Current Scholars

On behalf of the University of Washington, the Board of Health Sciences Deans, and the Magnuson Scholar Program, we are pleased to announce the 2023–2024 Magnuson Scholars. All scholars are nominated by their respective Health Sciences School on the basis of outstanding academic performance and potential contributions to research in the health sciences. For the second year in a row we are excited to award seven scholarships.

The Magnuson Scholar Program is a key component of the Warren G. Magnuson Institute for Biomedical Research and Health Professions Training. The program is funded by an endowment established in 1991 in the late Senator’s name. The annual income from this endowment allows the University of Washington to distribute an award to one scholar from each of the six health sciences schools – Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Social Work – annually. As was the case last year, the annual income from the this years’ endowment allowed a seventh scholar to receive a scholarship.

All Magnuson Scholars help carry on the legacy of the late Senator Warren G. Magnuson and his remarkable commitment to improving the nation’s health through biomedical research, education, and responsive, sustainable healthcare discoveries. At least one scholar must be engaged in research related to diabetes, it’s antecedents or treatment.

Please join us in recognizing the 2023-2024 Magnuson Scholars’ exceptional achievements while also celebrating Warren G. Magnuson’s extraordinary public service career.

The 2023-2024 Magnuson Scholars are:

Alice Ko School of Dentistry	Laurel Kelnhoefer-Millevolte School of Medicine	Linda Yoo School of Nursing
Jennifer Perkins School of Nursing	Alexandra Wiley School of Pharmacy	Joe Lim School of Public Health
	Andrea Portillo School of Social Work

Scholar Profiles

Alice Ko
School of Dentistry

Alice Ko is a general dentist pursuing a PhD degree in the Department of Oral Health Sciences in the School of Dentistry, with interests in dental public health. “Particularly, I am interested in understanding the behavioral motivations regarding oral health  decision-making – like acceptance of fluoride or reducing added sugars in adolescents, who are in the transition stage between making independent decisions and abiding by their parents’ wishes.”

Alice explains, “One project I am helping with is Dr. Chi’s Alaska fruit drink study, which implements a community-driven behavioral intervention to reduce added sugar intake in Alaska Native children. Helping in various stages has taught me how to conduct community-driven behavioral research projects, which I am planning to utilize as my primary research method for my dissertation.”

Donald Chi, Professor, notes, “as a Research Assistant, Alice exhibited excellent interpersonal skills, demonstrating her ability to conduct high-quality interviews with parents. She was professional, interacted appropriately with clinic staff, asked good questions, and accurately collected the required data with minimal supervision. The study was eventually published in the American Journal of Public Health and served as pilot data for a R01 grant that was funded by NIH.”

Laurel Kelnhoefer-Millevolte
School of Medicine

Laurel Kelnhofer-Millevolte’s primary career goal is to become a physician-scientist at a research-focused medical institution investigating host-pathogen interactions. Laurel explains, “Infectious diseases are acutely relevant in light of the current pandemic, although more common endemic viruses have long posed a serious threat to immunocompromised patients. Many patients with diabetes have more frequent and more severe infections than the general population because diabetes mellitus is associated with an immunosuppressed state. Furthermore, reduced wound healing, coupled with immunosuppression in individuals with poorly controlled diabetes, makes infection a common cause of morbidity and mortality.”

Assistant Professor, Human Biology Division, Daphne Avgousti PhD offers high praise. “Laurel is the first and only student I’ve mentored who has dived into the data, cross referenced sources, dug into the literature and paved her own path from day one. She has seamlessly fit into the lab and works diligently to pursue the goals of her project, while also presenting effortlessly at various forums and keeping up with the literature of multiple fields. Laurel’s next endeavor is to define the impact of heterochromatin on cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, which is particularly problematic in individuals with diabetes and has contributed to a publication in every lab she has set foot – an exceptional example of her work ethic, talent, and grit.”

Linda Yoo
School of Nursing

Linda Yoo’s goal is to become a nurse educator and researcher in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic autoimmune disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) system that impacts an estimated 3 million Americans. She was a research assistant on Dr. Kendra Kamp’s IBD sleep study and is currently a member of Kr. Kamp’s IBD research team. Linda’s dissertation project examines the relationship between sleep-wake cycle characteristics and IBD health outcomes, such as GI symptoms and gut inflammation.

Linda will use Dr. Kamp’s dataset of IBD participants, as well as collect new data from participants who who will provide a stool sample, complete an interview, and wear an actigraph watch for ten days while tracking symptoms and sleep in daily electronic diaries. This proposed project considers far more than just quantitative nighttime sleep measures. Instead, it views sleep through a larger and more holistic lens by understanding the impact of environmental and social factors on the sleep-wake cycles of those with IBD.

Professor Margaret Heitkemper praises Linda, stating, “Ms. Yoo is a self-starter and independent thinker. In her first year of study she shared her ideas in sleep-wake cycles of those with IBD, particularly those who experience social and environmental inequities. Ms. Yoo is the first author of a systematic review examining social determinants of health and sleep among individuals with IBD. She is highly regarded by faculty and her peers for her passion for scholarly inquiry and research and her inquisitive nature.”

Jennifer Perkins
School of Nursing

Currently in her 2nd year of the PhD program in the school of nursing, Jennifer Perkins’ long-term career goal is to enhance health equity and transform the lives of people living with diabetes by studying the discourses surrounding insulin access, access to diabetes care and technology, and by developing evidence-based solutions to improve access to life-saving medicine and care. As a nurse scientist living with diabetes, Jennifer brings a unique lens and purpose to diabetes research.

Rebecca O’Connor, PhD, RN, states, “Jennifer’s actions speak to the passion, dedication, and motivation she brings to her role as a PhD student. Her advocacy work clearly displays her commitment to equitable health care for those impacted by diabetes.” A past Magnuson Scholarship recipient, Dr. O’Connor continues, “In 2021, Jennifer used photography to lead a letter campaign, enabling the Washington Health Care Authority to partner with other entities to produce, purchase, distribute, and improve access to generic medications. Her activism has continued since entering the PhD program, and she recently gave testimony to the Washington State Legislature to limit insulin copayments to $35 in an effort to make insulin accessible for everyone. She is currently serving as a public member of the Total Cost of Insulin Workgroup, which she advocated for alongside her fellow T1 International Patient Advocates.”

Alexandra Wiley
School of Pharmacy

Alexandra Wiley is pursuing a long-term career in translational research, leading to the advancement of therapeutics. Gravitating towards research studying diabetes and cardiovascular disease under the mentorship of Dr. Rheem Totah, her ongoing predoctoral research focuses on the implications of a G-protein coupled receptor’s signaling on diabetes and cardiac hypertrophy. Through this research, Alexandra is striving to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms linking insulin resistance to heart failure as well as further elucidate the druggability profile for this receptor. Alexandra confirms, “I have and will continue to form collaborations and strengthen my professional network while working towards my goal of advancing existing knowledge of diabetic heart failure. After the completion of my graduate studies, I would like to pursue a career where I can lead a team in translational medicine to advance both diabetic and cardiovascular therapies.”

Dr. Rheem A. Totah, Professor and Associate Chair states, “It was very impressive to see Alex communicate her science experiments and results to a large group with diverse backgrounds including biochemists, analytical chemists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and cardiologists. Alex can answer questions from most of them and speak clearly, relaying the details of her project. Her ability to communicate both orally and in written form to this multidisciplinary group is truly refreshing and speaks to her deep understanding of the project she is working on.

Joe Lim
School of Public Health

PHD Candidate Joe Lim’s long-term goal as a researcher is to study the molecular mechanisms of the gut microbiome and metabolic reactions during liver development and disease progression; and apply these mechanistic findings for the development of potential therapeutics that benefit society. The rationale is that each cell type performs unique metabolic functions, and their interplay across organs and gut microbiome is a critical determinant of metabolic processes. Joe explains, “I will achieve this by partnering with people in academia, industry, and government, making efforts to translate the results to benefit society in underprivileged areas where nutritional imbalance and exposures to environmental toxicants coexist.”

Julia Yue Cui, PhD, explains, “Joe has a unique hybrid training background in both environmental toxicology as well as advanced bioinformatics. His PhD dissertation utilizes innovative technologies to strategically investigate how early life exposures to persistent environmental contaminants modulate the risks of delayed onset of diabetes and obesity risks later in life. The outcome of Joe’s dissertation is a novel probiotic remediation strategy to mitigate diabetes risks in susceptible populations (e.g. people with lower socio-economic status, newborns and children etc.), especially those who are at inevitable exposures to these toxicants.

Andrea Portillo
School of Social Work

Andrea Portillo’s research centers around addressing health disparities in immigrant communities, believing it is increasingly important due to the high prevalence of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease and their relationship to mental health. “In light of these disparities and the increasing number of immigrants in the U.S.,” explains Andrea, “there is a need for interdisciplinary and community-engaged research. To help meet this need, my work utilizes a relationship and transnational lens to investigate the complex mechanisms that help deter adverse health outcomes and foster resilience through multi-level collaborative approaches. As a Central American scholar, my long-term career goals are to follow in the footsteps of scholar-activists and support future practitioners engaging in anti-oppressive practices. My work is situated within a growing body of literature that considers cultural identities, colonial histories, and sociopolitical contexts, and their direct impact on health among immigrants.”

Dr. David T. Takeuchi, Associate Dean of Faculty Excellence states, “one strand of Andrea’s work investigates early adversity linked to mental health across the lifespan. Mental disorders exact high societal, economic, and healthcare costs that contribute to lost productivity, disability, and mortality. While diabetes is not central to Andrea’s dissertation research, it is a health condition highly associated with mental health conditions, especially depression. Moreover, immigrants, including Latinx immigrants, are much more likely to have diabetes than U.S.-born adults. Since immigrants in the United States tend to have lower rates of depression, it will be interesting to see whether immigrants who have depression are more likely to suffer from chronic physical health conditions.”