Pediatric Surgery Faculty

Surgeons

Chief of Pediatric Surgery

James Dunn, M.D., Ph.D., FACS

Dr. Dunn obtained his B.S. degree in Biology and Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He trained in General Surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine and in Pediatric Surgery at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. He was the Professor and Chief of Pediatric Surgery at UCLA, with a joint appointment in the Department of Bioengineering until 2016. Dr. Dunn is the Susan B. Ford Surgeon-in-Chief at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Director of Pediatric Surgery, and Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering at the Stanford School of Medicine.

Stephanie Chao, M.D., FACS

Dr. Chao's research focuses on preventing surgical diseases minimizing the impact of surgery. She works with the Asian Liver Center towards the global eradication of hepatitis B, the leading cause of liver cancer and liver disease globally. Dr. Chao helped launch the Jade Ribbon Campaign in 2001 to improve public and physician awareness about hepatitis B. Her work has been supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society. The Asian Liver Center also works in collaboration with the World Health Organization to improve screening and immunization strategies in Asia. For more information, visit: http://liver.stanford.edu AND http://hepbmoms.org


Dr. Chao also serves as the Trauma Medical Director for Stanford Children's Health. Her research and interests include preventing childhood injury, the leading cause of death among children. 

Dr. Chao is the Director of the Stanford Chest Wall Program. She is interested in studying new ways to treat and image patients with pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum. 

Dr. Chao is also working with pediatric anesthesiologists to find ways to minimize anxiety and discomfort associated with surgery. This includes the use of virtual reality to decrease periprocedural anxiety. 

Other research interests: pediatric surgery, neonatal surgery, congenital diaphragmatic hernia outcomes, pediatric obesity, minimal access surgery

Bill Chiu, M.D., FACS

Dr. Chiu obtained his B.S. degree in Biological Sciences and graduated with Honors from Stanford University. After graduating, he received his Medical Degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he remained for his internship and General Surgery residency training. Dr. Chiu completed his Pediatric Surgery training at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an Associate Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine where he has an active research program studying innovative approaches to treat patients with neuroblastoma. 

Julie Fuchs, M.D., M.S., FAAP, FACS

Before attending Medical School at Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Fuchs graduated from Stanford University with a  B.S. in Biological Sciences. She then completed her Internship, General Surgery Residency, and a two year Research Fellowship in Tissue Engineering at Harvard Medical School. Pursuing her passion for pediatric surgery, Dr. Fuchs completed her fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Fuchs was an attending surgeon  at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, UT Southwestern School of Medicine, Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, before joining the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Stanford School of Medicine.

Dr. Fuchs's academic and clinical interests include solid tumors in children, Hirschsprung’s disease, imperforate anus, endocrine surgery in children, neonatal surgical disease, and minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Fuchs is the Chief of Pediatric Surgery and the Medical Director of Pediatric Trauma at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.  She is dedicated to training the next generation of doctors and is the Director of the Medical Student Rotation at Stanford and is a member of the Stanford Medical School Admissions Committee. Dr. Fuchs sees patients at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, and Good Samaritan Hospital. 

Gary Hartman, M.D., MBA, FACS

Dr. Hartman received his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He trained in General Surgery at the UCSF Affiliated Program of the East Bay and completed Fellowships in Surgical Critical Care (Stanford) and Pediatric Surgery (University of Oklahoma). He was on the Faculty at Stanford for ten years before moving to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. where he served as Chief of Pediatric Surgery until his return to Stanford in 2004.

Dr. Hartman's clinical practice has been focused at LPCH and Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. His clinical areas of interest include neonatal, minimally invasive, thyroid, chest wall and a special interest in the treatment of conjoined twins. His administrative duties include Associate Vice President of Medical Affairs and Surgical Director of Interventional and Diagnostic Services. His primary clinic is located at the LPCH SouthBay Multispecialty Clinic although appointments at the Pediatric Surgery Clinic on campus (Welch Road) are available by arrangement.

Thomas Hui, M.D., FACS

Dr. Thomas Hui graduated from University of British Columbia Medical in 1993. He then completed his General Surgery Internship at the University of British Columbia, a General Surgery Residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and his Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at Montreal Children's Hospital (McGill University). Dr. Hui began his practice in Oakland with the Pediatric Surgical Associates of the East Bay before joining the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Stanford School of Medicine as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Hui has a special interest in single incision minimally invasive surgery in children and infants with congenital anomalies, pediatric oncologic and benign diseases, as well as management of prenatally diagnosed anomalies.  His research interest is in Hirschsprung’s disease and minimally invasive pediatric surgery.  Dr. Hui is the Division Chief and Medical Director of Pediatric General Surgery at John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek.  He is board certified in General Surgery and Pediatric General Surgery from the American Board of Surgery as well as from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  

Jeong Hyun, M.D.

Faraz A. Khan, M.B.B.S., FACS

Dr. Khan is a graduate of the Aga Khan University Medical School in Pakistan. Following completion of medical school education Dr. Khan pursued a Residency in General Surgery at Wayne State University, a fellowship in pediatric-focused surgical critical care at Boston Children's Hospital and finally a Fellowship in Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Florida. He is an Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and serves as the Director of Pediatric Surgical Critical Care at Stanford Children's health. Dr. Khan enjoys all aspects of pediatric general surgery. His specific areas of clinical focus include the management of pediatric and neonatal thoracic surgical conditions, surgical needs of critically ill children and neonates, with a notable emphasis on those requiring ECMO support, treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and pediatric solid tumors. Dr. Khan's academic interests lie in the realm of health services and outcomes research.

Thomas Krummel, M.D., FACS/FAAP

Dr. Krummel has served in leadership positions in many of the important surgical societies including the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and was the President of the American Pediatric Surgical Association for 2013-2014. Dr. Krummel has lectured throughout the world, is author or co-author of over 300 publications, chapters, abstracts and books and he has mentored over 200 students, residents and post docs.

Throughout his career, Dr. Krummel has been a pioneer and an innovator.

• Over the last 20 years, Dr. Krummel has been a pioneer in the application of information technology to simulation-based surgical training and surgical robotics. Dr. Krummel, along with Dr. Kenneth Salisbury, Professor of Surgery and Computer Science, is the recipient of one of the first NIH Phased Innovation R21/R33 programs to develop collaborative simulation-based surgical training systems. For his work in this area and in surgical robotics, he has received two ComputerWorld Smithsonian Awards.

• For more than 15 years, he has partnered with Dr. Paul Yock to co-direct the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. This program is designed to teach the invention and implementation of new surgical technologies through interdisciplinary research and education at the emerging frontiers of engineering and the biomedical sciences (http://biodesign.stanford.edu). There are now 18 similar programs on 3 continents and more than 199 graduates.

• Dr. Krummel has served as a consultant to the medical device industry. He has served on numerous Scientific Advisory Boards and on the Boards of Directors of multiple successful medtech device start-ups.

• Dr. Krummel is Chairman of the Fogarty Institute for Innovation Board of Directors, President of the International Scientific Committee at IRCAD, University of Strasbourg, France, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) Foundation.

Claudia Mueller, M.D., Ph.D., FACS

Before becoming a pediatric surgeon, Dr. Claudia Mueller obtained her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology at Columbia University under the supervision of Professor Carol Dweck. Dr. Mueller’s original graduate psychological research examined the effects of praise on children’s school outcomes and implicit theories or “mindsets” of intelligence. At Stanford, Dr. Mueller has expanded this research to focus on how children’s mindsets of health can influence their coping with illness and health outcomes. Working in collaboration with Professor Dweck, Dr. Mueller has developed and validated a novel measure of children’s health mindsets (Health Belief Scale). She has used this scale to demonstrate differences in health behaviors in both healthy and chronically-ill children, particularly in the area of Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Mueller is currently working to develop an intervention which can change children’s health beliefs and improve their health outcomes.

Dr. Mueller is also interested in physician wellness and is the Co-Director of the Stanford Department of Surgery's Balance in Life Committee, which focuses on resident well-being.  

Her clinical interests include general pediatric and neonatal surgery.  She is the Medical Director of Stanford Children's Health at CPMC and spends most of her clinical time at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

David Powell, M.D., FACS

Dr. Powell grew up the Midwest fully expecting to become a shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. His career plans turned to medicine while an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins when it became clear he could not hit a big league curve ball. During medical school, Dr. Powell was exposed to many great surgeons who taught him the benefit of accumulating first-hand experience, problem solving, and the fulfillment of saving lives. After establishing a thriving pediatric surgical practice, Dr. Powell was fortunate enough to be accepted into the transformative inaugural Master Teacher in Medical Education Program. Dr. Powell's teaching philosophy centers on the belief that every surgeon wants to take better care of their patients. After twenty-five years of trainees, colleagues, collaborators and programs, that philosophy has yet to be proven wrong.

Dr. Powell also enjoys golf, sailing, fly fishing, and having the experience of age that allows him to hit the occasional curve ball when it is metaphorically thrown at him.

Janey S.A. Pratt, MD, FACS

Dr. Janey S.A. Pratt, MD, FACS, FASMBS is a general surgeon who specializes in Robotic Hernia repair and Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (MBS). She began her career in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a founding member of the MGH Weight Center. As surgical director she introduced minimally invasive MBS and adolescent MBS to MGH in 2001 and 2007 respectively. In 2011 Dr. Pratt took over as Director at the MGH Weight Center and continued to work on several national committees towards improving access and care of adolescents with severe obesity. Dr. Pratt continued to practice general surgery through out her tenure at MGH seeing patients with breast cancer, hernias, and obesity. She performed advance minimally invasive surgery(MIS) as well as advanced endoscopy.


In 2016 Dr. Pratt moved to California where she began her work at Stanford University, splitting her time between the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and the Palo Alto VA. She performs Minimally Invasive MBS at both institutions as well as endoscopy. Dr. Pratt has trained in robotic surgery and performs robotic assisted hernia repairs on complex and simple hernias at the Palo Alto VA. As a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Dr. Pratt is involved in training Stanford medical students and residents both in the OR, in clinic, in simulation labs and in the class room.
Dr. Pratt the is Associate Director of the Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. This is an MBSAQIP accredited program in a free standing children's hospital dedicated to the multidisciplinary care of children with obesity. This program is one of the top 5 programs in the country. Dr. Pratt has been involved in creating and updated guidelines for Adolescent MBS since 2005. In 2018 she was first author on the ASMBS Pediatric Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Guidelines. Her other research interests include: MIS approaches to hernia repair and bowel obstruction, pediatric obesity treatment and the use of medications to improve outcomes of MBS. Dr. Pratt frequently lectures on the subject of Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Wendy Su, M.D., FACS

Dr. Wendy Su received her Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley, and obtained her medical degree from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. After completing her General Surgery Residency at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, she spent two years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, immersed in both clinical pediatric surgical oncology training as well as basic science research utilizing microarray to identify gene expressions in neuroblastoma cell lines. Dr. Su also enjoyed the opportunity to feast on Broadway musicals and New York Style Pizzas. Then she moved further Northeast to Montreal, where she completed her Fellowship in Pediatric General Surgery at Montreal Children’s Hospital, and also found the best bagels in the world.

In the past 10 years, Dr. Su had been a Pediatric Surgery Attending at Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. She is grateful to all the patients, staff, and colleagues there who taught her the art and heart of Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Su joined the Stanford Pediatric Surgery Division in the summer of 2018. Dr. Su’s clinical interest is in single incision laparoscopic surgery for both simple and complex operations, video assisted surgery for thoracic and mediastinal diseases; and surgical management of pediatric solid tumors. Delivering pediatric surgical care with minimal pain, minimal scar, and maximal family reassurance is her practice motto.

Karl Sylvester, M.D., FACS

Dr. Sylvester concurrently pursues three areas of related investigation. The general approach of his efforts are to combine the study of human disease samples and mouse models of human disease to pose new hypotheses and to test these hypotheses experimentally. The objective of Dr. Sylvester's studies is to derive a deeper understanding of human disease and to develop applications for possible new diagnostics and therapeutics. 


In the laboratory the group studies the role of Wnt signaling in liver regeneration and response to injury. The Sylvester laboratory has demonstrated that Wnt and its signaling molecule beta-catenin have a strong influence over hepatocellular metabolism and resistance to oxidative stress. Ongoing studies to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism by which Wnt and related pathways exert control over cellular metabolism, energy balance and redox balance are ongoing. Cellular energy and redox balance are central to the related processes of liver development, regeneration and tumorignesis. 

Dr. Sylvester has established a network of academic children's hospitals and investigators to study the human newborn diseases Necrotizing Enterocolitis and sepsis. The group has published several papers describing their novel findings of molecular indicators or biomarkers of disease. The group is seeking to establish both molecular indicators of disease as well as biochemical indicators that accurately identify infants most at risk for disease in order to provide clinical strategies to prevent disease onset. Molecules and pathways of interest that have been identified in human specimens are studied further in experimental models of disease to gain a deeper insight to the specific mechanisms of disease.

James Wall, M.D., MSE, FACS

Dr. James Wall is a graduate of the Stanford Pediatric Surgery Fellowship who focuses on minimally invasive approaches to children’s surgery. He is an alumnus of the Stanford Biodesign program and holds a Master's degree in Bioengineering. He has a research focus on how we educate others to design and develop health technology as well as the emerging field of surgical endoscopy. He has developed multiple health technologies including a novel epidural needle, a protection device for umbilical catheters and a wearable leg compression system. James currently leads the perioperative Value Analysis Committee and surgical endoscopy program Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.  He is the Assistant Director of the Byers Center for Biodesign Innovation Fellowship at Stanford. 

Gillian Fell

Fellow

Marisa Schwab, M.D.

Marisa Schwab, MD is originally from Switzerland and completed her medical education at Georgetown University and general surgery residency at UCSF. During her dedicated research years, she worked in Dr. Tippi MacKenzie's lab focusing on developing novel fetal molecular therapies. This included writing the IND and opening a phase 1 clinical trial for in utero enzyme replacement therapies and investigating different delivery techniques in fetal mouse and sheep models. 

Dr. Schwab's research interests include prenatal diagnostics and therapies, quality improvement initiatives such as opioid stewardship, and clinical outcomes research