Research Team

Dr. Trivedi is a clinical health psychologist and health services researcher focused on culturally attuned, family-centered care. She develops tools to support patients and their caregivers, and leads several VA and NIH-funded projects. She directs Caregiving and Family Systems at Stanford CARE and serves as Training Director at VA Palo Alto and the Elizabeth Dole Center. Her work has earned national recognition, and she actively mentors future health providers and contributes to health policy and caregiving research.

Dr. Lorenz is a general internal medicine and palliative care physician, and Section Chief of the VA Palo Alto–Stanford Palliative Care Program. He directs the VA’s national Palliative Care Quality Improvement Resource Center (QuIRC) and serves on the VA’s Hospice and Palliative Care leadership team. A former faculty member at UCLA and RAND, his work focuses on improving palliative care delivery through research, policy, and electronic health tools. Dr. Lorenz has also contributed to the field of global palliative care, serving the World Health Organization in its development of Palliative Care for Older People and leading methods for Palliative Care Essential Medications.

Dr. Gallagher-Thompson is a licensed clinical psychologist and board-certified geropsychologist specializing in late-life depression and dementia care. A longtime NIH-funded researcher, she is known for developing and adapting evidence-based interventions to support family caregivers, including culturally tailored programs in multiple languages. She collaborates with the WHO on global caregiver training and is Emerita Professor of Research at Stanford Psychiatry. She also serves on the Alzheimer's Association's Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is an associate editor of Clinical Gerontologist.

Dr. Schapira is a medical oncologist and expert in cancer survivorship and patient-centered care. She is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and former Director of the Stanford Cancer Survivorship Program. Her research addresses cancer outcomes and experiences of young breast cancer survivors, the psychosocial impact of cancer, and interventions to improve quality of life and health outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer. She holds leadership roles in national and international societies (American Society of Clinical Oncology and Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer) and serves as Editor-in-Chief of ASCO’s website for the public, Cancer.Net and Consultant Editor for Art of Oncology for the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Huda has an outstanding academic background that includes a bachelor’s degree in nursing with highest honors from Aga Khan University Karachi Pakistan, a Master of Science in Nursing from Medical University of South Carolina, a Post Master’s Nurse Practitioner degree from UCSF, and a Ph.D. in Nursing and Health Policy from UCSF. She has nearly thirty years of experience in various areas of patient care, including Liver Transplantation, Quality Improvement, Geriatrics and Oncology. In addition, Dr. Huda serves on the UCSF faculty as an Assistant Adjunct Professor.

Meghana Akkati earned a B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and is currently working as a Research Assistant on the SAFAD Study. She was inspired to join the SAFAD Study and pursue research that integrates cultural context and caregiving into patient care, as she previously worked in rural India on community-driven health and education initiatives. Meghana will be starting medical school in August of 2026! She aspires to become a physician who provides compassionate, culturally informed care. She is currently exploring different specialties, with a particular interest in OB/GYN. Through her clinical work as an EMT and a primary care medical assistant, as well as her community and global health experiences, she has become passionate about advancing health education and addressing cultural and structural barriers to care. For fun, Meghana loves to dance, cook, and travel with her family and friends. Fun fact: she earned her Black Belt in TaeKwonDo a few years ago!

Shreya Desai is a medical student at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine at the University of Houston. Shreya earned a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Houston, where she was also a scholar in the UHAND Fellowship program. After graduating from the University of Houston, she attended Stanford University to earn a M.S. in Community Health and Prevention Research at Stanford University. During this time, she completed her master’s thesis and internship under the guidance of Dr. Ranak Trivedi. She then served as Project Coordinator for the SAFAD study for one year, prior to beginning medical school. Since starting medical school, she has remained a part of the team and has conducted her school's scholarly project with the SAFAD study. Feel free to contact Shreya via email at sdesai03@alumni.stanford.edu.

Lauren Ibarra earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD). She is currently on leave from her medical school program at UCSD while she earns a Master of Science degree in Community Health & Prevention Research (CHPR) at Stanford University. As part of the CHPR program, she is working on the SAFAD project as part of her thesis and internship under the mentorship of Dr. Trivedi. Concurrently, she is also the study lead of the ASDMedEd project based in San Diego, creating patient-communication guides for the adult autism community and providers. She is interested in using co-generative design to improve healthcare infrastructure so it is more accessible for marginalized communities. More specifically, Lauren is interested in working with the adult intellectual and developmental disability community and in U.S.-Mexico border health. For fun, she is currently learning to make stained glass! Lauren's family is particularly fond of glass art, which is why she has developed an interest in the hobby. So far, she has made flowers and a spaceship! Keep up with all that she is doing on LinkedIn!

Zen Marshall, M.S. is not only a member of the SAFAD Study team, Zen is also an UX Researcher with the Public Digital Health Innovation team with the National Center for PTSD supporting the development of mobile mental health apps. Zen is an aspiring clinical/developmental psychologist and wanting to earn a PhD. Her research interests focus on addressing mental and chronic illnesses predominantly affecting minority communities and underserved populations. She strives to eliminate existing gaps between underserved populations and occurring antecedents to mitigate negative mental health outcomes to create preventable measures and better practices. In her free time, Zen enjoys hiking and being out in nature, gardening, playing the ukulele, cooking and baking and going to Broadway, ballet and the symphony. She loves anything she can put her artistic expression into and enjoy supporting community arts and theatre.

Armaan Shetty is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology at the University of Florida. He earned a B.S. in Economics and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. Armaan is currently conducting research that examines how psychosocial, cultural, and healthcare-delivery factors affect South Asians living in the United States, with the goal of identifying barriers and designing culturally attuned strategies to improve care. She is excited to continue to work with the lab in the world of caregiving research and finding culturally attuned ways to support patients and their caregivers. He also is interested in advancing research at the intersection of clinical psychology and behavioral economics to optimize treatment engagement and behavioral health outcomes. For fun, Armaan enjoys playing soccer and traveling!

Dr. Naina Singh earned a B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of California Los Angeles and an M.D. at the University of California Davis School of Medicine. As a hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) physician, she aims to improve HPM resources and utilization for all patients. She is interested in palliative care utilization in the Veteran population and understanding barriers/facilitators to improving Veteran quality of life. She has a keen interest in ensuring caregiver voices are represented in HPM research. Naina enjoys singing and playing the piano. She also loves reading for fun -- she might devour a whole novel in 2 days if she loves it enough! She is a self-proclaimed home chef, and is sure her family will attest to that (because they have to!).