David A. Relman, M.D., is the Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in the Departments of Medicine, and of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University, and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in Palo Alto, California. He is also Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford, and served as science co-director at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford from 2013-2017. He is currently director of a new Biosecurity Initiative at FSI.

Relman was an early pioneer in the modern study of the human indigenous microbiota. Most recently, his work has focused on human microbial community assembly, and community stability and resilience in the face of disturbance. Ecological theory and predictions are tested in clinical studies with multiple approaches for characterizing the human microbiome. Previous work included the development of molecular methods for identifying novel microbial pathogens, and the subsequent identification of several historically important microbial disease agents. One of his papers was selected as “one of the 50 most important publications of the past century” by the American Society for Microbiology.

Dr. Relman received an S.B. (Biology) from MIT, M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and joined the faculty at Stanford in 1994. He served as vice-chair of the NAS Committee that reviewed the science performed as part of the FBI investigation of the 2001 Anthrax Letters, as a member of the National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity, and as President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He is currently a member of the Intelligence Community Studies Board and the Committee on Science, Technology and the Law, both at the National Academies of Science. He has received an NIH Pioneer Award, an NIH Transformative Research Award, and was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2011.

C. Jason Wang, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy and director of the Center for Policy, Outcomes, and Prevention at Stanford University.  He received his B.S. from MIT, M.D. from Harvard, and Ph.D. in policy analysis from RAND.  After completing his pediatric residency training at UCSF, he worked in Greater China with McKinsey and Company, during which time he performed multiple studies in the Asian healthcare market. In 2000, he was recruited to serve as the project manager for the Taskforce on Reforming Taiwan's National Health Insurance System. His fellowship training in health services research included the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and the National Research Service Award Fellowship at UCLA. Prior to coming to Stanford in 2011, he was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health (2006-2010) and Associate Professor (2010-2011) at Boston University and Boston Medical Center. 

Among his accomplishments, he was selected as the student speaker for Harvard Medical School Commencement (1996).  He received the Overseas Chinese Outstanding Achievement Medal (1996), the Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholars Career Development Award (2007), the CIMIT Young Clinician Research Award for Transformative Innovation in Healthcare Research (2010), and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2011). He was recently named a “Viewpoints” editor and a regular contributor for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  He served as an external reviewer for the 2011 IOM Report “Child and Adolescent Health and Health Care Quality: Measuring What Matters” and as a reviewer for AHRQ study sections.

Dr. Wang has written two bestselling Chinese books published in Taiwan and co-authored an English book “Analysis of Healthcare Interventions that Change Patient Trajectories”.  His essay, "Time is Ripe for Increased U.S.-China Cooperation in Health," was selected as the first-place American essay in the 2003 A. Doak Barnett Memorial Essay Contest sponsored by the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Currently he is the principal investigator on a number of quality improvement and quality assessment projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (USA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Andrew T. Huang Medical Education Promotion Fund (Taiwan).

Dr. Wang’s research interests include: 1) developing tools for assessing and improving the quality of healthcare; 2) facilitating the use of innovative consumer technology in improving quality of care and health outcomes; 3) studying competency-based medical education curriculum, and 4) improving health systems performance.

Dr. Pershing is on the ophthalmology faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine and serves as Chief of Ophthalmology for the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, with an academic career blending clinical practice, teaching, research, and administration.

Her research interests focus on analyses of ophthalmic epidemiology and delivery of ophthalmic health care services, as well as improved utilization of evidence-based medicine to determine cost-effectiveness and relative outcomes of ophthalmic treatments. Through this, she aims to provide additional information to policymakers and clinicians in order to optimize treatment choices. She is also interested in health care innovation – technology as well as quality and delivery systems. Dr. Pershing is active in big data initiatives and analysis, including collaborative projects at Stanford and serving on the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) IRIS registry task force and as the AAO representative to the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM).

She graduated from university summa cum laude in 2002, and with high honors from medical school in 2006. During medical school, she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society, served as chapter president in her final year, and was honored with the President’s Clinical Science Award, Merck Award for Academic Excellence, and American Medical Women’s Association Commendation. She subsequently completed ophthalmology residency at Stanford University, followed by an AHRQ fellowship in Health Care Research and Health Policy through the Center for Health Policy/Primary Care and Outcomes Research. She presently teaches medical students at Stanford and oversees eye care services at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center.

Dr. Pershing also serves on the national board of directors of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society, with focus on resident initiatives, and mentors both medical students and undergraduate students (through the Stanford Immersion in Medicine series and VA clinical internships in ophthalmology). Dr. Pershing has had an interest in teaching since tutoring fellow students in college and medical school. She is currently co-director for the medical student ophthalmology clerkships, Ophth 300A and 301A and works with students on directed ophthalmology research and MedScholars projects.