MSTP Events

MONDAYS (new day)

12:30pm - 1:20pm
MSOB X303, unless otherwise noted

Please register for PhySH - INDE 217
(You are not required to register to attend.)

Autumn 2015 schedule 

9/21/15 -  Town Hall       

9/28/15 -  Ben Barres, Neurobiology

10/5/15 -  William Weis, Structural Biology

10/12/15 -  Michael Snyder, Genetics

10/19/15 -  Suzanne Pfeffer, Biochemistry - CCSR room 4205

10/26/15 -  Amato Giaccia, Cancer Biology

11/2/15 -  No class, MSTP Interview Day

11/9/15 -  Russ Altman, BMI

11/16/15 -  Norbert Pelc, Bioengineering - CCSR room 4205

11/23/15 -  No Class, Thanksgiving Week

11/30/15 -  Vijay Pande, Biophysics

MSTP Annual Scientific Conference

The Annual MSTP conference is held during Spring Quarter. The program consists of research presentations by all students in years two and beyond, with the length of the presentation geared to the extent of research experience. There are also several opportunities for unstructured free-form discussion, a session for administrative aspects of the program, and a free afternoon. All trainees prepare abstracts of their research presentations, and a book of abstracts is distributed to participants. The research sessions are highly interactive and supportive, not only to exchange ideas in the context of critical thinking, but also to highlight issues of special concern to MSTP students, such as relevance to a particular clinical problem, or questions about career options. Although the presentations are entirely by students, faculty participation in the discussion, both formal and informal, is an important aspect of the retreat and the program. MSTP Retreats have been held at various locations including Pacific Grove, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Stanford. 

Unsolved Mysteries in Biomedical Research

Dr. Mark Krasnow, former MSTP director, instituted this innovative seminar series several years ago. Rather than a research presentation, the program consists of presentations  from different Stanford faculty members on a question that is both unanswered and biomedically relevant. Typically, the presentations are 45 minutes long, followed by a 30 minute period of discussion in which MSTP students and other participants exchange ideas about potential approaches to the problem.

February 20, 2013 - Ron Alfa and Kevin Yackle "Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: How well do we understand the molecular pathogenesis?"

May 10, 2012 - Matthew Porteus "102 years later: How come we have not cured sickle cell disease yet?"

June 1, 2011 - Karl Deisseroth "Can optogenetics illuminate neurological and psychiatric disease?"

September 29, 2010 - Tushar Desai "Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: a disease in search of a cause"

May 12, 2010 - Stephen Quake "Is the genome useful in medicine?"

April 15, 2010 - Atul Butte "Can 10 billion points of data shed light on novel molecular mechanisms in diabetes?"

December 2, 2009 - Seung Kim "Preeclampsia: a paradigm for biomarker discovery in human disease?"

October 9, 2007 - Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell "Keeping an Ear to the Ground: What can we learn from the vibration sense in elephants?"

February 8, 2005 - Gilbert Chu "Can Big Pharma behavior change to benefit patients?"

February 25, 2003 - Stanley Rockson "How do tissues sense and signal lymphatic insufficiency?"

October 15, 2002 - Greg Barsh "What causes variation in skin color and why should we care?"

July 16, 2002 - Frank Stockdale "Why do menopausal women experience hot flashes?"

April 23, 2002 - Lucy Shapiro "Why are the bugs winning the war on antibiotic-resistant pathogens?"

October 30, 2001 - Louie Naumovski " Why are tumors becoming drug resistant?"

April 17, 2001 - Russ Altman "Why can't computers simulate life yet?"

October 3, 2000 - David Relman "Is Crohn's disease caused by a microbial pathogen"