Our Team
Ronald L. Dalman, MD
Walter Clifford Chidester and Elsa Rooney Chidester Professor of Surgery Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery
Dr. Dalman graduated from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1984. He completed his general surgery residency from University of Washington in 1989. He completed fellowship training in vascular surgery at the Oregon Health Sciences University in 1991.
He is board certified in both vascular surgery and general surgery.
Dr. Dalman has been a Stanford vascular faculty member since 1992. He currently serves as professor and chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Dalman is also a staff surgeon at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. He served as section chief of vascular surgery at VA Palo Alto from 1991 to 2005.
Dr. Dalman's research interests include the basic underlying mechanisms responsible for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease, as well as novel drug, device and exercise therapies to limit progression of small AAAs. He also has extensive experience investigating novel treatments for occlusive diseases of the lower extremities, including lower extremity limb salvage procedures and the modern management of walking disorders such as intermittent claudication (pain in the legs with exercise that is relieved by rest).
Specialties: Aortic disease, limb salvage, walking problems, venous disease, carotid disease, and carotid stenting.
E. John Harris Jr., MD
Professor of Surgery
Vascular Surgeon, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
Dr. Harris graduated from the St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1985. He completed his residency at Oregon Health Sciences University in 1991. He also completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University in 1992.
He is board certified in both vascular surgery and general surgery.
Dr. Harris serves as a professor at Stanford University and a staff surgeon at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. He is also on staff at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital.
Dr. Harris' research interests include role of thrombosis in stimulating venous wall morphologic change, and non-invasive vascular imaging.
Specialties: Vascular reconstruction during/following cancer surgery, aortic disease, limb salvage, walking problems, venous disease, carotid disease, and thoracic outlet syndrome.
Wei Zhou, MD
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Vascular Section, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Zhou earned her undergraduate degree at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and her medical degree at New York Medical College. She received her general surgery training at UCSD Medical Center. After completing a vascular surgery fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine in 2005, Dr. Zhou joined the Baylor faculty as an assistant professor of surgery and as an associate program director for the vascular surgery fellowship.
She is also chief of vascular surgery at Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital and on staff at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Dr. Zhou's research interests include new therapeutic strategies for management of cerebrovascular diseases, claudication and limb salvage, and treatment of aortic aneurysms.
Specialties: Aortic disease and vascular disease.
Jason T. Lee, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Director of Endovascular Surgery
Vascular Surgery Program Director
Dr. Lee graduated with honors from the California Institute of Technology in 1994, and finished medical school at the University of California, San Diego in 1998. He completed his general surgery residency at Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles in 2004. During his residency he spent one year working under the tutelage of Dr. Rodney White at the St. John's Cardiovascular Institute testing various endovascular devices in animal models. He is board-certified in general surgery. Dr. Lee completed his vascular surgery fellowship at Stanford University in 2006.
Dr. Lee serves as an assistant professor at Stanford University. He is also the program director of the Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program and on staff at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.
Dr. Lee's research interests include outcomes of catheter-based interventions compared to open surgery, functional outcomes after thoracic outlet decompression, imaging surveillance after endovascular aneurysm repair, and the application of endovascular technologies to thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysms.
Specialties: Neurogenic and vascular thoracic outlet syndrome, vascular reconstruction for high-performance athletes, branched/fenestrated endovascular grafts for thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms, innovative endovascular solutions, and carotid stenting.
Nicholas James Leeper, MD
Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery and Cardiovascular Medicine
Dr. Leeper holds degrees with honors from the University of Chicago in chemistry (1999) and medicine (2003). He completed his categorical internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco in 2005 and subsequently joined the Clinical Investigator Pathway (CIP) in cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Leeper served as the chief cardiology fellow in 2007 and then took advanced training in vascular medicine through the NIH K12 program at Stanford University. Dr. Leeper joined the faculty at Stanford in 2009 and was promoted to assistant professor in 2011, holding appointments both in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Leeper performs translational research in vascular biology, and aims to understand the genetic causes of atherosclerosis and aneurysmal disease. His NIH-funded laboratory investigates the molecular biology of inherited genetic variants that promote smooth muscle cell dysfunction and lead to clinical events such as heart attack or aneurysm rupture. Dr. Leeper also is interested in vascular regeneration and performs clinical trials studying methods to grow new blood vessels for those with peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Dr. Leeper focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to these conditions with an emphasis on risk factor management. He serves as an investigator for several early phase clinical trials for patients with PAD, including studies of stem cell therapy for subjects with arterial insufficiency.
Specialties: Vascular medicine and cardiology, including the diagnosis and non-invasive management of peripheral vascular disease, aortic aneurysms, carotid atherosclerosis, deep venous thrombosis, pre-operative risk stratification, and general cardiovascular risk factor reduction.
Matthew W. Mell, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director of Vascular Clinic and Laboratory
Co-Chairperson of the Clinic Advisory Council
Dr. Mell earned his medical degree at Harvard University Medical School in 1987 and is board certified in both vascular surgery and general surgery. He completed his residency at Stanford Hospital & Clinics in 1992 and his fellowship at the University of Wisconsin in 2006. Since 2010, Dr. Mell has served as co-chair of the Clinic Advisory Council at Stanford and director of Stanford Vascular Laboratory.
Specialties: Management of complex thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm disease, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair, visceral and renal artery repair, walking problems, venous disease, and cerebrovascular disease.
Oliver Oppers Aalami, MD, RPVI
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery (Affiliated)
Vascular Surgeon, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Dr. Aalami earned his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego in 1994. He then graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1998. Dr. Aalami completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University researching transplantation immunology with Dr. Randall Morris and tissue engineering with Dr. Michael Longaker from 2001 to 2003. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco-East Bay in 2005, and subsequently his vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University in 2007. During his fellowship, he spent one year performing translational research in Dr. Melina Kibbe’s lab evaluating the effects of nitric oxide on neointimal hyperplasia.
Dr. Aalami is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). He serves as the medical director of the vascular laboratory at the VAPAHCS and is the education site director.
Dr. Aalami’s research interests include the development of minimally invasive vascular surgical devices and techniques, medical information technology and biology of neointimal hyperplasia.
Specialties: Abdominal aortic aneurysm-repair and vascular and endovascular surgery.