News and Accomplishments
Redefining Healthy Aging Through Multi-Omics and Microbiome Dynamics
Dr. Zhou and the team’s research demonstrates that healthy aging is a dynamic and highly individualized process. By integrating longitudinal multi-omics data, the research shows that aging unfolds through nonlinear biological transitions rather than a gradual, linear decline, with distinct molecular changes emerging at key stages of adult life.
Predicting Movement and Balance to Prevent Falls
Dr. Kennedy and team have developed a wearable sensor approach that can predict a person’s walking path and how their body will move—especially balance and torso sway—in real time. Using data from body-worn sensors and advanced modeling, their work shows it is possible to anticipate how a person will navigate their environment and how their stability may change along the way. This enables early identification of potential trip hazards and moments of instability before a fall occurs.
Rethinking Smoking and Quitting in Low-Income Contexts: A Qualitative Analysis with Implications for Practice and Policy
Dr. Cano’s research reexamines smoking and quitting behaviors in low-income populations, where tobacco use remains disproportionately high despite overall declines. Through in-depth qualitative interviews, her team identified a complex interplay of social, environmental, and personal factors that shape smoking behaviors, including competing health priorities, structural barriers to quitting, and the role of smoking as a temporary coping mechanism.
Using Microgravity to Accelerate Muscle Aging Research
Dr. Huang’s work explores how microgravity can be used as a powerful model to study impaired muscle regeneration, a process that also occurs with aging and disease. In her 2024 Stem Cell Reports publication, her team developed an innovative skeletal muscle-on-a-chip platform deployed to the International Space Station,
Deploying a National Clinical Text Processing Infrastructure
Dr. Tamang’s work on Deploying a National Clinical Text Processing Infrastructure (JAMIA, 2024) exemplifies the scientific leadership and operational impact that define the last five years of her career. This paper documents the first nationwide NLP infrastructure ever deployed within a U.S. federal healthcare system—an achievement that required deep technical innovation, cross-agency coordination, and the creation of a dedicated VA operations NLP team that she now leads.
Epigenetics Biomarker of Post Operative Delirium and Long Term Cognitive Decline among Elderly Dementia Patients
Dr. Gen Shinozaki from Stanford Psychiatry has received a grant from the National Institute on Aging to investigate epigenetic biomarkers related to post-operative delirium and long-term cognitive decline in elderly patients, both with and without dementia. Delirium, particularly common after surgery in elderly patients, is a serious condition that can lead to cognitive deterioration and even death, especially for those with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Despite its severity, predicting and detecting delirium remains a major challenge.
KALW Public Radio Bay Area: The Stanford Letter Project helps you discuss your end-of-life wishes
Although 92 percent of US adults say it’s important to discuss their end-of-life care wishes, only 32 percent have had this conversation, and less than one-third have advanced-care directives in place. These discussions are crucial to ensure your wishes. The Stanford Letter Project gives you the tools to ensure you and your loved ones are prepared.
Fiji’s Ambassador to the United States gave an Award of Honor to Dr. Lloyd Minor and Dr. VJ Periyakoil
Honor Award and Celebration July 2024: Stanford Medicine’s Longevity and Healthy Aging consortium had a wonderful annual celebration on 7/31/2024. His Excellency Ratu Ilisoni Vuidreketi, Fiji’s Ambassador to the United States of America was the Chief Guest. Dr. Lloyd Minor, Dean of Stanford University School of Medicine was the keynote speaker.
Dr. VJ Periyakoil received the 2024 Visionary Award by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM)
Dr. VJ Periyakoil, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Research, received the 2024 Visionary Award by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Every five years, AAHPM calls upon its extensive membership of over 5,000 professionals to nominate visionaries who have significantly shaped the landscape of palliative care. “This program recognizes extraordinary individuals who continue to enhance the delivery of care for seriously ill patients and have brought true innovation to our field,” noted Wendy-Jo Toyama, MBA FASAE, AAHPM CEO. Dr. Periyakoil’s groundbreaking contributions at Stanford University and her tireless efforts in advancing the field have earned her this distinguished accolade.
Machine learning prediction of mild cognitive impairment and its progression to Alzheimer’s disease
Health Science Report 2023: Effective screening for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease is a crucial step in helping aging population with their needs Early detection and automated screening for MCI and dementia could offer opportunities for deliberate study and recruitment into trials for developing other potentially useful therapeutics or interventions. The study results were published in October, 2023.
Targeting repetitive laboratory testing with electronic health records-embedded predictive decision support: A pre-implementation study
March, 2023: Dr. Jonathan Chen’s lab recently published “Targeting repetitive laboratory testing with electronic health records: a pre-implementation study” in Clinical Biochemistry with funding from the SAGE Pilot Award Program.
Exploratory studies of microbiome in healthy human aging
October, 2022: Dr. Xin Zhou’s recent work, “Exploratory studies of oral and fecal microbiome in healthy human aging”, was published in Frontiers in Aging. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36338834/
Award for Inclusion Research
Dr. Juan Banda’s lab was recently awarded the 2022 Google Research Award for the project “Towards more equitable representation of Latin American Spanish natural language processing resources for social media mining of health-related applications”.
Stanford Researchers Named to Clinical Research Forum Top Ten List
March 2022: Dr. James Zou, Lead of the SAGE Center Methods Core, has received the Clinical Research Forum 2022 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award in recognition of his study, “Evaluating eligibility criteria of oncology trials using real-world data and AI,” the results of which were published in Nature last year.
The study focused on using data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to design clinical trials, with a specific focus on making clinical trials more inclusive. “Trials frequently have pages and pages of eligibility criteria, which filters out a significant number of patients who would otherwise gain access to the latest treatments,” explained Dr. Zou.
The study examined how more data-driven approaches to designing eligibility criteria could make it easier for patients to enroll in trials, while maintaining safety and effectiveness. Their research showed that some filters may not be necessary and are, in fact, overly restrictive.
Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Recognition Award
Dr. Ngan Huang was recently awarded the 2022 CVI Recognition Award for her efforts leading and providing educational opportunities for CVI members and active participation in numerous activities that strengthen the CVI community.