Stanford medical student falls to death in Sierra climbing accident

Stanford medical student Maria Birukova, 26, died in a mountain climbing accident. Stanford medical student Maria Birukova, 26, died in a mountain climbing accident. Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Stanford medical student falls to death in Sierra climbing accident 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A Stanford medical student died after she slipped and fell hundreds of feet while trying to traverse Bear Creek Spire in Inyo National Forest southeast of Yosemite, authorities said Wednesday.

Described as an “avid mountaineer and climber,” 26-year-old Maria Birukova was a native of Moscow and a fourth-year graduate student at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said Krista Conger, a spokeswoman for the school.

The accident happened Sunday when Birukova, a resident of Menlo Park, lost her footing on the Sierra Nevada mountain, slipping down the steep slope.

Her climbing partner, identified by Stanford as Ian Isaacson, raced 800 to 1,000 feet down the “steep chute” of Bear Creek Spire — which has a peak of nearly 14,000 feet — but found her deceased at the bottom, authorities said.

Rescue crews attempted to reach Birukova Monday through treacherous, rocky terrain that’s partially covered in snow year-round, but high winds grounded a helicopter, said Carma Roper, a spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office, along with Inyo Search and Rescue and the California Highway Patrol, were able to use a helicopter to recover Birukova’s body.

Birukova started at Stanford in 2013 after her graduation from Yale University in 2012. Using her biomedical engineering background, her research focused on innovative ways to treat deadly infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of viscous clumps of bacteria known as biofilms.

“The medical-school community has suffered a tremendous loss,” said Lloyd Minor, dean of the School of Medicine. “Maria’s interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of antibiotic-resistant biofilms brought to bear insights from both chemistry and immunology in an attempt to devise new treatments for patients with few other options.

“Her work was a wonderful example of Stanford’s focus on translational medicine,” he said, “and she will be greatly missed, both professionally and personally.”

Birukova also worked for the Stanford Healthcare Consulting Group, a nonprofit dedicated to improving patient care. Outside the world of medicine, she was known most for climbing mountains.

“It was clear from the moment I met her that climbing was a major part of her life,” said P.J. Utz, a Stanford professor of medicine. “In fact, she struggled to choose whether to attend Stanford or the University of Utah for her graduate training, because in Utah the mountains are so close.”

Birukova is survived by her parents, Konstantin Birukov and Anna Birukova, both faculty members at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. No information regarding memorial services was immediately released.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley