Hannah Rea

My research focuses on improving clinical outcome measures and intervention outcomes for individuals with Down syndrome, neurodevelopmental disorders, and other special healthcare needs. I conduct research in real-world, clinical settings using multiple different tools, including caregiver-report, behavioral assessments, and electroencephalography (EEG) to study the development of and interventions for challenging behaviors. I am currently a KL2 INCLUDE Scholar conducting research on cognitive abilities and challenging behaviors in youth with Down syndrome.

Daina Tagavi

My work focuses on the development, dissemination, and implementation of tools for the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder. I am also interested in transdiagnostic interventions for autism spectrum disorder to increase efficacy for individuals and families, as well as access to care. My clinical pursuits include conducting diagnostic evaluations for autism for youth of all ages, as well as running groups and classes for autistic individuals and their families.

Margaret Z. Wang

I am a practicing psychiatrist and health services researcher whose research has focused on system-level strategies to deliver high-quality care in settings with few clinical resources or available specialists. I am board certified in general adult psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry and my clinical work has included provision of psychiatric outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services care. I am interested in leveraging existing community infrastructure and adapting evidence based clinical practices to suit community contexts to reduce treatment gaps.

Sarah Danzo

My research broadly aims to better understand the etiology of depression and risk behaviors such as suicide and substance use across development, and translate findings to inform prevention and intervention strategies for youth and families.  My work focuses on partnering with communities and primary care clinics to improve access to and use of effective mental health services.

My current projects include studies focused on adapting and evaluating suicide prevention intervention and implementation strategies for use with adolescents and their families in primary care and outpatient medical settings, including developing and adapting brief, just-in-time, and digital interventions to expand access to services.

In addition to research, I am also a clinical psychologist in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and the Crisis Care Clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Douglas Lane

I am a clinical psychologist with board certification in geriatric psychology.  I am based in the Geriatrics and Extended Care Service of the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System.

Nancy Lau

I am a clinical psychologist and researcher. My research focuses on pediatric psychology, intervention science, and leveraging digital technologies to disseminate and implement evidence-based psychosocial interventions for children, teens, and young adults with serious medical conditions and co-occurring anxiety, stress, and depression. Digital mental health care initiatives have the potential to scale-up interventions and overcome structural barriers and unequal access to psychosocial care. Current and future research investigations aim to help improve patient and family coping skills, psychosocial well-being, and quality of life by developing and implementing evidence-based mental health interventions.

Julia Ruark

Personal Statement

I am a board certified psychiatrist and work at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. I am a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington.  I obtained a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry, a specialty that focuses on providing psychiatric care for people with complex medical conditions.  My primary clinical focus is people with cancer. I love my work.  Being ill is a vulnerable time and my goal is to ease suffering and provide a sense of connection and understanding for all I work with.  I believe in working collaboratively with patients and families. We work together to identify what the goals of treatment are. I have expertise in diagnosis, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy and adapt my recommendations to best serve the goals of the person before me. I am also passionate about education. I am the site director at Fred Hutch Cancer Center for our Psycho-oncology Fellowship Program. I supervise Cl fellows, addiction fellows, psychiatry residents and provide education to social workers and psychology trainees.

Heather Carmichael Olson

Personal Statement

I am a psychologist who carries out research, provides community education to a broad range of audiences, trains postgraduate students, works on public policy– and has served as a clinician with children and families for many years. My main interests are fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), early childhood mental health, and interventions for children born prenatally exposed to alcohol and other drugs and their families. My research is currently based at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, but I also work in collaboration with UW researchers– and scientists at the University of Rochester in New York and multiple other academic institutions. A main research focus has been the Families Moving Forward (FMF) Program, a family-focused FASD intervention, now being disseminated primarily in the USA and Canada.  The FMF Program is also now being translated into a mobile health application, called FMF Connect, for even broader use. Through Seattle Children’s, I co-direct a pilot service focused on assessment and short-term consultation for youth with prenatal substance exposure (including alcohol), and their families. I also offer mental health services to a broad range of young children and develops research focused on early childhood mental health. Over the years, beyond research and clinical work, I have been able to work toward change in national US public policy, collaborate with Indigenous communities and researchers in remote Northwestern Australia, and train dedicated young professionals in psychology and psychiatry. I am grateful for these remarkable career opportunities… and the chance to meet so many resilient and inspiring families. Note that you can only reach me through my Seattle Children’s email, at: heather.carmichaelolson@seattlechildrens.org