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South Lake Union research building - exterior shot with UW Medicine Research sign
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Wes Van Voorhis, Alyssa Williamson, Tisha Wang, Tom Hawn in front of Nobel Laureate David Baker's protein design wall mural.
November 9, 2026

South Lake Union

Alyssa and I had the opportunity to visit our beautiful South Lake Union facilities last week. The campus spans multiple city blocks, employing over 1,200 researchers and staff across multiple buildings.
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Alyssa and I had the opportunity to visit our beautiful South Lake Union facilities last week. The campus spans multiple city blocks, employing over 1,200 researchers and staff across multiple buildings. South Lake Union The Department of Medicine (DOM) has a significant presence at SLU, including over 50 faculty members working at multiple centers and institutes.

We had the privilege of visiting the Cancer Vaccine Institute, Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Lung Biology, Center for Cardiovascular Biology, and the Nephrology, Rheumatology, and Hematology Bleeding Disorders wet labs.

The researchers were kind enough to invite me and Alyssa to participate in some infection-related clinical trials, but we politely declined. 😂

Visiting these sites firsthand and meeting our DOM faculty and staff was incredibly inspiring. I was blown away by the passion, determination, and resourcefulness of the teams, along with the strong spirit of collaboration. Seeing people unite around a shared purpose, even during a particularly difficult time in science, underscores the impact of teamwork in driving innovation and improving lives. 

Continuing on the research excellence theme, I attended Department of Medicine Grand Rounds on Friday which featured our two 2026 Equity Academic Scholarship Awardees, Thomas “Tom” Fitzpatrick in our division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Ronald “Ron” Paranal in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Thanks for teaching me about patient perceptions on opioid vaccines/fentanyl immunotherapy and the importance of histone gene dysregulation and hypertranscription in cancer!

This week was simply a wonderful reminder of the beauty of academic medicine and the UW DOM; one of my main goals as your Chair is to help sustain the research mission for years and years to come. 

Wes Van Voorhis, Alyssa Williamson, Tisha Wang, Tom Hawn in front of Nobel Laureate David Baker's protein design.
Alyssa and I with past and present AID leadership Wes Van Voorhis and Tom Hawn in front of the painted wall in SLU showing Nobel Laureate David Baker’s protein design

PS: As a bonus, I learned about some new DOM dogs on our tour! Meet the adorable Chester, Leo, and Sophie, who belong to the amazing Dr. Nora Disis, director of the Cancer Vaccine Institute. 🙂

Dogs

PPS: I flew back down to Southern California this past weekend to attend the AAMC Learn, Serve, Lead conference where I hope to find novel ideas to continue to serve and lead the UW DOM.

With that said, I want to acknowledge that many DOM faculty have little to no access to CME funds for conferences. As we move towards “One DOM,” one of my priorities is to ensure that faculty across divisions have access to similar resources.

As an example of that, I am considering a proposal to provide CME funding eligibility to all clinically active faculty members starting July 1, 2027. More details to come soon!