their disease, can provide information about their diagnosis, and give them that comfort,” says Annes. “Having leadership in surgery and in medicine also empowers the center, because you have multidepartmental collaboration, which extends to pediatrics as well.”

Putting the Pieces Together with Multidisciplinary Expertise

Pheo paras are complex to treat as well as diagnose. Symptoms and management are highly individualized, depending on where the tumor is located. 

“It really requires a collaborative, interdisciplinary team. You need experts across the board, not only in medicine, genetics, and endocrinology, but also in surgery and radiation oncology,” explains Annes. “There are multiple modalities for treatment, like targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy and robot-assisted surgery. It’s really critical that all of these pieces fit together and that your center has all the expertise to really provide patients with the level of knowledge and care that each individual demands. We’ve put that together here.”

Importantly, 35% to 40% of pheo para cases are familial, so truly comprehensive treatment requires the capacity to do genetic testing. The scope of the genetic link has been fully understood for only about a decade, so there is a need to test patients who were diagnosed years ago, along with their families. 

“We really want to provide a home, not only for individuals, but for whole families,” says Annes. “An important effort of our center is to not only look forward, but to make sure all of our patients who are cared for at Stanford receive the highest level of care.”

“The most important thing is to have a center of expertise, where patients have a home where they feel that someone understands their disease, can provide information about their diagnosis, and give them that comfort.” – Justin P. Annes, MD, PhD

Nose-to-Tail Approach

But that’s not all. The Endocrine Tumor program boasts a cutting-edge research team, offering patients access to experimental treatments through clinical trials. They also conduct in vitro and animal research that drives fundamental discoveries into the molecular underpinnings of these tumors, an area of research that typically bears fruit not just for pheo paras but also for other, more common tumors that have similar genetic and molecular drivers. This kind of nose-to-tail expertise, from basic research to experimental therapeutics, with routine clinical care in between, is rarely seen under one roof for any disease.

“We’re providing state-of-the-art care at the highest level, but we also want to be the ones to make the breakthroughs to provide the next standard of care,” says Annes. “That’s where I’m hoping we can attract more interest, people who are committed to seeing Stanford maintain its level of excellence across not only common disease, but rare diseases as well.”

An example is a recently published research paper by Annes and his team on a study of a newly developed gene panel that will help determine whether specific gene variants influence the risk of developing pheo paras. As of now, many genes associated with the disease remain “of unknown significance.”

Increased Visibility Means More Patients, More Collaboration, New Hope

The Center of Excellence designation from the PPA has increased the visibility of the program among pharmaceutical companies interested in developing novel therapeutics. It has also boosted referrals from both patients and physicians, hopefully increasing the proportion of people with pheo paras who receive a timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

Click image to expand.

Supporting Patients Throughout Their Healthcare Journey

An important goal for Annes and his team is to ensure that patients receive the support they need throughout their healthcare journey. “People undervalue the logistics that patients face when they have a complicated condition like this,” he says. “We have a nurse navigator, who guides patients through the process of their new diagnosis and a very complicated medical system.”

Jill Shugart, 64, of Winters, California, came under the care of Annes after genetic testing revealed that she was at elevated risk for hereditary pheo paras. He identified a growth on her adrenal gland that testing suggested was noncancerous. After several years of monitoring, she elected to have it surgically removed in an abundance of caution, at the recommendation of Annes and Kebebew. Sure enough, it was indeed cancerous, but the surgery appears to have been curative, and she continues to undergo monitoring.

Despite the rarity of her condition, Shugart had to fight with her insurance company and primary care provider through patient advocacy to access the specialized care only available at Stanford. “I am so grateful I was hooked up with Dr. Annes and Dr. Kebebew,” she says. “I felt like I was really being catered to.” After surgery, she asked Annes, “Are we done? Can you keep seeing me?” He said, “Oh, we’re friends for life now.”

“Anywhere in the world I could be, this is where I would want to be – at Stanford,” says Shugart. Had she not been referred to Annes, she speculates, “I wouldn’t have known what I was missing out on. [My previous doctors] may have never caught it. They told me the surgery I had was a very high-risk surgery. I would not have been comfortable doing that at [a nonspecialized center]. When I went into my surgery, I was shocked by how many people were in there. I think I had 27 people on my team.”

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Hoops of Henle

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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Hoops of Henle

Where Medicine Meets on the Court for Health and Teamwork

At Stanford, the pursuit of health and wellness extends beyond the hospital walls and into the basketball court. Meet the Hoops of Henle, an intramural basketball team formed by faculty and trainees in the Division of Nephrology within the Department of Medicine, where camaraderie, exercise, and a little friendly competition foster a vibrant community.

Founded in the winter of 2008 by several now-longstanding faculty members, including Vivek Bhalla, MD, Glenn Chertow, MD, Richard Lafayette, MD, and Alan Pao, MD, the Hoops of Henle emerged as a creative outlet for a small group of faculty and trainees looking to connect outside the hospital setting. The team’s playful name is a nod to the loop of Henle in the nephron of the kidney, a clever inside joke that reflects the team’s roots in nephrology. “No one else understood, but we laughed at it ourselves because it really was a recreational league,” Chertow adds.

“After every basketball game, I always felt really good — like I had the energy to do more stuff,” shares the former coach, Assistant Professor Tammy Sirich, MD. This sentiment echoes the experiences of other team members who have found that engaging in sports not only boosts physical fitness but also enhances productivity and morale in their demanding medical careers.

“Most importantly, it’s a reminder that all the attendings that you think are so esteemed in their careers are people and humans too,” – Maya Ramachandran, MD

The Hoops of Henle has been a source of stress relief and connection for its members since its inception. The current coach, Clinical Assistant Professor Seolhyun Lee, MD, remarks, “Sometimes you need to really vent the energy or stress that you have to go through every day in the hospital and connect with colleagues outside of work: You know, just talk with our movement, bodies, passing, and shooting.”

As the team continues to grow, it serves as a reminder that the world of medicine is not just about rigorous training, clinical care, teaching, and research; it’s also about teamwork, resilience, and the joy of playing together. “Most importantly, it’s a reminder that all the attendings that you think are so esteemed in their careers are people and humans too,” emphasizes Clinical Assistant Professor Maya Ramachandran, MD, Hoops of Henle team member and a former member of the MIT women’s basketball team, a former resident in internal medicine, and currently a faculty member in Hospital Medicine. 

Since expanding beyond the Division of Nephrology, the Hoops have proved even more successful, securing their first intramural playoff spot last year under Coach Lee’s leadership.

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Stanford Cancer Care, Now in Emeryville

by | Aug 20, 2025 | 2025

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Stanford Cancer Care, Now in Emeryville

Access to less toxic chemotherapy for women with triple negative breast cancer. Psychosocial counseling and cardiac care for men with prostate cancer. An exercise regimen for cancer patients. A multidisciplinary breast cancer clinic. Improved access to high-quality cancer care. 

These offerings, combined with subspecialized care and onsite clinical trials, have become available to a growing number of patients in counties east of the San Francisco Bay in recent years. The services coincide with an increased presence of Department of Medicine faculty at the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center in Emeryville. The academic emphasis was designed to benefit the center’s East Bay patients, and it’s clearly paying off.

One example is patients’ proximity to the many benefits of clinical trials. Previously, patients at Stanford’s multispecialty Emeryville location could participate in clinical trials, but it meant traveling to Palo Alto – a commitment of up to two and a half hours each way with multiple transfers on public transit.

Anjali Sibley, MD, is the director of the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center in Emeryville.

“Good medicine involves providing standard-of-care treatments, but also elevating to include extra things that research and academic institutions can provide,” says Anjali Sibley, MD, clinical associate professor of oncology and director of the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center in Emeryville.

Since opening in September 2020, the cancer center has been a boon to the local community. What began with two oncologists grew to today’s 12 highly specialized providers who treat cancers such as those in the bladder, breast, lung, pancreas, skin, endocrine system, kidneys, and reproductive system. Demand for services has grown steadily – from 544 patients in 2021 to 3,446 patients in 2024. As of July 2025, patients had local access to four clinical trials.

“The complex care we give to cancer patients is hard to do, and we really need to be subspecialists to some extent to be able to deliver that level of care,” says Milana Dolezal, MD, clinical associate professor of oncology and a faculty provider at the center.

Dolezal subspecializes in breast oncology, and Sibley in thoracic oncology. A third faculty provider, Neha Patel, MD, is a clinical assistant professor of oncology with a focus on genitourinary cancers.  

“The complex care we give to cancer patients is hard to do, and we really need to be subspecialists to some extent to be able to deliver that level of care.” – Milana Dolezal, MD (pictured on left)

Transforming from a general cancer center to one delivering specialized and subspecialized quality care was one of Sibley’s goals, and it aligned with the mission of the Division of Oncology.

“That’s why clinical trials and other research activities are so important,” says Sibley. “We are also expanding supportive care management programs for patients, including our exercise oncology pilot study and programming in cancer and menopause.” 

One of the investigations currently available to Emeryville breast cancer center patients is the SCARLET trial. It’s looking at a shorter chemo-immunotherapy regimen without toxic anthracyclines for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. 

“We are entering an era of ‘de-escalation’ of therapy where we hope to use cancer therapies that are absolutely needed and with less toxicity. We’re seeing if we can omit anthracyclines in the triple-negative space,” Dolezal points out.

“Having these large Phase III cooperative group trials available in Emeryville is so great for the East Bay breast cancer community,” she says.

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