The ultimate goal of Dr. Yang Hu's laboratory is to develop efficient therapeutic strategies to achieve CNS neural repair, through promoting neuroprotection, axon regeneration and functional recovery.

Specifically, they are using state-of-the-art tools and creating novel tools to study retinal ganglion cell (RGC) and optic nerve in various optic neuropathies including traumatic, glaucomatous and inflammatory optic nerve injuries, to fully understand the molecular mechanisms of CNS neurodegeneration and axon regeneration failure.

Awarded in 2022
Home Department: Bioengineering
Faculty Advisors: Michael Lin (Neurobiology and Bioengineering), Nathanael Gray (Chemical & Systems Biology), and Michelle Monje (Neurology & Neurological Sciences)

Dr. Yair Blumenfeld is a Professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Obstetrics, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine. His clinical focus is management of high-risk pregnancies in the outpatient and inpatient settings, including comprehensive prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care. He serves as the fetal therapy domain lead for the Dunlevie Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center for Discovery, Innovation and Clinical Impact, as well as the Director of Fetal Therapy at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Home Department: Biomedical Informatics
Faculty Advisor: Russ Altman
Talk Title: Mining the pharmacogenics literature
Event: Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing 2011

Awarded in 2010
Talk Title: Improving the Prediction of Pharmacogenes Using Text-Derived Gene-Drug Relationships
Event: Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing 2010 - The manuscript of Yael's talk was published in the conference proceedings and indexed by MEDLINE. She was also asked to co-chair a workshop the following year, which she did at the 2011 Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing in Hawaii.