A skin-deep solution.
A treatment developed at Stanford offers the promise of healing for so-called butterfly-skin children. People with a rare genetic condition called dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, have skin so fragile that the slightest touch can lead to large wounds that don’t heal. “These kids are wrapped in wound dressings almost from head to toe, just to protect their delicate skin,” said professor of medicine Jean Tang, MD/PhD’03. In a clinical trial, small biopsies of patients’ skin were used to grow credit card–sized skin grafts that corrected patients’ defective collagen VII gene. Trial participants were able to ditch some of their bandages and turn their attention from pain to everyday activities, like school. Because each graft is created from their own immune markers, rejection is prevented, said Tang, who noted that the treatment is the product of more than 20 years of Stanford Medicine research. A Stanford-developed skin gel was previously shown to improve wound healing in people with EB. The new skin grafts, which have been approved by the FDA, can complement that treatment to heal more severe wounds.
Not too hot, not too cold. The Goldilocks burn zone.
Following the unprecedented start to the 2025 fire year in the Los Angeles area, California has fast-tracked wildfire prevention efforts. They include expanding and expediting prescribed burns—small, controlled fires that eliminate potential wildfire fuel in high-risk areas. The burns are helpful, but any fire can also be harmful, releasing smoke and chemicals (like carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs) that can cause health issues in the surrounding communities.
Now, an interdisciplinary Stanford team has found that slight adjustments to burn conditions—heat, oxygen, and fuel moisture levels—could make prescribed burns safer. For example, fuel that is too wet or too dry can emit more smoke and PAHs. In finding sweet-spot parameters, the researchers were able to demonstrate decreased PAH emissions of up to 77 percent. That could cut cancer risk from exposure by more than 50 percent. “There will be some limitations to upscaling this,” said Matthias Ihme, PhD ’07, a professor of mechanical engineering and senior author of the paper, “but I clearly see a path towards making this technique more viable for a broader range of environmental conditions.”
Amazeballs.
Photo: Stanford Athletics
Cal softball may have defeated Stanford at the Big Swing last month, but the 13,207 fans in the stands were the real winners. They set the NCAA softball record for single-game attendance and, outside of football, made up the largest crowd at a Stanford Athletics event in school history. (Also, yes, you are looking at the football stands. The softball team is squatting in Stanford Stadium while their own is being renovated.)
Watch and learn.
For 25 years, Sara DeWitt, ’96, MA ’97, has worked to carry on the legacy of Arthur, Big Bird, and Mister Rogers. As the general manager and senior vice president of PBS Kids, she leads a team that develops shows and games with guidance from experts in math, literacy, and child development. It may seem like kids’ media diets today are increasingly loaded with plotless cartoon clips on YouTube, but there are still plenty of nutritious options. How does one of the oldest powerhouses in educational programming keep up with the new platforms on the block? By striving to keep it entertaining, research-backed, and accessible. “We are trying to make sure that kids who can’t pay for content are getting great, high-quality content,” DeWitt tells Stanford magazine, with newer PBS shows like Carl the Collector and Lyla in the Loop. (Fantastic title, by the way.)
Research security.
At the May 8 Faculty Senate meeting, Stanford president Jonathan Levin, ’94, discussed a recent article on research security threats from the Chinese Communist Party and reiterated Stanford’s ongoing commitment to national security and research security, citing the university’s response. “Stanford has been a leader for a number of years in researching and advancing best practices to address foreign influence in research, not only on campus but also across the nation, and that’s happened in a number of ways, including through efforts at the Hoover Institution,” Levin said. Hoover efforts include a widely circulated 2019 report, China’s Influence and American Interests. “We continue to engage in efforts around research security in the United States,” Levin said.
Levin also said that attracting global talent and ensuring education for students worldwide at places like Stanford is key to U.S. leadership in science and technology. NSF data shows that many international students who complete U.S. graduate programs remain in the country and contribute meaningfully. “Certainly it corresponds to the statistics we have at Stanford about our own students, who come here to participate in the community, to learn, and then to go on to be productive contributors to both the country and the world,” Levin said.
Light it up.
Stanford Medicine breast surgeons are the first to use a fluorescent imaging system during surgery to detect cancer cells around the edges of a tumor. Surgeons currently try to remove a layer of noncancerous tissue around a tumor to ensure that they’ve captured all of the cancerous cells. But sometimes, not all of them are caught, and those patients need another operation. The imaging systems can reduce the need for additional surgeries. “It’s always very disappointing to have to tell a patient, ‘We need to go back in,’” said Irene Wapnir, professor of medicine and senior investigator in a national trial of the technology. “If we can avoid that, it’s better for the patient and better for the health system.”
But wait, there’s more.
Casey Means, ’09, MD ’14, has been tapped as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general. Means is a co-founder of the health technology company Levels Health who, with her brother, Calley Means, ’08, wrote Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Heath.
Kathleen DuVal, ’92, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has won the Pulitzer Prize in history for her book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.
A collaboration led by Stanford’s Big Local News and Stanford University Libraries contributed to a 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, awarded to reporters from the Baltimore Banner.
What started with a Facebook post ended with Stanford acquiring the only known prototype of a MingKwai Chinese typewriter (the “origin of Chinese computing”), a 1940s machine with 72 keys that typists could coordinate to search among the 80,000-plus characters of the Chinese language before inscribing them on paper.
Seven students who had their visas terminated in April have been reinstated, according to the Bechtel International Center.
This spring, Cardinal is serving up athletic domination. On Sunday, women’s water polo defeated USC to claim its 10th NCAA title and third in four years.
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