Lead Course Faculty
Dr. Polyak is a Research Professor in the Virology Division of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. He also holds adjunct faculty appointments in the UW’s Departments of Global Health (DGH) and Microbiology. Dr. Polyak received his Ph.D. in Molecular Virology and Immunology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1993. After post-doctoral training at the UW, Dr. Polyak was appointed to the faculty in February of 2000.
Dr. Polyak’s research laboratory studies virus-host interactions, including work on flaviviruses (hepatitis C virus and Zika virus), filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg, arenaviruses (Lassa, Junin, and Pichinde), and more recently, coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2). Work involves characterizing innate antiviral and inflammatory responses to virus infection, natural products that combat virus infection and virus-induced inflammation, and development of synergistic drug combinations for viral pandemic preparedness and response.
Dr. Polyak’s work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) including NIAID, NIDDK, NCCIH, and NIAAA. He is an editorial board member and/or reviewer for several virology and cell biology journals. He regularly reviews grant applications for the NIH and internationally for multiple countries including Belgium, Canada, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, France, Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.
Dr. Polyak is also actively involved in undergraduate and graduate education. He is the Director of the DLMP Master’s program, where he teaches a course on critical thinking. He also teaches two courses for DGH.
Guest Experts
Dr. Lucy Perrone
The Certificate Program in Clinical Laboratory Leadership and Management originated with Dr. Lucy Perrone and Dr. Robert Martin at the University of Washington’s International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) in 2013. Since 2013, this program has been implemented in the Middle East and North Africa, Cambodia, and Zambia to a global audience of laboratory leaders and managers.
Dr. Lucy A. Perrone holds the Donald B. Rix Professor of Laboratory Quality and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She is an Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a WHO International Collaborating Center for strengthening diagnostic testing and health systems.
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of
Washington
Geoff Baird, MD PhD – Department Chair and Professor
Melissa Upton, MD – Professor Emeritus
Joe Rutledge, MD – Professor Emeritus
David Chou, MD, MS, FCAP – Professor Emeritus
Patrick Mathias, MD, PhD – Associate Medical Director of Informatics for UW
Laboratory Medicine
Ferric Fang, MD – Professor
David Fredricks, MD – Professor
Brad Cookson, MD, PhD – Professor
Suzanne Dintzis, MD, PhD – Professor
Hamilton C. Tsang M.D. – Associate Medical Director for the Transfusion Service Laboratories
Noah Hoffman, MD, PhD – Associate Professor
Susan Fink, MD, PhD – Associate Professor
Brian Shirts, MD, PhD – Associate Professor
Lori Bourassa, MPH, PhD – Assistant Professor
Dan Bankson, SM, PhD, MBA – Assistant Professor
Regina Kwon, MD, MPH – Assistant Professor
Lisa Lawerence, MLS(ASCP) – Chemistry Health Services Manager
Sean Murphy, MD, PhD – Associate Professor
Joyce Liao, PhD, DABCC – Assistant Professor
Sara Trimble, Harborview Medical Center Lab Manager
Jennifer Greenwood, Assistant Director
Michael Tull, Assistant Director Laboratory Medicine Reference Lab
Theresa Anderson, MPH, MT(ASCP) HCCA – Laboratory Compliance Officer
Wing Yan Tam
Kim Garner, Associate Director, Human Resources
Mike Astion, MD, PhD – Medical Director, Department of Laboratories Seattle Children’s
Stephen Salipante, MD, PhD Associate Professor
Kareem Hosney, MD, MPH – Assistant Professor
Alan Potter, PhD – Research Scientist
Allan J. Lee, MSc, MBA – Administrative Director of Anatomic Pathology
Karen Resquer Burnham m MA – Director of Budget and Planning for UW Medical Center
Department of Global Health, University of Washington
Paul Drain, MD, MPH – Associate Professor
Bhavna Chohan, MSc, PhD – Clinical Assistant Professor
Britt Yamamotto, MS, PhD – Clinical Associate Professor
Olusegun Soge, PhD, Assistant Professor
Ann Downer, MS, EdD – Professor Emeritus
Robert Martin, MPH, DrPH – Professor Emeritus
Jen Antilla, OpenMRS Community Manager
Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington
Genya Shimkin, MPH – Education Specialist
External Guest Experts
Lucia Berte, MA, MLS(ASCP)SBB, DLM, CQA(ASQ)CMQ/OE – President
Laboratories Made Better!
Darryl Elzie, PsyD, MHA, MT(ASCP), CQA(ASQ) – Senior Director Labortory
Quality at GENETWORx
Tywauna Wilson, MBA, MLS (ASCP)CM
LouAnn Burnett, MS – Sandia National Laboratories
Dana Baker, MBA, M.S., MLS(ASCP)cm – Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical
Laboratory Sciences University of Kansas
Carlyn Collins, MD – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Shay Bluemer-Miroite, MPH – Director of Programs at Shift
Romesh Gautom, PhD, MSc – Director of the State Public Health Laboratories,
Washington State Department of Health
Brian Hiatt – Microbiology Office Director, Washington State Department of
Health
Damon Getman, PhD – Hologic, Inc