The Office of Faculty Affairs, in collaboration with the Office of Healthcare Equity, have launched programming to support our underrepresented in medicine and science (URMS) faculty across all departments. Dr. Kemi Doll led this effort through June 2022, in her role as the inaugural Director of URM Faculty Development. Dr. Michelle Terry, Assistant Dean for URMS Career Development, has taken over this work.
We are investing in this important work to ensure the success, retention, and recruitment of URMS faculty, and to realize the UW Medicine mission of an anti-racist institution that maximizes the potential of all faculty to improve the health of the public. By actively supporting the success of our URMS faculty through collaborations and building community, we will be able to strengthen retention and bolster recruitment.
Success for Underrepresented Faculty (SURF) Program
In 2021, we launched the SURF program. This is a small-group 12-month program focused on career development, coaching, and peer co-learning and the first pilot cohort began in September 2021. It is now in its second year.
Over the year-long program, we cover topics important to career navigation, productivity, mentor and leader relationships, and future planning. Participants commit to attend monthly group trainings and monthly 1:1 coaching support in the critical early phases of career development. We currently accept up to 15 faculty per cycle.
Apply here for the 2023-2024 Cohort. Deadline April 14, 2023.
To date, there is no way to consistently identify URMS faculty members to ensure connection to these new initiatives. Racial/Ethnic Underrepresented Minority Faculty (also more recently referred to as ‘historically excluded’ in medicine and science or underrepresented in medicine and science) refer to faculty who identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Native American, Bruneian, Burmese (Myanmarese), Cambodian, Timorese, Indonesian, Lao, Malaysian, Pilipino, Singaporean, Thai, and Vietnamese.
To that end, we encourage you to complete a survey we will post here soon to help facilitate our outreach to identify faculty who may benefit from this programming.
2022-2023 Cohort Members
Crystal Brown, MD, MA Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Dr. Crystal Brown is an Assistant Professor and physician-scientist in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding how discrimination and other forms of racism affect communication and decision-making in racially marginalized patients with serious illness.
Germán Gornalusse, PhD, MS Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Germán Gornalusse is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UW and Affiliated Scientist in the Vaccine Infectious Disease Division (VIDD) at the Hutch. He is currently working with Dr. Florian Hladik’s group and is interested in the intersections between HIV-1 infection and latency, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) medications, opioids use and the immune response of the female reproductive tract.
Nabiha Huq Saifee, MD, PhD Laboratory Medicine
Dr. Nabiha Huq Saifee is a Clinical Assistant Professor and clinical pathologist specializing in pediatric transfusion and coagulation with the aim to improve transfusion and anticoagulation management in pediatric patients via clinician education, quality improvement projects, assay development, and research studies. She is currently transfusion service medical director and apheresis service associate medical director at Seattle Children’s. Professionally, she enjoys teaching and guiding standardized evidence-based practices via local and national committee work and clinical research.
Victoria Lopez Konold, MD Infectious Disease and Virology
Dr. Victoria Lopez Konold is an Assistant Professor and pediatric Infectious Disease physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Konold’s research focuses on the intersection of informatics, quality improvement and antimicrobial stewardship. She serves as the Director of QAPI for the Division of Pediatric infectious Diseases, and as the Associate Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital. In these roles she leverages the electronic health record to nudge provider behaviors toward guideline-centered care, and extracts data from the electronic health record to answer questions about quality and equity. She is interested in further developing her leadership skills, finding ways to incorporate tenets of DEI into her work, and connecting with other URM (Underrepresented Minorities) faculty, trainees and staff.
Nana Minkah, PhD Pediatric Global Infectious Disease Research
Dr. Minkah is a scientist at the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and an Assistant Professor in the department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. His research is primarily focused on hepatic immunity, and his team aims to utilize observations from our studies to develop immune-directed therapies against liver disease and hepatotropic infections. He believes that creating an environment that continuously combats racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, and other institutionalized and systemic oppressions is critical to the development of an inclusive, equitable and welcoming scientific community where each person feels valued and respected to do impactful work.
Elizabeth Nguyen, MD, PhD Pediatric Nephrology
Dr. Liz Nguyen is an Acting Assistant Professor of Nephrology with the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. She started as a faculty member in the Division of Nephrology at Seattle Children’s Hospital in October 2021 after completing residency and fellowship. Dr. Nguyen oversees a lab at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute studying the genetic and epigenetic regulation of kidney repair after injury. She also loves seeing patients, and particularly enjoys working with kids who develop lifelong kidney disease at an early age and getting to be a part of team that teaches them how to manage and master their health.
Ayokunle Olanrewaju, PhD Bioengineering
Dr. Ayokunle Olanrewaju aims to transform our approach to monitoring, treating, and preventing diseases by developing wearable autonomous devices that automate complex molecular tests. Ayokunle received BSc and MSc degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. After completing a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He moved to Seattle for a postdoc in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UW. He started his lab as an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering Departments at UW in January 2022. The Olanrewaju lab combines his expertise in autonomous microfluidics and drug activity assays to develop technologies for real-time disease monitoring at the point of need, whether in a doctor’s office or patient’s home. He is also committed to finding community-oriented and people-centered approaches that help to support those who are historically underrepresented and marginalized in academia and society.
Jennifer Ray, MD Gastroenterology
Dr. Ray is a Gastroenterologist at Harborview Medical Center with a focus in motility disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Ray is originally from Saint Louis, Missouri where she completed her medical training before joining University of Washington. Her passion is providing mentorship to trainees and enhancing the education of current and future physicians.
Hannibal Person, MD Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Dr. Hannibal Person is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington. He has always been fascinated by the intersection of mental and physical health and completed training in pediatric medicine as well as general and child & adolescent psychiatry. His clinical passion is disorders of gut-brain interaction, and he is currently building the Gut-Brain Health Program, an interdisciplinary program for children with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. His research passion is racial health equity, and he is currently completing projects related to mitigating provider racial bias via educational interventions.
Mariya Sweetwyne, PhD Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Dr. Mariya Sweetwyne is a Cell Biologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the UW School of Medicine. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest and earned a BS in Zoology and a BS in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Washington. Her laboratory focuses on basic and translational research to better understand how cellular aging in the kidney shapes the progression of kidney diseases. The goal of this research is to identify safe therapeutic targets to reduce kidney disease progression during late ages. Academically, she is working to foster a laboratory environment that welcomes mentees arriving from both traditional and less-conventional paths. Her goal is to support mentees in their own unique careers while also fostering the best science by building a creatively diverse research team.
Luis Tulloch Palomino, MD Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Dr. Luis Tulloch-Palomino is a Clinical Assistant Professor and clinician-teacher in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He is the lead of the Antimicrobial Stewardship and HIV Telehealth programs at the VA Puget Sound. In his current role he works to optimize antimicrobial use and increase access to HIV prevention and screening services for rural and other underserved Veterans.
Porshia Underwood, MD Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Porshia Underwood is a diligent and concerned OB-GYN. She practices medicine as a part of UW Medicine Women’s Health Care and offers OB-GYN consultations for various health issues. These include uterine fibroids, breast problems, vaginal irritation, hormonal imbalance, and menopause.
Oscar Vivas, PhD Physiology and Biophysics
Dr. Oscar Vivas is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. He is interested in understanding how aging alters the autonomic nervous system. His professional goal is to have a laboratory with an established culture based on peer mentoring, collaboration, and the general principle of helping others.
Holly Hoa Vo, MD, MPH Pediatric Pulmonary
Dr. Holly Hoa Vo is a new faculty member and a clinician, educator, and researcher. Prior to medical school she was a middle school math and science teacher for a few years in Brooklyn, NY. As she moved through medical school and subsequent teaching, she found ways to tie together her various interests in teaching, public health, and bioethics by being involved in various organizations and projects. Her interest in bioethics fits hand in glove with her professional background and strong interest in global health and healthcare equity.
Afua Yorke, PhD Radiation Oncology
Dr. Yorke is an Assistant Professor in Medical Physics at the Department of Radiation Oncology. Her research focus is in Global Oncology working with radiotherapy centers in Lower-Middle Income countries investigating their medical physics quality assurance and management practices to improve patient care. She works with the Girls Excellence Movement in Ghana as the director of STEM to change the narrative and outlook for young girls. She is passionate about education, training, and mentoring.