News

The Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance is proud to announce its 2024 cohort of Clinician-Scientist Fellows. These individuals were selected for their outstanding potential to advance our understanding of peak performance.

The Clinician-Scientist Fellowship is a two-year program designed to support researchers who will advance our understanding of human performance through the design of novel, clinically relevant studies. It is a unique opportunity that allows fellows to devote significant time to independent research, expand their clinical and research networks, and build connections across human performance communities.

Here are our 2024 Wu Tsai Performance Clinician-Scientist Fellows:

  Marily Oppezzo, PhD, MS, RDN

Instructor – Medicine/Stanford Prevention Research Center

Marily Opezzo’s research seeks to promote muscle strength exercises to enhance physical, psychological, and cognitive performance, particularly for women entering the peri- and postmenopausal phase, marked by significant hormonal shifts. She will develop a progressive, remotely-delivered “strength snacks” program, offering motivationally-accessible, short bout strength training. Dr. Oppezzo is under the mentorship of Dr. Joy Wu and Professor Scott Delp.

Jack O’Sullivan, MD, PhD

Fellow – Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine

Jack O’Sullivan will study the genetics underlying trabeculations, interlinked muscular strands that make up the inner layer of the heart.  His primary objective is to examine the genetic underpinnings of trabeculations, as they may enhance performance if a particular gene is up-regulated, but may cause cardiac dysfunction if a gene is down-regulated. Dr. Sullivan is under the mentorship of Dr. Euan Ashley and Dr. Matthew Wheeler.