LISA ZABA LAB

Lisa Zaba M.D. Ph.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology, and is a translational immunologist interested in individualizing cancer care based on the immunologic and genomic characteristics of a patient’s tumor. She also specializes in autoimmune and inflammatory sequelae of cancer therapeutics and treatments.

Administrative Associate III

Juniper graduated from California State University, East Bay with a degree in Strategic Communications and is a Bay Area native, raised on the Peninsula. She joined Stanford University in 2022 and has continued to build her career in academic and clinical administration. Outside of work, Juniper enjoys serving in her community, thrifting and spending time watching football with her husband and sons.

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator

Meliea earned a B.S. in Public Health Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. During her undergraduate training, she conducted research under the mentorship of neurobiologist Dr. Momoko Watanabe, where she presented work on the development of brain organoid models. She also completed an honors thesis under the guidance of Dr. Sora Park Tanjasiri to examine the impact of parental cancer on Asian American families within community healthcare. In her free time, Meliea enjoys vintage shopping and attending music concerts.

Student - Graduate, Medicine

Rian Alam is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in Biology. Based in Seattle, Rian previously conducted research at the Paul Nghiem Lab and the MC3 Institute, where he focused on the utilization and optimization of immunotherapies for Merkel cell carcinoma. He is currently interested in investigating the mechanisms of treatment-induced rashes, specifically exploring their potential prognostic value and developing improved management strategies for these cutaneous side effects. In his free time, Rian is an avid paddle sports enthusiast who enjoys playing pickleball, squash, and badminton.

Jesutofunmi Omiye is currently a postdoc in AI-dermatology at Stanford. His research interests border on the nexus of artificial intelligence and policy to improve dermatology care, and healthcare more broadly. He received his MS in Health Policy at Stanford where he studied the utility of machine learning algorithms in clinical settings, computer vision models in surgery, and evaluated how macroeconomic policies influence mortality.

Tofunmi received his medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he was a Federal Government and Shell University Scholar. As a medical student, he served as the chair of a pan-African health conference where he worked with the WHO, and Gates Foundation. His work has been featured in top national and international news media including The Guardian.

Also, he is the co-founder of The Ganglion Initiative, a non-profit that has provided educational and career empowerment schemes to over 8,000 students in Nigeria. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, soccer, tennis, studying the financial markets, and music.

tomiye@stanford.edu

Gayathri completed her doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia and post-doctoral training in UPenn and Stanford University. She has a long-standing interest in receptor traffic, proteostasis and immune mechanisms in inflammatory diseases including cancer, and neurodegeneration. In Zaba lab, she leads and manages translational projects on immune mechanisms in skin cancer and inflammation. Outside work, she enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking and exploring new places.

Life Science Research Professional

Marlayna graduated from the College of Wooster where she received a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and completed a thesis focusing on creating a Boolean model of crosstalk between senescence and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Marlayna was given the opportunity to present this research over the summer at the NetBioMed 2021 Conference. Marlayna enjoys playing video games with friends, watching movies, and doing puzzles.

Marlayna@stanford.edu

Alec is originally from Vermont and stayed in the northeast while completing his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College. He graduated in 2019 with a B.S in Biology concentrated in human biology. While at Dartmouth he also performed research and was a member of the Varsity Track and Field team running the hurdles. His undergraduate research focused on molecular docking and the applications of computational analyses to model interactions between small molecules and proteins that could be ideal targets for novel drugs. After graduating he moved on to be a Research Assistant in the Media and Health Behaviors Lab at Dartmouth where he investigated how children’s eating habits are affected by the media and food advertising they are exposed to. In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors by running, biking, reading a good book in a hammock, and playing basketball.

Gabriel is currently a 2nd year Dermatology resident at Stanford. After growing up in Florida, he spent ten years in the Boston area, where he attended college and medical school at Harvard. While in medical school, he dedicated a research year to investigating the cutaneous toxicities of immune checkpoint inhibitors. His clinical and research interests include supportive dermato-oncology and complex medical dermatology.

Naomi So is currently a 2nd year Dermatology resident at Stanford. She grew up locally in the Bay Area, then attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies and subsequently continued on to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for medical school. Her interests include medical dermatology and supportive dermato-oncology.

nso@stanford.edu

Gayathri completed her doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia and post-doctoral training in UPenn and Stanford University. She has a long-standing interest in receptor traffic, proteostasis and immune mechanisms in inflammatory diseases including cancer, and neurodegeneration. In Zaba lab, she leads and manages translational projects on immune mechanisms in skin cancer and inflammation. Outside work, she enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking and exploring new places.

Alec is originally from Vermont and stayed in the northeast while completing his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College. He graduated in 2019 with a B.S in Biology concentrated in human biology. While at Dartmouth he also performed research and was a member of the Varsity Track and Field team running the hurdles. His undergraduate research focused on molecular docking and the applications of computational analyses to model interactions between small molecules and proteins that could be ideal targets for novel drugs. After graduating he moved on to be a Research Assistant in the Media and Health Behaviors Lab at Dartmouth where he investigated how children’s eating habits are affected by the media and food advertising they are exposed to. In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors by running, biking, reading a good book in a hammock, and playing basketball.

Gabriel is currently a 2nd year Dermatology resident at Stanford. After growing up in Florida, he spent ten years in the Boston area, where he attended college and medical school at Harvard. While in medical school, he dedicated a research year to investigating the cutaneous toxicities of immune checkpoint inhibitors. His clinical and research interests include supportive dermato-oncology and complex medical dermatology.

Naomi So is currently a 2nd year Dermatology resident at Stanford. She grew up locally in the Bay Area, then attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies and subsequently continued on to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for medical school. Her interests include medical dermatology and supportive dermato-oncology.

nso@stanford.edu

Nicolas is currently an M.D. candidate at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Biology in 2016. Prior to medical school, he joined Teach for America and taught high school Anatomy and Physiology to underserved students in Phoenix, AZ. He also graduated from Arizona State University with a M.Ed. in 2018. He is involved clinical research that aims to improve management and clinical decision making in individuals with rare genodermatoses such as Epidermolysis bullosa and Gorlin Syndrome. He is also interested in exploring the disparities in care and outcomes for individuals with skin cancers such as Melanoma. During his spare time, he enjoys hiking, traveling, and playing Nintendo video games with his wife.

nicolas@stanford.edu

Nolan grew up in Naperville, Illinois before attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy for high school. He earned a degree in Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics from Yale, and subsequently graduated from medical school at UCLA. He then completed his internship in internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center, before joining the dermatology residency program at Stanford. Nolan’s interests in dermatology are broad, but he particularly enjoys cutaneous oncology, and hopes to shape both his clinical practice and academic interests around improving the care and lives of patients with skin cancer or other malignancies. Outside of medicine, Nolan is passionate about ice cream and matcha lattes, and enjoys tennis, table tennis, and hiking.

Kevin is currently an M.D. Candidate at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He graduated from Yale University with concurrent BS/MS degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. His research interests are in big data to deepen our understanding of dermatological diseases and to improve patient-centered management decisions. Outside of medicine, he enjoys photography, traveling, and weightlifting.

kevinn@mednet.ucla.edu

Mollie is currently an MD/PhD candidate at Stanford University School of Medicine. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and Spanish, then spent a year in Madrid, Spain, as a Fulbright Fellow. During her time in Spain, she taught Model UN at a public high school, studied the Spanish universal healthcare system, and developed a passion for interdisciplinary projects. At Stanford, she’s pursued collaborative studies within the HHMI Medical Fellows and Knight-Hennessy Scholars programs. Mollie’s research interests include utilizing big data analytics to understand health outcomes and molecular mechanisms of human disease, with applications in dermatologic disorders. During her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading sci-fi or fantasy novels, dancing, hiking, and offering friends an ever-ready supply of sunscreen.

mfriedla@stanford.edu

After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with an undergraduate degree in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Kelsey graduated from the Stanford School of Medicine and stayed at Stanford for dermatology residency. She is completing a fellowship in Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology at UCSD with Dr. Brian Jiang. Her interests include Mohs micrographic surgery, cutaneous oncology, restorative oncodermatology, and medical education.