Careers & Outcomes

UW Immunology graduates have become successful researchers and scientists in both academia and industry.  Professional careers based on an Immunology PhD can include:

• Academic positions
• Government agency research positions
• Private biotechnology or scientific industry researcher
• Scientific consultant to government, non-profit or private organizations

Where are they now? Immunology Alumni

The successes of our alumni are the best testimony to the quality and depth of the UW Immunology graduate program. Since the start of the graduate program in 1989, our Immunology PhD alumni have advanced in many directions:

• UW Immunology alumni are postdoctoral fellows in high-profile labs, working with researchers such as Rafi Ahmed, Lewis Lanier, Philippa Marrack, Diane Mathis and Klaus Rajewsky.
• Many UW immunology alumni work as private sector researchers at institutions such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Genentech, Juno Therapeutics, Vaxart, Sandia National Labs, Amgen, Novo Nordisk, INSERM Research Institute (Lyon, France), SNBL USA, Biogen and Wyeth Vaccines Research.
• Physician Scientists with MD/PhD degrees from UW Immunology and the Medical Scientist Training Program include:
  • Catherine Blish, Faculty Member in the Division of Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Stanford University
  • Michael Deftos private practice in San Francisco and San Jose, CA -anatomic pathology and clinical pathology
  • Michelle Dossett is staff physician in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard)
  • James Lord is Research Associate Member at the Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle;
  • Stephanie Page, faculty member in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, and Section Head, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle
  • Michael Tasch, Snoqualmie Ridge Kidney Center and private practice at Eastside Nephrology & Hypertension, Kirkland

Other Recent UW Immunology Alumni:

• Laurence Cheng received an MD PhD (Immunology) from the UW and went on to pediatric residency at UCSF working in the laboratory of Richard Locksley, M.D., examining the regulation of IgE function.  He is currently a faculty member and pediatric immunologist and allergist at UCSF.
• Rosalynde (Lynda) Finch is Senior Medical and Outcomes Science Liaison at Biogen Idec in Seattle.  Lynda writes, “The rigorous training in writing grants and papers I received as a graduate student has been a tremendous asset. The frequent presentations I made in graduate school for journal club and lab meetings were also key preparation, and lastly, the independent nature of the work I did in Phil [Greenberg’s] lab prepared me to be an independent investigator very early in my career.”
• Ananda Goldrath is a Professor in the Section of Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego.
• Joseph Sun is a research immunologist at the Sloan-Kettering Institute.  Joe studies NK cells with the goal of further understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in NK cell development, effector function, and generation of memory.