UW School of Medicine-Gonzaga University Health Partnership fosters research opportunities in Seattle and Spokane

From left: Claire Charvet, Alexandra Stearns, Kennedy Child, Ainsley Brockman, and Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, Vice Dean of Research & Graduate Education. Photo credit: Kim Blakeley.

Gonzaga University Students Conduct Biomedical Research in Seattle

Four Gonzaga University (GU) students spent eight weeks working in biomedical research labs alongside UW School of Medicine principal investigators, graduate students, and postdocs as part of the University of Washington-Gonzaga University Health Partnership’s collaborative summer research program.

Student researchers were paired with leading researchers, including:

  • Biology major, Ainsley Brockman, (GU class of 2026), worked in the Mougous Lab in the UW Department of Microbiology
  • Biochemistry major, Claire Charvet, (GU class of 2025), worked in the Tait Wojno Lab in the UW Department of Immunology
  • Human physiology major, Kennedy Child, (GU class of 2026), worked in the Darvas Lab in the UW Department of Pathology
  • Psychology major, Alexandra Stearns, (GU class of 2025), worked in the Stuber Lab in the UW Department of Pharmacology

Since 2018, 23 Gonzaga undergrads have participated in the Summer Research Program, led by the UW School of Medicine’s Office of Research and Graduate Education (RGE) in partnership with GU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry (CURCI).


McKinstry Fellows Student Researchers Study Parkinson’s

In Spokane, Gonzaga University’s Department of Human Physiology teamed with the UW School of Medicine in a mobility study of Parkinson’s patients as part of the McKinstry Fellows Research Program. Under the direction of Clint Wutzke, PhD, Human Physiology associate professor at Gonzaga, the study involved GU undergraduate students and UW medical students to analyze how people with Parkinson’s disease fatigue differently in comparison with unimpaired people. The McKinstry Fellows Research Program supports interdisciplinary and/or inter-professional research teams consisting of students and faculty mentors as they tackle probing health-related questions that are affecting society today. As Health Partners, students from GU and the UW School of Medicine worked together on this study, which was featured in The Spokesman-Review.