I am a Clinical Informatics Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. I received my Ph.D. from the Institute for Public Health Genetics at the University of Washington.  I study how genetic information can improve human health, focusing on how genetic variation affects the response of an individual to a particular medical drug.

I am trained in pharmacogenetic research methods and data analysis, as well as the legal, ethical, and social implications of conducting and applying that research in our health care system.  I value public engagement and the distillation of interdisciplinary information to fuel responsible action towards improving medical care. I aim to integrate my training in communication, research, and innovation to advance personalized medicine.

My dissertation focused on associations of genetics, diet, sunlight exposure, and vitamin D levels, and how these relationships may affect adverse effects of pharmacological drugs in Alaska Native populations. I also studied appropriate uses of language relationships between populations to address ethical issues inherent in genetic research with underserved populations.  This work grew out of my research assistantship with the Northwest Alaska – Pharmacogenomics Research Network, which focuses on advancing pharmacogenomic research with rural and underserved populations.

Other engagements include work with the Pacific Science Center as part of their Genetics Advisory Board and their Communication Fellows Program, and work tutoring college-level statistics, biology and chemistry.

I received a BS with honors in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry from Stanford University, where my honors thesis was on regulatory T cells in controlling the T cell response in allergy and asthma.  My MS in Biology at Stanford included additional immunology research and focused on genetic theory. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate years, I worked at Stanford Sierra Camp.  My roles there included, among other roles, Summer Staff Director. I continue to work with the Stanford Alumni Travel/Study Family Adventure Programs.

My future work goals are to integrate my interdisciplinary training in communication, research, and innovation to improve the translation of scientific research to improve medicine and human health.