Dr. Nazerali specializes in complex reconstruction, microsurgery, and aesthetic and cosmetic surgery. He excels at breast reconstruction using free autologous tissue and performs advanced techniques such as the minimally invasive superficial inferior epigastric artery (SIEA) flap, as well as the deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap procedure. In addition to autologous reconstruction, Dr. Nazerali utilizes the latest techniques in implant-based breast reconstruction. His techniques and results have made him a leading instructor and lecturer at national and international institutions, societies and conferences.

In addition to breast reconstruction, Dr. Nazerali performs both aesthetic as well as whole body reconstructive procedures. He has a busy aesthetic practice focusing on breast augmentation, face and body rejuvenation as well as body contouring. In his reconstructive practice, he specializes in abdominal wall reconstruction as well as post-trauma tissue transfers. For every patient in his care, his goal is to optimize restoration of both form and function.

To help advance the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, Dr. Nazerali conducts research into outcomes of breast reconstruction, augmentation, and reduction. Dr. Nazerali has published widely: well over 100 journal articles and conference proceedings. Topics include breast reconstruction after radiation; advances in surgical technique; and, the use of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality systems in plastic surgery practice and education. His work has appeared in Annals of Plastic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Surgery, the European Journal of Plastic Surgery, the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, and elsewhere.

Dr. Nazerali focuses not only on improving his patient’s lives but also our ability to deliver care as an institution. He is on the Medical Executive Council at Stanford Healthcare, serves as a committee member in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons as well as the California Society of Plastic Surgeons. In his spare time, he volunteers his time to provide reconstructive surgical services to adults and children in need worldwide.

Dr. Gordon Lee is a Professor of Plastic Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Lee completed his undergraduate education at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and graduated magna cum laude. He attended medical school at Stanford University. He completed a combined residency in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery at UCLA Medical Center, where he was inspired by Dr. William Shaw, a pioneer in microsurgery and breast reconstruction, to pursue a career in academic plastic surgery. After residency, Dr. Lee completed an advanced microsurgery fellowship at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Lee is the Residency Program Director for Plastic Surgery, Director of Microsurgery, and the Associate Chief for Clinical Affairs. Dr. Lee is involved in the full range of oncologic reconstructive surgery at the Stanford Cancer Center in performing breast reconstruction, abdominal and pelvic reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction, and extremity reconstruction. Dr. Lee performs approximately 80-100 microvascular free flaps per year, and over 350 breast procedures per year.

Dr. Lee is recognized national and internationally for his clinical work and research in reconstructive surgical outcomes and surgical education. He was the 2015-2016 Plastic Surgery Foundation Visiting Professor, and has given lectures around the world. He was awarded the Residency Program Director of the Year in 2017, by the Stanford's Department of Graduate Medical Education. He is a member of state and national plastic surgery societies, and serves on numerous committees. He is the Associate Editor for the Annals of Plastic Surgery, and Editorial Board member for Microsurgery Journal.

Tavish Spargo is a board-certified physician assistant practicing in Plastic Surgery at Stanford Health Care. He moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles where he completed his Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Southern California. While at the University of Southern California, he completed an intensive senior clerkship in trauma plastic surgery and worked for a prominent trauma/plastic surgery group in Pasadena. In his role at Stanford, he supports several of the plastic surgeons in research and managing the outpatient care for cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Connor Arquette grew up in Buffalo, New York and attended the State University of New York at Buffalo where he dual majored in Biomedical and Biological Sciences graduating summa cum laude. Outside the classroom, he worked for a regional health insurance company, Independent Health, and specialty pharmacy, Reliance Rx, gathering valuable industry experience. Following his undergraduate studies, he earned his Doctor of Medicine from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences where he was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society and graduated summa cum laude with research honors. During his third year of medical school, a passion for technology and innovation was ignited when he completed the Business Engineering and Surgical Technologies fellowship at IRCAD. Currently, he is a third-year plastic surgery resident at Stanford.

Dr.Black was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and completed her undergraduate studies at Bard College where she majored in biology. After college, she joined Teach ForAmerica and taught for two years as a 12th grade physics teacher in the South Side of Chicago. Dr.Black then attended medical school at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she continued to advocate for kids’ education and health on a national level as a White House intern in 2016. During the clinical years of medical school, Dr.Black realized her passion for surgery and was especially fascinated by free flap reconstruction. She therefore spent a dedicated year studying autologous breast reconstruction outcomes and lower extremity microsurgical techniques within the plastic surgery department at Georgetown. During her last year of medical school, Dr.Black did an away rotation at Stanford and was attracted to the welcoming community and dedication to research and international volunteering. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, Barre workouts, hiking, kayaking, traveling, art museums, improv comedy, tea, and relaxing with family and friends. Dr.Black is the oldest of four sisters, one of whom works in the wine industry in the nearby Napa Valley.

Lawrence grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He studied chemistry at Yale, where his research focused on designing low-cost solar cells. Prior to medical school, he worked in Boston as a consultant at Simon-Kucher and Partners, where he developed pricing, contracting, and product launch strategies for pharmaceutical companies. He attended medical school at Stanford and was introduced to plastic surgery through the Stanford Design School, where he established Nepal’s first cadaveric skin bank and created a low-cost, adjustable hand split for burn patients. He is now a plastic surgery resident at Stanford and is spending his professional development year working at Google Health. In his free time, he enjoys experimenting with new cooking techniques, playing German-style board games, and folding complex origami models.

Dr. Kelsey Lipman grew up in Naples, Florida. She studied biomedical engineering as an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, performing several tissue engineering research and development internships during her summers. She obtained her medical degree from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. During her time in Los Angeles, she engaged in basic science research focused on tendon healing physiology and pursued several clinical outcomes projects related distraction osteogenesis. As a resident of the C.A.R.E.program, she has focused on prevention of periprosthetic infection for breast reconstruction and outcomes of oncoplastic breast reduction. Professionally, she is interested in surgical technology and microsurgery. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and hiking with her dog, Henley.

Dr. Ashraf Patel, originally from Atlanta, obtained his undergraduate degree from Emory University and his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University. He is currently a Plastic Surgery resident at the University of Utah Health. He is interested in breast reconstruction, microsurgery, and gender-affirming care.

Pooja is PGY-1 at Stanford Plastic Surgery! She isa native Houstonian, who studied biochemistry and bioengineering at Rice University, and then received a master's degree in biostatistics and epidemiology from Stanford University, with a focus on Markov modeling. During this time, she also spent six months abroad as a biomedical engineer in south India. She then went on to receive her medical degree from Johns Hopkins. ⁠During medical school, she spent a dedicated year as a Dean's Research Fellow, studying silicone-induced fibrosis as well as tissue oximetry for microsurgical flap-based reconstruction. Academically, she is interested in health economics, device development, and global surgery. ⁠Outside of medicine, she enjoys woodworking, painting, tennis, any/all types of music (listening and playing), and traveling.

⁠Pooja truly loves being a part of the CARE research group, as it truly fosters synergy in pushing forward clinical outcomes in plastic surgery, helping us to improve care for our surgical patients, while also providing strong mentorship for members across all levels of training. She is excited to continue working with the group during her years ahead as a plastic surgery resident!

Uchechukwu Amakiri (he/him) is a second-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Prior to medical school, he attended Stanford University, graduating with honors and distinction with a Bachelor of Science in neurobiology and a minor in medical anthropology. His research interests include patient outcomes related to gender-affirming care, the optimization and quality improvement of oncologic breast reconstruction, and addressing racial disparities in plastic surgery. Uchechukwu is excited to continue contributing to the body of research in the field of plastic surgery.

Amit completed his undergraduate degree in biology at UCSD and attends medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine. He is interested in plastic surgery and its application in breast reconstruction. He enjoys hiking and rock climbing in his free time.

Sophie Cemaj was raised between Southern California, Mexico City, and Omaha, Nebraska. She attended Emory University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. After graduation, she worked at the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a post-baccalaureate researcher in medicinal chemistry. She currently attends the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is pursuing her MD.

Shannon Francis is a medical student at Stanford Medical School. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and immigrated to the US in 1999. She earned her B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from MIT (’19) and her MSc from Imperial College London (’20). She’s currently pursuing clinical and translational facets of plastic surgery research, as well as racial disparities in patient care and decision making. Shannon’s hobbies include roller blading, coaching youth lacrosse, thriller novels, and action movies.

Rachna Goli graduated from UCLA in 2019 with a B.S. in Psychobiology and currently attends Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her research and clinical interests include gender-affirming care, craniofacial surgery, and post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Outside the classroom, she enjoys working with incarcerated youth and individuals experiencing homelessness. A California native, she is never far from the beach and a good burrito!

Bhagvat Maheta is a first year medical student at California Northstate University College of Medicine (C/O 2025). His research interests include improving the quality of care for patients undergoing plastic surgery and further exploring the best techniques for different procedures. In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing sports!

Nathan grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and was always a big fan of skiing, hiking, and camping. For undergrad, he attended Princeton University, where he was a varsity athlete and completed degrees in visual arts, ecology and evolutionary biology. After graduating Magna Cum Laude, he attended the University of Utah where he completed a graduate program in public health and was again a varsity athlete. Following Utah, he spent 2 years doing basic science research with the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School. Nathan is now a second year medical student at Stanford University and hopes to pursue plastic surgery after graduating.

Mallory is a third year medical student at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York and completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular Biology and English with an emphasis on Creative Writing at Colgate University. Prior to medical school she worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she was first exposed to the field of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Stanford has continued to foster her interest in the field. She loves the breadth of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery but is particularly drawn to craniofacial reconstruction and microsurgery. Outside of medicine, Mallory continues to write--especially in the field of narrative medicine where she also mentors patients in their writing at MSKCC--plays the piano, and enjoys spending time with her niece and nephews.

Mohammed Shaheen is a second-year medical student at Stanford School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Chicago and a JD from Harvard Law School. He has an interest in all aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery and is currently involved in research exploring opioid use in hand surgery, complications rates in different types of breast reconstruction, geographic variability in access to reconstructive surgeries, and aesthetic measurements in oculoplastic surgery.He’salso interested in health disparities, global surgery, medicolegal issues in surgery, and translational research. Outside of medicine and law, he enjoys weightlifting, playing basketball, endurance running, exploring the outdoors in Northern California, and spending time with family.

Maia Shoham is a medical student at Stanford currently in her first clinical year. She also attended Stanford for her BS with honors in Human Biology with a focus on developmental biology and its applications to human disease. During undergrad and before medical school, she did translational research in the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Along the way she also attended bartending school and became a certified yoga instructor.

Dylan Singh is a 2nd year medical student at the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science with honors in Translational and Molecular Medicine. His current research focuses on implant infection prevention, medical student education and improving efficiencies in the operating room.

Kometh “Tony” Thawanyarat is a second-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia. He is an Atlanta native, though his family is originally from Bangkok, Thailand and Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Georgia with a degree in Economics.His various research interests include microsurgery, gender-affirming surgery, breast surgery, cranio-facial surgery, quality improvement, and the economics of healthcare delivery.His hobbies include exploring different restaurants and cuisines, golfing, aviation, travel, and more recently, skeet shooting!

Gina Eggert was born and raised in Stockton, CA. She attended the University of CaliforniaSanta Cruz where she studied Human Biology. After graduating in June 2021, Gina decided to pursue research and clinical experiences before applying to medical school. Gina likes to practice yoga, rock climb, and use her sourdough starter ‘Big Mama’ to bake sourdough bread in her free time.

Trudy is currently an undergraduate student at Stanford University studying Human Biology. She is greatly interested in human anatomy, physiology, and behavior and is conducting research in the neurosciences and plastic/reconstructive surgery. In her free time, Trudy likes to take ballet classes, cook and bake, crochet, travel and spend quality time with friends and family.

Jennifer is a senior at Stanford University majoring in Human Biology (BS) and Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity (BAH), and minoring in Humanities (Music). After graduating, she hopes to go tomedical school and pursue a career in academic medicine. She’s grateful that C.A.R.E. allowed her to explore her interest in using data to evaluate and improve outcomes and equity in plastic surgery. Outside of school, she enjoys hiking and singing with her a capella group, Stanford Talisman.