PAVIR - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Sponsored Research
Allison Malate started her PAVIR journey as a Contract and Grant Analyst in 2010. Since then, she has held various roles within the Contracts and Grants Department and has over 17 years in research administration. She enjoys assisting investigators in furthering their novel ideas through research and education. Allison strongly believes in thoughtfully equipping research administrators for success so that they can better serve the research community. As such, she is purposeful in providing coaching and mentoring as part of her leadership of the Contracts and Grants team.
Allison has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside and an MBA from the University of Redlands.
Job Titles:
- Purchasing Coordinator II
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Brian Zabel has over twenty-five years of experience in the field of chemoattractant receptor biology, leukocyte trafficking, and antibody discovery. Overall, he has published nearly 70 papers in solid peer-reviewed journals (h-index: 36; i.e. at least 36 publications each cited at least 36 times, excluding self-citations). He has published 30 papers investigating the diverse biological roles of chemerin and its receptors. He published two of the first papers discovering chemerin as a novel leukocyte chemoattractant that binds G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) CMKLR1 expressed on macrophages, NK cells, and dendritic cell subsets. He led the group that identified CCRL2 as a second heptahelical receptor for chemerin and published one the first papers characterizing the CXCL12 binding and signaling pathways for CXCR7, a heptahelical receptor expressed selectively by cancer cells. Additionally, Dr. Zabel co-authored a paper identifying GPR15L as a novel T cell chemoattractant that binds to the GPCR GPR15. He published one of the first papers 'de-orphaning' CCR9 and its binding partner CCL25 identifying a key role for this receptor/ligand pair in T cell gut homing and thymic development. He has generated monoclonal antibodies against numerous chemoattractant receptor targets, including CCR9, CMKLR1, and CCRL2. Dr. Zabel mentored Dr. Kareem Graham and Dr. Tommy Burke as part of NIH Diversity Supplements to his NIH NIAID R01 AI079320, both of whom have gone on to have successful careers in medical research.
Dr. Brian Zabel is a VA-funded Principal Investigator at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System; a Senior Research Scientist at the Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research; and the Senior Director of Discovery Immunology at LakePharma, Inc. Dr. Zabel received BS degrees in Biology and Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997 and a PhD in Immunology from Stanford University in 2004. His PhD thesis and postdoctoral work focused on the identification and characterization of novel white blood cell attractant chemerin and its receptors in homeostasis and inflammatory disease. His academic laboratory focuses on understanding mechanisms of leukocyte recruitment and the potential to redirect leukocytes for therapeutic purposes in cancer immunotherapy and autoimmune disease. Dr. Zabel is particularly interested in translational medicine, a pursuit fostered by the SPARK program (Stanford University) and various biotech industry interactions (Curia Global, Inc., LeukoSite, Inc., ChemoCentryx, Inc., CombImmune, Inc., Rogne Bioscience, Inc., ChemPartner, Inc.). Dr. Zabel holds 11 US patents, has published more than 60 peer-reviewed research papers, review articles, and book chapters, and is a recipient of the Hugh McDevitt Prize (2004), the Albert Rose Established Investigator Award (2014), and numerous grants from the NIH (NIAID R01), DoD (CDMRP), TRDRP, VA Merit, and private foundations (e.g., NPF, PFF). He serves on multiple Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees and NIH, NASA, and VA BLR&D Study Sections.
Job Titles:
- Senior Clinical Research Program Manager
Dr. Padula is a clinical neuropsychologist, Research Health Science Specialist at the Palo Alto VA. Additionally, she is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. She directs the BRAVE Lab, which focuses on utilizing novel, innovative, and multidisciplinary science to improve treatment outcomes for Veterans. She uses a combination of multimodal brain imaging techniques, cognitive and neuropsychological measures, and socio-demographic and clinical information to understand each person's life experiences. Her vision is for Veterans to eventually receive precision care based on their individual brain and symptom profiles, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment.
Currently, Dr. Padula's lab focuses on modifying brain and clinical risk factors that are associated with relapse in addiction and cognitive aging. These risk factors have emerged from prior studies focused on alcohol, cannabis and stimulant use disorders, as well as increasing Veteran engagement into aging research. For example, ongoing studies are testing the efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to increase neural plasticity and promote neural recovery in the salience network during the early stages of addiction recovery in those with alcohol and/or stimulant use disorders. In collaboration with sleep medicine experts, another study aims to understand the association between clinical and neural markers of relapse as they relate to objective sleep disturbance in those with co-occurring alcohol and cannabis use disorders. Because the BRAVE Lab takes a translational and transdiagnostic approach to research, Dr. Padula includes Veterans across the developmental lifespan with co-occurring depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as these conditions are highly comorbid in Veterans with addiction. Lastly, Dr. Padula works alongside the Stanford Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) to increase Veteran participation in cognitive aging research. This research is aimed at furthering our understanding of Veteran-specific risk factors for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders.
Job Titles:
- Contract & Grant Generalist
Dr. Murray is a behavioral neuroscientist in the field of clinical neuroimaging research in substance use disorders (alcohol, opiates, cocaine, cigarette smoking). She is a Research Health Science Specialist with the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and an Instructor with Stanford University in the School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The goals of Dr. Murray's laboratory are to advance our understanding of the network neurobiology and neurochemistry underlying the neural constructs of cognition and behavior in substance use disorders and the impact of comorbid psychiatric conditions in Veterans. Her laboratory uses tools such as state-of-the-art multimodal neuroimaging (MRS, MRSI, rsfMRI, QSM, DTI, ASL) methods at 3T and 7T, neuropsychological assessment of cognition and behavior, and machine learning algorithms to better understand the mechanisms underlying abstinence duration and drug use effects.
Job Titles:
- Research Director for the Polytrauma System of Care
Dr. Joyce Chung is the Research Director for the Polytrauma System of Care and Rehabilitation Services at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) and Site Director for the VA Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems at VAPAHCS. Currently, she has research interests on the effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in women, virtual reality, and high-risk behavior associated with TBI. Other projects have included storytelling, educational efforts for high school and college students, and qualitative studies.
Dr. Chung has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of California (UC), Berkeley with a major in Integrative Biology, a Masters in Public Health from Yale University with an emphasis in Environmental Health, and a PhD from the UC Berkeley in Epidemiology. Dr. Chung has worked previously at UC Berkeley and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator in Research and Development at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Ka Bian is a Principal Investigator in Research and Development at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). The Bian laboratory has discovered multiple roles of nitric oxide (NO), soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in tumor biology, which made a paradigm shift of this key signaling pathway from the cardiovascular system to cancer biology and therapy.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Staff Physician at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Lawrence L. Leung is a Staff Physician at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and the Maureen Lyles D'Ambrogio Professor in the School of Medicine. He was the VA Palo Alto Health Care System Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2020.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Leung received his M.D. in 1975 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his medical residency and obtained his hematology-oncology fellowship training at Cornell-New York Hospital. In 2002, he was promoted to Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and served as Chief of the Division of Hematology from 1995 until February 2004, when he assumed the position of Chief of Medical Service at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. In 2004, he was awarded the Maureen Lyles D'Ambrogio endowed professorship in the Stanford School of Medicine.
Dr. Leung's clinical interest is in bleeding and thrombotic disorders. His research focuses on blood clotting factors and their roles in thrombosis, inflammation and immunity, and the emerging field of personalized genomic medicine. Dr. Leung is a member of the Association of American Physicians, American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Society of Hematology, and the American Heart Association. He has served on study sections of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Hematology Subspecialty Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Leung has served on the PAVIR Board since 2006.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation
- Director of Brain Injury for Stanford Medical Center
Dr. Harris serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation at Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) and as the Paralyzed Veterans of America Endowed Professor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine in the Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. She previously served six years on the PAVIR Board of Directors and returned in September 2022 as its Chair after a year away from the Board.
As Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation at VAPAHCS, Dr. Harris is responsible for the varied programs of the Polytrauma System of Care, Spinal Cord Injury, Blind Rehabilitation Services, Recreational Therapy and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
In her role as Director of Brain Injury for Stanford Medical Center, Dr. Odette Harris manages and coordinates the medical and surgical care of all patients suffering from traumatic brain injury that are admitted to the Stanford System. She focuses on implementing and streamlining current treatment algorithms aimed at improving the outcomes of this growing population. The primary focus is specific not only to mortality, but to functional outcome improvements with an emphasis on the role of gender in traumatic brain injury and its treatment.
Dr. Harris graduated from Dartmouth College and received her MD degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. She received numerous academic and research awards at both institutions. She also earned a Master of Public Health, Epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Upon completing her neurosurgical residency, Dr. Harris was awarded the William Van Wagenen Fellowship from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. She completed her research related to this fellowship at the University of West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica where she also serves as Visiting Consultant in Neurosurgery.
Dr. Harris has authored several scientific articles and books, is a member of several editorial boards and national committees including as the Associate Editor for Neurosurgery and as an appointed Member, National Football League (NFL) Head, Neck and Spine Committee. She also serves on several Boards and is a Trustee for the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, the Castilleja School and Dartmouth College. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Harris was appointed a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network in 2018. She was recognized in 2019 by Forbes and Ebony Magazine Power 100 List Award as one of 100 most influential African Americans and received the National Medical Fellowships (NMF) Award for Excellence in Academic Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Chief of Medicine at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Paul Heidenreich is Chief of Medicine at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Professor and Vice-Chair for Quality in the Department of Medicine in the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a practicing non-invasive cardiologist and active health services researcher. Dr. Heidenreich has an extensive background in outcomes, quality of care and technology assessment. He is a recipient of a Life-Time Achievement Award from the American Heart Association Council for Quality of Care and Outcomes Research.
Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer in December, 2021, Elaine Staats served as the Director of Sponsored Research at PAVIR since 2010. She leads the PAVIR Contracts & Grants (C&G) team to provide outstanding service and support to VA Palo Alto Investigators for pre- and post-award administration. This includes ensuring adherence to applicable federal, state, and local regulations and policies, establishing processes and procedures to maximize the integration of research administration principles with investigator innovation, and overseeing C&G staff while fostering a culture that promotes Veterans research. Ms. Staats enjoys process improvement, development of investigators through the arc of their career span, and serving those who have served. Elaine was the 2019 winner of the Board of Directors Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF).
She holds bachelor's degrees in Animal Physiology & Neuroscience as well as Sociology from the University of California, San Diego and an MPH from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Staats has worked in the research administration field in not-for-profit and academic settings for more than fifteen years.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Statutory VA Director / Medical Center Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System
- Statutory VA Director / Associate Chief of Staff for Research
Jennifer Lee is the Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS), and is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) and, by courtesy, of Health Research and Policy at Stanford University.
Dr. Lee graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with joint Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Biological Sciences. She earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed her endocrinology and women's health fellowships at UC San Francisco. She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford in Epidemiology with an emphasis in molecular and genetic epidemiology. Dr. Lee joined the PAVIR Board of Directors in 2018.
Job Titles:
- Contract & Grant Analyst / Supervisor
Job Titles:
- Contract & Grant Generalist
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance & Accounting
- in 2008 As Controller
Lily Ibragimov joined PAVIR in 2008 as Controller and was promoted to the position of Director of Accounting in 2018. Ms. Ibragimov manages all accounting functions at PAVIR including revenue recognition and collection, cash disbursement and cash management, internal controls, financial statement and income tax preparation, financial analysis and projection, audit and federal financial reporting, and related policies and procedures. Lily has more than 20 years of extensive accounting and finance experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
Ms. Ibragimov has a bachelor's degree in economics from Technological Institute of Odessa, Ukraine and Master of Business Administration degree from San Jose State University. She is an active certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of California since 2005 and continues her professional education in areas related to not-for-profit accounting, audit and finance.
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
Lisa Clark joined PAVIR in September of 2018 as Director of Human Resources. Lisa has 25 years of increasingly responsible Human Resources service delivery and leadership experience. Prior to joining PAVIR, Lisa held Human Resources leadership roles in various industries including medical device, technical service, software, and defense. Lisa's experience spans all specialties within HR including organizational planning, strategic partnerships, employee development, total rewards, talent acquisition, and employee engagement and relations.
Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior from Golden Gate University. Ms. Clark enjoys bringing process improvement to organizations as well as focusing on employee engagement.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Contract & Grant Analyst / Operations Specialist
Job Titles:
- Staff Physician With a Committed Laboratory at the VAPAHCS
- Staff Physician, PAVIR Investigator
Dr. Nicolls serves as a Staff Physician with a committed laboratory at the VAPAHCS; and as a Professor and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University. In addition, he serves on PAVIR's Board of Directors. Most of his externally funded research is administered by PAVIR. Dr. Nicolls earned his B.S. in Biology at the University of Portland, Portland, OR in 1987 and his M.D at Stanford University in 1993. He continued on at Stanford for his Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at the same institution, followed by a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Colorado in Denver where he subsequently joined the Faculty. In 2007, Dr. Nicolls was recruited onto the Stanford faculty and is a physician-investigator at the Palo Alto VA. He is Director of the Stanford Lung Immunology Program. In 2014, he was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Nicolls's laboratory and clinical interests are centered on the contribution of immunity to diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and lung transplantation. He is specifically interested in the interplay between inflammation and vascular injury. The VA Palo Alto produces some of the highest quality research in the Federal System, and PAVIR is viewed by its investigators as a vital partner.
Mary Thornton has been with the Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research (PAVIR) since 1995. She has filled many positions at PAVIR from Accounting Assistant through the present, Director of Operations. Ms. Thornton's work in various capacities at PAVIR has positioned her well to now focus her efforts on the information technology, data analysis and systems functions of the organization. In this role one of her responsibilities is the Research and Development Information System (RDIS) which is central to the research activities at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. As one of the three original architects of VA Palo Alto's RDIS, and a user and proponent of the system throughout its history, Mary is uniquely qualified to assure that it will support the needs of the research community into the future. She derives great satisfaction from working out systems and procedures, especially those involving the use of technology, that help the entire organization work more efficiently and productively as PAVIR supports the scientists in their important endeavors. Ms. Thornton was the 2018 winner of the National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF) Barbara West Award for Distinguished Service.
Prior to her service with PAVIR, Mary's experience was in customer service, business and accounting.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Meghan Kemnec is a Naturopathic Doctor in private practice with a focus on primary care and preventative medicine. She is a Veteran who graduated from the US Naval Academy and later earned a Master of Business Administration prior to her medical studies. She is passionate about patient education as being an integral part of providing the best care. She successfully creates a safe space for patients and focuses on building relationships with patients to support and maintain continuity of care and effective case management. Dr. Kemnec joined the PAVIR Board of Directors in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief of Staff at VA Palo Alto Health Care System
- Statutory VA Director / Chief of Staff
Dr. Kozal was appointed Chief of Staff at VA Palo Alto Health Care System in March, 2021. He had previously served in the same capacity at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Dr. Kozal earned his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he also completed his Internal Medicine residency. He completed a Fellowship in Infectious Disease at Stanford University School of Medicine. Throughout his career, he has held a number of leadership positions in diverse environments: biotechnology start-up, Medical Director of academic clinics, Medical Director of Public Health, Section Chief of Infectious Diseases, Director of the Yale HIV Clinical Trials Group, Scientific Advisory Board member, and Vice Chair of Medicine at Yale.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Accounts Payable Specialist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Associate Chief of Staff for Education at VAPAHCS
- Statutory VA Director / Associate Chief of Staff for Education
Dr. Massaband serves as the Associate Chief of Staff for Education at VAPAHCS and Vice Chair in the Stanford University Department of Radiology. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. in Neuroscience and from Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He has been a staff radiologist specializing in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular imaging since he completed Stanford Radiology Residency and Fellowship in 2010. He has previously served as the Chief of Radiology and Deputy Chief of Staff for Clinical Support Services at the VA Palo Alto and the Stanford Radiology Residency Program Director. As clinical associate professor and through these administrative roles he concentrates on clinical excellence, process improvement and residency education. He has a deep passion for furthering Veteran health and developing programs to provide the best care anywhere at VAPAHCS. Dr. Massaband joined the PAVIR Board in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Associate Chief of Staff for Precision Medicine at VAPAHCS
Dr. Tsao is the Associate Chief of Staff for Precision Medicine at VAPAHCS and has an academic appointment as Professor (Research) in Medicine - Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University. He earned his Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA in 1991. Dr. Tsao completed his Post-doc in Cardiovascular Medicine in 1995, and subsequently joined the faculty at Stanford University in 2002.
Dr. Tsao's primary research interests are in understanding the molecular underpinnings of vascular disease as well as assessing disease risk. His laboratory uses a wide range of biochemical, molecular and physiological techniques to make primary observations in cell systems as well as preclinical models. Furthermore, his research work is aimed at extending its findings to human subjects in order to confirm their clinical applicability. In this vein, a major focus of his research is related to the VA funded Million Veteran Program, a national VA effort to consolidate genetic, military exposure, health, and lifestyle information together in one single database. The trailblazing underpinning of this program is that by identifying gene-health connections, it could advance more effective, personalized therapies.
Dr. Tsao enjoys teaching the next generation of researchers, as indicated by this academic lectures and guidance of numerous students' independent studies. He was recognized for his love of teaching by the Department of Medicine Teaching award, Stanford, in 2003. He continues to publish his work in first tier publications such as the Annual Review of Medicine, and Science Translational Medicine. Dr. Tsao joined the PAVIR Board of Directors in 2010.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Partner at the Law Firm Procopio
Bob Sloss is a partner at the law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP. He practices in intellectual property counseling and litigation, with experience in litigating patents related to a variety of technologies, including software, computer peripherals, mechanical devices and biotechnology, as well as matters involving copyright, trademark and trade secrets.
Mr. Sloss has appeared in courts throughout the U.S. and before the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeals Board. He is admitted to practice in California State Courts, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Districts of California, and the District of Colorado.
After receiving a B.A. in History, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from Stanford, Mr. Sloss went on to earn his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1979. He has been recognized by his peers for his high level of professional excellence with the Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent Rating. Mr. Sloss joined the PAVIR Board of Directors in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Database Administrator
- Developer
Dr. Stephanie Chang is a physician in the Department of Radiology at VA Palo Alto and Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) in Radiology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chairman of Research & Development Committee
Dr. Kuschner is a practicing pulmonologist-intensivist and Section Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. He is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief for Faculty Affairs in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Kuschner serves as Medical Director of TeleQuit - the Veterans Integrated Service Network 21 Smoking Cessation Program. He also directs the VAPAHCS Bioethics consultation service.
Dr. Kuschner has an academic interest in occupational and environmental lung disease. He has conducted experimental human exposure studies characterizing the acute health effects of inhaled toxicants and population-based observational research studying health effects attributable to hazardous airborne exposures. He serves on the Executive Committee of a VA Cooperative Studies Program investigation that is characterizing the impact of deployment-related pollution exposures during the post-9/11 Gulf War Era on current respiratory health. He also conducts industry sponsored investigations of potential pulmonary therapeutics and novel diagnostic tests for lung cancer.
Dr. Kuschner earned his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City and he completed his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Kuschner was appointed Chair of the VAPAHCS Research and Development Committee and joined the PAVIR Board of Directors in 2023.