Staff spotlight: Rob Wisdom

A longstanding UW career

Rob began his career at UW Medicine in 1996 as a clinical laboratory technician lead in Laboratory Medicine’s Specimen Processing Services. He was soon promoted to co-supervisor, managing more than 100 clinical laboratory technicians across UW Medical Center – Montlake, Harborview Medical Center, the Roosevelt Clinic, and Transfusion Support Services.

Over the years, Rob has held a number of diverse roles across the university and medical center. He served as a research coordinator lead in the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU) under Dr. Ann Collier, working primarily as a laboratory manager, and later held a similar role at the NW Lipid Research Laboratory under Dr. Santica Marcovina.

He then transitioned to Harborview’s Organization Development and Training (OD&T) team as a program operations specialist. In this role, Rob managed the advertising of training workshops and administered one of the first online training systems offered at the time to Harborview employees. He also served as the department's webmaster and supported new staff orientation and other OD&T training opportunities.

Eventually, Rob returned to Laboratory Medicine to oversee Specimen Processing Services, before pivoting into research finance with the Clinical Research Budget and Billing (CRBB) office.

There, he trained UW staff on reviewing research protocols, extracting research-related and staff costs, and was responsible for negotiating budgets with industry pharmaceutical partners on behalf of researchers across UW Medicine.

Research finance

In 2015, Rob joined the Division of Medical Oncology as finance manager for the Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program. By 2018, he had transitioned into the central administrative offices of Hematology and Oncology as clinical research budget manager, where he continues to serve today.

Initially, his role focused on training staff to review clinical trial protocols and develop budgets to ensure full cost recovery. He also worked directly with industry sponsors to negotiate the funding needed for investigators to conduct their studies in the division.

Over time, his responsibilities evolved to focus more on post-award finance activities with the implementation of OnCore, the clinical trials management system adopted by UW Medicine and Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

His current work centers on leading a small team leveraging OnCore’s financial capabilities to integrate clinical trial finances with Workday, helping to manage invoicing clinical trial sponsors and deposit sponsor funding efficiently in support of clinical trials and research teams.

“I’ve never looked back, research finance is both challenging and rewarding, and I’m proud to play a part in sustaining the vital work we do,” he said.

Service and community

Rob is actively engaged in improving systems and workflows across UW Medicine’s research community. He currently serves on the Study Team Advisory Committee (STAC), which provides a platform for raising and resolving operational challenges. He is also a member of the Research Orders Improvement Initiative (ROII) Core & Research Staff Working Group, a team focused on improving Epic clinical trial order workflows.

He enjoys these opportunities to be involved in operational challenges and help shape process improvements, an experience he described as both impactful and rewarding.

He credits his long tenure at the UW to the “wonderful faculty, staff, and the abundant opportunities for personal and professional growth.”

“The Department of Medicine has been my favorite place to work, as my background allows me to thrive in what can often be a stressful environment,” he said. “The work and the people I collaborate with are incredibly rewarding, giving so much of themselves to advance our mission of improving public health. As a research staff member, I find it deeply fulfilling to know that my small contributions support science in a broader sense too, and I am humbled knowing this helps advance a greater goal.”

Personal background

Rob is originally from Alaska, and his maternal family heritage is Russian and Aleut (Alaska Native), with tribal affiliation through CIRI. “In Alaska, the state is vast, Native groups often form large regional corporations rather than small individual tribes, providing strength and stability in numbers. I am proud of my Alaska Native heritage and the pioneers in my family,” he shared.

Being raised in Alaska also gave him a love for the outdoors, especially the coastal areas and mountains.

He has been with his husband for over 25 years, and the couple were married once it became legal for them to do so.

Outside of work, Rob enjoys cooking and baking.

“There’s nothing better than sharing a great home-cooked meal with the people I love.”