Meet the Fellows

Michelle Olson

I grew up a small town in the Catskill Mountains in upstate NY where I developed a sense of community and appreciation for nature. I went to Penn State for undergrad where I enjoyed Big Ten football games and developed a passion for learning and medicine. Intrigued by my neuroscience curriculum I went on to work in a lab studying the interactions of the motor and sensory cortex in rats prior to starting medical school in Hershey, PA. I developed my love for pediatrics at Hershey and made the decision to explore more of the country by moving to Atlanta, GA to complete my pediatric residency at Emory.  I am drawn to critical care because of the teamwork it takes to to care for such complex patients and the interesting varied pathology. I am enjoying exploring the Bay Area and enjoying running, hiking and rock climbing in my free time.

Lindsey Troy  

I was born and raised in Texas and spent most of my childhood out on the water trying to stay cool. Growing up my parents encouraged us to travel, taking us to little known places around the globe to explore nature’s beauty and experience different cultures. For undergraduate I spent four years at Washington University in St. Louis where I studied Psychology and Biology. I spent the next five years in Memphis, Tennessee where I attended medical school and dabbled in basic science research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. During my pediatrics residency in Milwaukee was involved in resident education and the global health program. There I worked on a simulation based learning program to help mitigate the effects of culture shock when practicing medicine in a resource limited setting. I love the fast-paced and unique challenges that critical care medicine provides. During my free time I love to spend time with my husband and our new daughter outdoors, hiking, camping, sailing, swimming, and playing in the backyard with our two dogs.

Meghna Patel

I was born in Gujarat, India, and raised in a small farm town in Indiana.  I went to Indiana University in Bloomington, IN where I earned an undergrad degree in Chemistry with a minor in Business, and developed a love for IU basketball.  I then earned a master’s in Biology at Indiana, after which I completed my medical degree at IU. After deciding it was high time to leave IU, I completed my pediatrics residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital with Washington University, and stayed at the same institution for my fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology. 

Determined to never finish training, I decided to start another fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care, which brings me to Stanford and LPCH.  My research interests include improved echocardiographic assessment of right and left heart function and pulmonary vascular disease, which I hope to tie into my clinical interests of cardiac critical care.   As a chronic Midwestern girl, I couldn’t more excited to be close to the ocean, the great weather, and embrace the diversity, culture and great food of the west coast!

Lara Murphy

I was born in North Jersey and grew up there and in Queens, NY until moving to upstate New York for high school and then Fort Lauderdale, FL for undergraduate at NSU where I got my BS in Biology and minored in Chemistry and Psychology. I took a year off before medical school while I pursued research in genetics and behavioral science, traveled, enjoyed Miami, and made extra money waitressing. I went to Thomas Jefferson University for medical school in Philadelphia where I surprised myself and fell in love with Pediatrics after years of expecting to go into surgery like my Dad! I was excited to move to sunny California where I completed my residency at UC Irvine/CHOC, and discovered that Pediatric Critical Care was the perfect fit for my interest in high acuity, medical complexity, procedures, applied physiology, and caring for critically ill children.
 
Outside of medicine I enjoy traveling, yoga, singing, tinkering with my camera and trying to be a photographer, discovering new restaurants and enjoying wine, hiking, riding my bike, spending time with my awesome family, friends, and boyfriend, and playing with my new cat Rambo! He’s the best! I am beyond thrilled to start my fellowship training here at Stanford and can’t wait to see how this new chapter of my career will unfold!

Urs Naber

I grew up in Swabia, a region in southern Germany known for innovation. The PICU fellowship at Stanford is a dream come true, as I get to apply my Schwabisch love of tinkering in this best-in-class medical and entrepreneurial environment. I enjoy pediatric critical care because we get to deal with everything, from intense human interactions to advanced physiology. I became interested in the field while working in pediatric hematology and oncology and bone marrow transplant as a resident in Germany, where I also went to medical school. During my US pediatric residency at Dartmouth, I combined my interests in innovation and pediatric critical care medicine as a medical device fellow with the New England Pediatric Device Consortium.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my wife and our two sons, cooking, gardening, hiking and creating things with my hands. It would also be nice to read a book without thinking about medicine!

Mais Yacoub

I was born and raised in a small village in Syria, then attended medical school at Damascus University, Faculty of Medicine. There, I first developed my passion for pediatrics medicine after working with children with special needs and their families. I followed this passion further during my pediatrics residency at The University of Arizona in Tucson. I enjoy spending my free time traveling, experiencing art and architecture, and enjoying food!

Words alone are not enough to express how thrilled I am to start my fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at Stanford! I am looking forward to receiving a great training and I hope to always carry forward the message of love, compassion, and excellence that is my country and the Middle East.

Ali Arastu

I was born in Southern California, spent my childhood internationally and returned to California as a teenager and consider the amazing state home. I studied Marine Biology at the University of Southern California and stayed at the same institution for medical school. I completed my general Pediatrics residency at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, during which I founded House of Stoked -- a not-for-profit organization dedicated to using the wilderness as a platform to empower vulnerable youth to care for their own health, as well as the health of the environment. My medical interests apart from Pediatric Critical Care extend to wilderness medicine, global health and health disparities. 

Outside of the hospital, I can be found exploring the wilderness, in good company, writing or eating - preferably all together. 

Vidit Bhargava

I was born and raised in the picturesque city of Jaipur, India. I graduated from B.J. Medical college, Pune and developed an immense respect and love for children and dedicated my life to taking care of the little ones. My search for excellence in clinical training and cutting edge research set me on a path to pursue residency in pediatrics at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston. I have since striven to achieve these goals and to serve children. My academic interests include caring for children with critical illnesses, complex congenital heart diseases, pediatric sedation and ICU delirium. I also enjoy knowledge sharing with medical community and have participated in several academic pediatric meetings throughout the nation.

Outside of medicine, I grew up travelling with dad on his photography expeditions to wildlife parks of India and developed an admiration for nature and wildlife. I continue to enjoy being close to nature. In my free time I enjoy biking, cricket, golf and console gaming. I am extremely grateful to learn nuances of pediatric critical care from the best mentors in the country. I am truly privileged to be a part of these children’s lives.

Rod Ghassemzadeh

Growing up in Connecticut with a science-loving family, dinner time conversations were dominated by discussions of medical facts and stories. As such, it was no surprise to anyone that I wanted to become a physician when I grew up. After working with children in various school-based and community programs, being a pediatrician became my life's ambition. I completed my undergraduate studies and medical school at the University of Connecticut. During that time, I also had a life changing experience traveling to Ho Chi Mihn City in Vietnam to help start a educational exchange program with a large city hospital. It was then that I got my first exposure to the management and surgical repair of congenital heart disease. I completed my pediatric residency training at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. From there, I went on to do a pediatric cardiology fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic. During my time there, I had the opportunity to pursue my areas of interest, including housestaff education, continuous improvement projects, and cardiac critical care. My research involved studying the patterns of longitudinal strain by 2D echocardiography in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Continuing my journey across the US, I am excited to head to the West Coast for pediatric critical care fellowship at Stanford.

Quynh Nguyen

I was born in Danang, Vietnam before immigrating to San Jose, California. I grew up in the bay area and attended Stanford University for college, majoring in Biology with a minor in Iberian Latin American Culture.  After completing medical school at University of California Davis, I finally decided to venture north to Washington for my pediatric residency.  I have been a part of the global health track at Seattle Children’s hospital, otherwise known as Research Education and Child Health, where I have had a chance to work in Kisii, a rural community in Kenya.  While I love doing work in global health focusing on community needs and injury prevention, I also discovered that I am fascinated by critical care medicine, and hope to build a career out of these interests through continuing my training at Stanford for critical care fellowship.  I am so excited to return home to my family in the bay area, and especially to my alma mater! Outside of medicine, I enjoy eating as much as cooking. I also love the outdoors, road trips, and spending time with family, friends, and my dog, Lucy.

Mahil Rao

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I grew up loving Mister Rogers, the Penguins, and the Pirates. I moved up to a small town in New Hampshire to go boarding school where I met my lovely wife. I went to college at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland where I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the world of biomedical research. After graduating from college, I worked as a research technician for two years, then moved to St. Louis to join the MD/PhD program at Washington University School of Medicine. Residency took me to Cincinnati Children’s, where I discovered the challenges and rewards of pediatric critical care. In the long term, I hope to combine basic science research and clinical medicine to improve the quality of care that we are able to provide for our sickest children. I am thrilled to be beginning the next phase of my training at Stanford, an institution well-known not only for the excellent clinical care that it provides to children right now but also for the innovating work that will improve the quality of care that we provide for children in the future. My research interests, broadly speaking, are in the area of immune dysregulation, such as occurs in sepsis, trauma, and following organ transplantation. Outside of work, I love animals; my wife and I are proud parents of two wonderful kittens (actually full-grown orange tabbies who simply act like they are still kittens). I also enjoy running and baking with a special interest in cake decorating. My family and I live in Mountain View.