Welcome Remarks

Lila W. Hope, PhD '99

President, Stanford Medical Alumni Association

Hope is a partner practicing law at Cooley LLP. She specializes in life sciences licensing and partnering transactions involving complex legal, business and operational issues.  She also assists clients with their day-to-day contract needs for manufacturing, distribution, clinical trials and other operational matters.  She works closely with the management teams to structure transactions to meet strategic goals, and to close such deals through drafting and negotiating legal contracts.  Her clients are located around the world and are active in all areas of biotechnology, including therapeutics, artificial intelligence, vaccines, diagnostics, e-Health and medical devices.  She is a regular speaker on licensing and partnering matters in the legal and biotech communities.  She is also actively involved in mentoring students at Stanford Medicine and Duke Law.  She received her PhD in Cancer Biology from Stanford Medicine in 1999, and her JD from Duke University School of Law in 2002. 

Immunology Comes of Age

Mark Davis, PhD

Director, Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection

The Burt and Marion Avery Family Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine

Davis received his BA from Johns Hopkins University, a PhD from the California Institute of Technology, and fellowship training at the Laboratory of Immunology at the NIH. He then joined the Stanford faculty where he served as department chair and continues to teach and conduct research. He is well known for identifying the first T-cell receptor genes, which are responsible for T lymphocytes’ ability to identify foreign entities, solving a major mystery in immunology at that time. Other works in his laboratory have pioneered studies in the biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology of these molecules, which play a key role in orchestrating immune responses. His current research focuses on obtaining a systems-level understanding of the human immune system and inventing new methods to help unravel the complexities of T-cell responses to cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases.

Teaching Killer Cells To Cure

Catherine Blish, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine

Blish studied biochemistry at the University of California, Davis, before completing her MD and PhD at the University of Washington. She divides her time between research, clinical practice in infectious diseases, teaching, and her role as an associate director of the Stanford Medical Scientist Training Program. Her research is dedicated to learning how to harness the immune system to prevent and cure diseases. She focuses on human natural killer cells, an under-appreciated type of immune cell that forms a critical first line of defense against viruses and tumors. She has received numerous awards for her research and mentoring, and is also an investigator at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

Personalized Brain Cancer Immunotherapy

Linda Liau, MD ’91, PhD, MBA

Director, UCLA Brain Tumor Program Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Liau graduated from Brown University, received an MD from Stanford, and completed both a PhD in Neuroscience and an MBA from UCLA. After completing residency and fellowship training in neurosurgery, she joined the faculty at the UCLA School of Medicine. With both an active research laboratory and a busy clinical practice in brain tumor and neurosurgical oncology, her research interests include cell-based immunotherapy and gene therapies. As the lead investigator on various novel clinical trials, she recently developed one of the first human applications of a personalized brain tumor vaccine. She was the first woman president of the Western Neurosurgical Society, and currently serves as a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons.

Immune Aging and Vaccine Response

Jorg Goronzy, MD, PhD, Fellow ’86

Professor of Medicine Immunology and Rheumatology Stanford University School of Medicine

Goronzy received his medical education at RWTH Aachen, Germany, his Dr. med from the University of Bonn, his Dr. med. habil. from the University of Heidelberg, and training at Hannover Medical School, the German Cancer Research Center, and Stanford University School of Medicine. He served on the faculty of the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education for 13 years and was then chief of the Division of Rheumatology and director of the Lowance Center for Human Immunology at Emory University. His research aims at understanding the mechanisms in immune aging that compromise the ability to generate protective immune responses while causing non-specific tissue inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

Inflammation: Friend of Foe?

Cornelia Weyand, MD, PhD, Fellow ’86

Chief, Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine

Weyand received her MD at the University of Aachen, Germany. She continued her studies at the University of Bonn followed by a fellow-ship at the Heidelberg University German Cancer Research Center, residency at the Hannover Medical School, and a fellowship in immunology and rheumatology at Stanford, where she now serves as the chief of this division. Her research explores the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease, and in particular, understanding how aging leads to higher risk for cancer, infections, and tissue inflammation. Her team has defined successful and maladaptive immune aging, and is devel-oping therapies for slowing down the immune aging process.

Systems Vaccinology

Bali Pulendran, PhD

Violetta L. Horton Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine

Pulendran received his undergraduate degree from Cambridge University, and his PhD from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to coming to Stanford in 2017, he was professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and director of the Innate Immunity Program and the NIH U19 Center for Systems Vaccinology at the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University. His work focuses on under-standing the mechanisms by which the innate immune system regulates adaptive immunity and applying that knowledge to designing novel vaccines against global pandemics. More recently, he has begun to apply systems biological approaches to predicting the efficacy of vaccines, and deciphering new correlates of protection against infectious diseases.

Organ Transplant Without Lifelong Drugs

Samuel Strober, MD, Resident ’71

Professor of Medicine Immunology and Rheumatology Stanford University School of Medicine

Strober received his MD at Harvard School of Medicine and completed additional training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Oxford University, and Stanford University Hospitals. He is a biomedical researcher and inventor best known for his work on the elimination of the need for lifelong immunosuppressive drugs in organ transplant patients. He was chief of the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine from 1979–1997, and a co-founder of the biotechnology company Dendreon, which developed the first FDA-approved cancer vaccination. He also is a past president of the Clinical Immunology Society and chairman emeritus of the Board of Directors of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.

Dean's Remarks

Lloyd B. Minor, MD

Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the School of Medicine

Lloyd B. Minor is a scientist, surgeon, and academic leader. He has served as dean of Stanford University School of Medicine since December 2012. In addition, he is a professor of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and (by courtesy) of Neurobiology and Bio-engineering at Stanford University. As dean, Dr. Minor plays an integral role in setting strategy for the clinical enterprise of Stanford Medicine, an academic medical center that includes Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Stanford Children’s Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. He also oversees the quality of Stanford Medicine’s physician practices and growing clinical networks. With Dr. Minor’s leadership, Stanford Medicine has established a strategic vision to lead the biomedical revolution in Precision Health.

Yvonne A. Maldonado, MD '81

Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Development and Diversity, Professor of Pediatrics Stanford University School of Medicine

The RISE ( Reach, Inspire, Serve, Engage ) Award will be presented to Dr. Maldonado in honor of her exceptional dedication to nurturing Stanford Medicine and its alumni community through acts of leadership, volunteerism, mentoring, and teaching.

Dean's Reception

6:00 pm  - Ford Alumni Gardens

*Reunion class photos will be taken during this reception

All alumni are invited to attend this eveing reception hosted by Dean Lloyd B. Minor. Raise a glass to Stanford University School of Medicine and to your fellow alumni! 

Reunion Dinner

7:00 p.m. - McCaw Hall, Frances C. Arrillage Alumni Center

Before Alumni Day 2018 draws to a close, conclude the evening alongside classmates at an elegant dinner in honor of all reunion year alumni.

This year’s MD reunion alumni include the classes of 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013. Reunions for PhD alumni, other School of Medicine degreed alumni, residents, postdocs, and fellows will also be celebrated.

Seating will be assigned based on year of graduation for MD alumni. Other alumni will be seated by program (PhD, Postdoc, Fellow, Resident, etc.). If you have any specific seating or dietary requests, please be sure to mention them when you register.